Music Stars Making A Social Impact: Why & How Grammy Winner Lucy Kalantari Is Helping To Change Our World
An Interview With Edward Sylvan
Most recently, I received a private message from a mother and teacher sharing her experience listening to the songs on my EP “What Kind of World?” Not only is it helping her through some difficult times, but she’s also built a lesson plan around it for her children. And this is exactly what it’s for!
As a part of our series about music stars who are making an important social impact, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Lucy Kalantari.
Lucy Kalantari is a 2x GRAMMY® Award-winning artist, composer, arranger and producer passionate about creating children’s media that brings joy, inspires community and highlights the power of resilience. Born to Latino parents (Dominican & Puerto Rican), she’s the frontwoman and bandleader for Lucy Kalantari & the Jazz Cats, making bilingual, jazz age-inspired music for families. As a full-time music creator and a mother to an 8-year-old musician, she still makes time to mentor, teaching high school and college students to follow the sounds in their hearts and pursue their passion.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?
Thank you so much for having me! I’m a Latina woman of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent. I grew up both in the Dominican Republic and in the United States (New York City area), but no matter where I was, I always had a constant stream of music flowing through my head. Whether it was something I had heard on the radio or songs I was making up, the sounds never stopped! And they still haven’t! In the Dominican Republic, I wrote songs for my teenage band called Teen Rock, in high school in NYC, I was in a band called Smushed Moth, and in college, I was in a progressive rock band called Distance. I was constantly writing, creating and playing. I worked a lot in between, trying to make money to live. Sometimes the (seemingly unrelated) job would take over, and I made less music, but I always came back. Music is my forever home.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I knew music HAD to be in my life, but there was always something missing–something not quite right. Up until about a decade ago, I had been making music exclusively for adults, and it wasn’t until someone asked me, “so tell me more about the music you’re making?” The actual words I used to answer this question are irrelevant, but the person’s reaction to my answer revealed so much about what had been lacking! They responded with, “Well that sounds absolutely boring. Way to sell yourself!” They had said it in a light-hearted way, and we both laughed, but it shook me! I realized I was definitely in the wrong place. Fast forward a bit to when I gave birth to my son, I became involved in a songwriting group, where we committed to writing a song a week using a word prompt. Not only did we have to write the song, but we also had to take a video performing the song, and post it on YouTube! Talk about commitment! Here I was with a 7-week old baby, learning how to be a mom, and suddenly I said yes to this OTHER thing?! It turned out to be just the right thing I needed on so many levels! I dove whole-heartedly into songwriting and rediscovered my love for creating musical art. I involved my son by just making music around him all the time, and this, in turn, has enriched and continues to shape his life. (In fact, in some of those songwriting videos, you can see and/or hear him in the background!) I wound up writing material for my first family album from these weekly songs. The album is called “Pockets Full of Joy” and shortly after release, it wound up on parent magazines, parent blogs and was awarded Parents Choice Silver Award — the first of many more to come. Not only were these little ditties getting attention, I ADORED playing them for families. My life changed and I found what had been missing.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career? What was the lesson or take away that you took out of that story?
During one of my first mini-tours with my band, Lucy Kalantari and the Jazz Cats, I tried to bring my mom-liness (and an effort to save money) by getting us an Airbnb so we had a kitchen to cook in. We went food shopping, and I made us all dinner when we arrived and I had packed all sorts of snacks and sandwiches for the road. I even packed us a lunch for between the shows because we had one in the morning and one in the afternoon. There was a lot of almond butter and jelly sandwiches! But it actually left me with very little time to get myself and my art ready. I like to plan as much as possible in advance to have things in place, but I can’t (and shouldn’t) do everything! I realized that I sing about the community to families everywhere, and I’m part of this little community of jazz cats, and we can all contribute. I can keep my being-a-mom stuff to just my son!
What would you advise a young person who wants to emulate your success?
