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[SPRINGTIME JAMS]
For the Smiles Meet the Electric Toothbrush Sisters, St. Louis’ favorite new father-daughter band Written by
JENN DEROSE
T
he Electric Toothbrush Sisters are everywhere. In the last twelve months, the local father-daughter duo played Stay At Home Fest, St. Louis Public Radio’s House Show, an I Watched Music On the Internet set and an Anti-Fascist Concert Series put on by Patrick Haggerdy, of Lavender Country fame. They’ve released a full-length and a self-titled tape and recently dropped the track “Ring-a-DingDing (Spring Song),” which this author feels is the best song ever written about springtime. Partway through a practice session (the pair were rehearsing a rousing rendition of the Ramones’ “Beat on the Brat”), front-person and eight-year-old child Nina Von Trone Zengerling joined her dad and bandmate, Nick Zengerling (of Bug Chaser, Catholic Guilt and Maximum Effort, to name a few of his dozen-plus projects), and her mother, Sarah Trone, for an interview in their front yard. Electric Toothbrush Sisters started because of the pandemic. As Nick explains, “Kids had to stay home, so we started doing a daily music hour as part of our day. Math, science, reading, music and poetry. Nina started reading poetry and practicing writing.” “And onomatopoeias were one of my poetry assignments,” Nina chimes in. “It was pretty hard.” Onomatopoeias, she explains, are words that sound like what things do: “Birds chirp, chickens bawk.” (It’s worth noting that Nina’s own chicken and close friend Bianca is strutting around their yard for the duration of this interview.) Nick set about putting Nina’s poem to music, and with that, the Electric
Nick Zengerling and his daughter, Nina Von Trone Zengerling, joined by her good friend Bianca the chicken. | JENN DEROSE Toothbrush isters’ first official song — the aptly named “Onomatopoeia Song” — was born. On the mechanics of songwriting, Nina explains that it’s mostly “rhyming things with other things. Like, in the spring song [“Ring-a-Ding-Ding”] — the grass is green, owers are blooming, and you can go outside and take nice walks. o you ust find stuff to rhyme with that!” Other Electric Toothbrush Sisters lyrics are formed from Nina’s life experiences. The song “Dumpster Fire,” for example, came out of a traumatic event many St. Louisans can relate to. “Nina was haunted by this dumpster fire she saw in her friend’s alley,” Nick says. “I couldn’t sleep,” Nina interjects. “All I saw when I closed my eyes was fire.” “So I said that writing a song about her fear might help her get over it,” Nick says. “So she rode her bike in little circles in an empty parking lot, telling me all the things that she remembered from seeing the dumpster fire.” The songwriting tactic worked, and Nina overcame her fear. “Sad Parks” also came from
Nina’s life, when parks and playgrounds suddenly became off-limits to children everywhere. “I was in the car and saw a playground [wrapped in caution tape] and said, ‘This park looks like it’s so sad!’” she explains. “Do you know what you did there?” Nina’s mom, Sarah, asks. “ ersonification ” arah ticks off the other types of figurative language with all the authority of a parent who has guided her child through at-home learning over the last year — “personification, similes, metaphors, idioms and hyperbole.” Nina shrugs. Of course, as any musician writing from experience can tell you, the practice can be tricky when it comes to personal relationships. When asked if Nick was really a “Mean Mean Poppa,” as one December track would imply, Nina laughs, “No!” “Oh, [Nick] is a real enforcer, he really lays down the law around here,” Sarah jokes. “Actually,” Nina giggles, “you’re both bad guys. I’m the good guy.” It’s natural that being in a family band would come with arguments, and even disagreements about who the bad guys are, but
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in this case, the pair are remarkably good at compromise, and use creative differences to make songs better. “We tell each other what should be different, then we agree about what would make it better,” Nina says. “Really, [Nick] is teaching Nina to be disciplined and to work for the things she cares about. They practice and practice,” Sarah says. “Sometimes practice is hard,” Nick says. “Nina likes to move,” Sarah says, explaining that sitting still can be tough for her daughter sometimes. Indeed, Nina loves to dance. Her favorite dance music includes songs by Taylor Swift, ABBA, Katy Perry and Jojo Siwa. Her personal style matches the polished, candy-coated music she prefers — at our interview, she sports a side ponytail in a babyblue scrunchie and a eece pullover with a sparkly, rainbow-colored unicorn on the chest, worn over red plaid leggings. When asked about her fashion choices, she replies, “Mom helps me, but I usually help myself. I like my clothes to pop! Pop means color. I don’t like not-color. Black
APRIL 21-27, 2021
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