Of Hummus and Guacamole

It's Wednesday evening at Fifth Avenue's and Rolie Polie Guacamole lead singer Frank Gallo is making an imaginary bowl of hummus.

As bassist Andrew Tuzhilin and drummer Christian McCarthy play backup, he smooshes his hands together, mashing up make-believe chickpeas, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. His audience—a wiggly group of toddlers, preschoolers and parents—follows suit. Now, in a moment of truth, the cooks must taste their concoction.

"What else should we put in it?" Gallo asks.

"Umm, electric," says a small voice from the audience.

"Cheese!" says another.

"Cotton balls!"

"Tahini," a parent finally yells.

Gallo mashes each ingredient one by one and then breaks into song: "Someone someone someone must love us love us love us/to give us all this tasty tasty hummus hummus hummus."

Though he and his Brooklyn-based children's jam band may not offer the strictest of culinary instruction, their songs about eating healthy and being active have earned them a dedicated Park Slope fan base.

Four years ago Gallo, Tuzhilin and McCarthy, all scruffy bearded twentysomethings, would never have guessed they'd be spending their days grooving with four-year-olds—let alone praising açaí berries for their purpleness.

Gallo and Tuzhilin met at Fair Lawn high school in New Jersey, where they initially bonded over an English class assignment for which they recorded their own songs. Once they went off to college in 2004, they'd meet in the summertime to record music, usually for Gallo's grunge band Anatomy. One day, in a moment of clarity atop a mountain, Gallo called Tuzhilin and suggested they form a children's band.

"I had been writing children's songs, but wasn't used to playing anything but punk and grunge," Gallo said.

For inspiration, Gallo often turned to his childhood experiences, drawing from class field trips to write songs like "Museum of Natural History." He also consulted his father Lou, who had been working as a children's musician for the past 15 years.

While on lunch breaks during brainstorming sessions, they'd often go to Castro's  on Myrtle Avenue and eat guacamole. One day, in an absentminded rhyme Tuzhilin came up with the name Rolie Polie Guacamole and it stuck. They recruited McCarthy to fill out the band and began playing small gigs and festivals. A year later, in May 2008, they released their first self-titled album.

After getting a gig teaching music and movement classes at the , Rolie Polie Guacamole slowly but surely began to connect with the Park Slope community.

Gallo saw proof of this by the time they released their second CD "Time For Hummus." They'd decided to throw a release party at the Church of Gethsemane, complete with free hummus, guacamole and açaí juice. The band also ordered 150 purple balloons, which they dropped from a balcony while performing "Açaí"—a song in which Gallo sings "let it rain down purple berries." He said that almost every person who'd seen them play in the past year came to the event.

"It felt like a really big accomplishment," Gallo said. "This whole local thing we'd grown for a year really culminated at the 'Time For Hummus' release."

When it comes to practicing the healthy lifestyle they preach, the bandmembers of Rolie Polie Guacamole are nearly foolproof. Gallo has been a strict vegan for six years (excepting the honey he eats from his backyard beehive) and McCarthy is both a Pilates and skateboard instructor. According to Tuzhilin, he and Gallo were raised to appreciate natural living.

On any given day of the week, you can find Rolie Polie Guacamole playing a birthday party, teaching music and movement courses, leading sing-a-longs at Perch Cafe or performing at the Park Slope farmer's market.

Though McCarthy is the only bandmember who lives in Park Slope (Gallo lives in Windsor Terrace and Tuzhilin in Red Hook), they feel at home in the neighborhood. Their fan base includes children like Odin Kilroy, 2, who comes to shows and plays alongside the band with his miniature guitar and five-year-old Kaya Chase-Kohn, who is the self-proclaimed president of Rolie Polie Guacamole's fan club.

Both Kilroy and Chase-Kohn live near JJ Byrne Playground and frequent Rolie Polie Guacamole's shows at the farmer's market and Perch Cafe. According to Chase-Kohn, her presidential responsibilities include "well, not really anything"—but she "likes [Rolie Polie Guacamole] a lot."

Though Gallo is reluctant to stray from his strong local fan base, the band's growing popularity has inspired him to think bigger. Rolie Polie Guacamole is currently recording a CD of classic children's song covers.

Gallo has also begun brainstorming for a TV show. The concept is Blues Clues meets Brooklyn, where Rolie Polie Guacamole lives in a tree in Prospect Park, communicates with a computer generated beehive and visit a local business every episode. That last element is important to Gallo. He said even if the band eventually aims for national recognition, they'll always make an effort to stay connected to Park Slope.

"The more you do it," said Gallo, "the greater sense of a community you get."

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