Never stop exploring your sense of self. Since we’re organic beings, we are constantly moving, changing and growing. Ask yourself, are you giving yourself the space to do just that? And to be clear, these steps are not organized! Nothing is a straight line! You’ll often find that despite how irrelevant some of the events in life that may keep you from doing your art may seem, they are actually stepping stones for the next thing. We’re in constant motion!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you explain how that was relevant in your life?
My dad has always told me in his heavy Puerto Rican accent to, “Always ask, because the worst they can say is…’no.’” This can be applied to ALL things in life! One must make the effort of being unafraid to explore possibilities. (Or at least, tell our fears to go have a seat in the corner for a moment while we do some work!) For every yes there are thousands of no’s. Just keep going!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My husband and my son are my number ones here. They encourage, push, inspire. In fact, it was my husband who suggested I record that family album, Pockets Full of Joy. I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as the kids’ music scene. He’s always helped to create the space and environment that will allow me to continue my musical growth. I appreciate that beyond words!
In addition to my husband, there are quite a number of people in my community who are my constants: my 2 best friends, who always keep me grounded, my publicist who puts my message through a giant megaphone so the people in the back can hear! And of course, my bandmates, who are exceptional musicians and wonderful humans. They also love this world of family music I’ve brought them into. Their presence has helped me grow and inspires me to push my sound more and more, to create as much musical ear candy as I can muster.
Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview, how are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting social impact causes you are working on right now?
A couple of years ago, I had a vision of an album called “What Kind of World?”, and this time felt ripe for it. Society is going through a major shift as we come face to face with the heavy loss, isolation and worry of a pandemic; the unfolding of a long and overdue racial reckoning; and the exhaustion from overstimulation of news and media. I want to give families the tools and reminders to awaken joy, connect with their community and see the power of their resilience. I hope that these songs can help families start conversations that can go into deeper territory without trepidation. Not everything is rosy, but we can find the joy in the darkest of places.
In addition to this, I love giving back to my community, and my community spans different areas — because no one is one-dimensional.
- For women in the music industry, I’m part of the soundBoard team for We are Moving the Needle, a nonprofit organization supporting all women recording industry professionals, audio engineers and producers. https://www.wearemovingtheneedle.org/
- For my peers and comrades in children’s music, I keep my lines open for any newcomers to give advice and mentor. Our goals always overlap, which is to present meaningful content we want to feed the children of the world. And I’m so happy to support that in all the ways I can.
- I serve as a Chapter Governor, Chair of the membership committee for the Recording Academy
- I also mentor college students, via the GRAMMY U mentorship program. It’s an AMAZING program helping students in their last year of studies getting them ready for the music industry. I love staying in touch with them after the program too, to see how they’re progressing.
- And lastly, I do presentations, appearances, talks at schools to inspire young students using the pillars of my work: Joy, Community and Resilience.
Can you tell us the backstory about what originally inspired you to feel passionate about this cause and to do something about it?
Although my community work is for a variety of groups, they fall under the same umbrella of a YES WE CAN attitude. I often think about the type of guidance I would have loved to have had growing up, things and people I would have loved to see, and work from there. There’s a saying, “If you can see her, you can be her.” I want young girls to see that a Latina woman CAN be a composer, arranger and producer! These times call for a deeper look and check-in on our values as human beings, and asking ourselves, are we doing our part to impart those values to our children?
Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and take action for this cause? What was that final trigger?
Producing Joanie Leeds’ album to empower young girls and women, “All the Ladies” was LIFE-CHANGING! I felt such a clear sense of purpose, helping to create something I wish I had growing up! I knew we were making an important body of work that would truly inspire our youth for many, many years to come. It also went on to win a GRAMMY® Award, giving me my second GRAMMY®, and this time as a Latina producer. That in itself is part of the work to show young girls and women that we YES, we absolutely can! And from here, I get to keep setting the stage for more powerful messages to come through! We can build the world that we want to see.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
Most recently, I received a private message from a mother and teacher sharing her experience listening to the songs on my EP “What Kind of World?” Not only is it helping her through some difficult times, but she’s also built a lesson plan around it for her children. And this is exactly what it’s for!
Are there three things that individuals, society or the government can do to support you in this effort?
Education. While it may seem generic to say “education” solves everything, this education spans from the ABC’s to mental health, to physical health. Again, we are not one-dimensional people, and the job for families is to raise contributing citizens of the future. As parents in the community we can:
- Evaluate life at home, and ask ourselves is there balance? Check for holes. For example, is there too much screen time, not enough reading?; is there too much stagnance, not enough movement?, etc. Then, of course, make incremental changes. It’s all about habits!
- Look at our close community, is it diverse? Can we expand more? What can we do to set up the environment to show your child that diversity IS the norm?
- Make a window for family time as frequently as possible, where everyone spends time together, regardless what stage of development our child is in. Whether it’s something like game night, or at dinner times. Every family situation is different, so carving out the time that makes sense is really important.
Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or an example for each.
- Set your intention, answer the question why are you doing this? When I was making adult music, it felt incomplete. There was no intention, except to just make music because I loved it so much. And that in itself has value, to get me to where I am. But it wasn’t until I set my intention, and asked myself WHY I’m doing this, that everything fell into place. I suddenly had a vision as clear as day.
- Make a vision board Once your intention is set, this is your chance to envision what this looks like. Making a vision board forced me to think things through. It allowed me to see with clarity where I want to be. My vision board is right by my desk, and so much of it has manifested so far!
- Plan/do/revise. Keep going. No path is a straight line. Our paths may feel swirly, but every stop on the way has a purpose, whether it’s to pick up a new skill or meet people who will play a significant role in your life. I found that the more I looked ahead the clearer things felt. And if I hit any roadblocks I see them as an opportunity to pause and check-in, and ask myself am I still following my intention? Should I revise? And then of course KEEP GOING!
- Set up your team of cheerleaders- your community! We can’t do it alone. We need our friends and family to cheer us on and encourage us to keep going. I’m so blessed to not only have 1 bestie, but 2! And of course my husband and son, and more. It’s also important not to forget our role as their cheerleaders as well. We need to keep the cycle going!
- Mental Health/Hygiene. Even machines need maintenance. Finding balance and wellness can be a challenge, but ALWAYS worth fitting in. I do yoga and meditation to help keep me mentally and physically strong. I have an autoimmune disorder, and I feel it right away when things get out of balance. Though I definitely could use a better lesson in the sleeping department!
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would launch the Give A Cheer movement. Participants of this movement would take the time to be a cheerleader for a member of their community. Everyone is working on SOMEthing, and needs encouragement to bring out their shine.
We are blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Politics, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
Lin Manuel Miranda’s dad, Mr. Luis Mrianda! I absolutely LOVE how driven and focused he is about helping the Latino community during difficult times. And his involvement is not just reactionary. He is always seeking ways to help advance overall progress for our underrepresented community. Not only is it inspiring to me, I have also found his actions to be helpful in guiding me with my own choices on how I can contribute to my community.
Thank you so much for these amazing insights. This was so inspiring, and we wish you continued success!
Thank you so much for having me!
About The Interviewer: Growing up in Canada, Edward Sylvan was an unlikely candidate to make a mark on the high-powered film industry based in Hollywood. But as CEO of Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc, (SEGI) Sylvan is among a select group of less than ten Black executives who have founded, own and control a publicly traded company. Now, deeply involved in the movie business, he is providing opportunities for people of color.
In 2020, he was appointed president of the Monaco International Film Festival, and was encouraged to take the festival in a new digital direction.
Raised in Toronto, he attended York University where he studied Economics and Political Science, then went to work in finance on Bay Street, (the city’s equivalent of Wall Street). After years of handling equities trading, film tax credits, options trading and mergers and acquisitions for the film, mining and technology industries, in 2008 he decided to reorient his career fully towards the entertainment business.
With the aim of helping Los Angeles filmmakers of color who were struggling to understand how to raise capital, Sylvan wanted to provide them with ways to finance their creative endeavors.
Music Stars Making A Social Impact: Why & How Grammy Winner Lucy Kalantari Is Helping To Change Our… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.