TV

Rachael Cantu on Little Brutes and Writing the “One Big Happy” Theme Song

Rachael Cantu is best known for her solo work, but her duo with Harlan Silverman, Little Brutes, has ushered in an almost entirely new sound for her. While she used to be more of a folk-pop artist, the out singer/songwriter is now accompanied by more electronic elements, and her silky chanteuse vocals have been elevated on the recently released Little Brutes EP, Desire.

A stand-out track on Desire is the sexy soul-pop-driven “Make Our Own Way,” which also happens to be the theme song for NBC’s new show, One Big Happy, created by Rachael’s wife, Liz Feldman. The two were married in 2013 after meeting during the filming of Liz’s talk show, This Just Out. Now that the show has returned, Rachael gets the fun off-camera job of holding a buzzer to hit any time she thinks Liz should stop doing whatever it is she’s doing, whether that’s flirting with a guest or getting too personal. It’s all in good fun, and Rachael seems to enjoy her participation behind-the-scenes.

photo by Allison Pharmakis

We spoke with Rachael about her evolving career, writing songs for TV and why she was reluctant to write a theme song.

AfterEllen.com: Let’s talk about the name of your EP, Desire. I kind of love that word. What made you think about using it?

Rachael Cantu: I guess it’s because I’m in a happy relationship. [laughs] I feel like all my old stuff was pretty dark, pretty sad. Not in a super depressing way, just different now that I’m in a nice, loving happy relationship. It’s all pretty positive and I think that comes across in the whole EP.

AE: Definitely-it’s very romantic and sweet. I’m wondering how you write differently for yourself as part of Little Brutes as opposed to writing as “Rachael Cantu.” Do you have a distinction when you’re writing for the two separate things?

RC: It’s funny: When I write lyrics with Harlan, I always seem to write positive stuff, and I don’t know why that is. Ever since the beginning when we did an EP before, that was a little folksier-I don’t know! Maybe I don’t like to show my dark side in front of other people. It’s easier to do solo. With him, he brings out the goodness in me. I love writing with him. He’s so talented and the music he comes up with just inspires that positivity and happiness.

AE: So your song, “Make Our Own Way,” is the theme song for One Big Happy. Did you write it for the show?

RC: Liz came to me and asked if I would try to write a theme song for it and I said no. [laughs] Because I got into my head too much, like “I don’t want people to think that’s why it’s the theme song, because of my wife.” A little bit of pride came into play. So she asked me another time and then a third time, and she asked, “Don’t you just want to try?” And at that time, I wasn’t doing music. I hadn’t been writing for quite a while, trying to figure out what was the next step in my career and so I said, “OK, OK, I’ll try. I’ll meet up with Harlan and we’ll see what I can come up with.” And luckily a great song came out of it. I mean we like it, so either way, we have a song that we like and we’ll do something with it if they don’t like it. But luckily they did. It went up the ladder without anybody knowing it was me, which made me feel better. Because then it was just genuinely that they liked it and wanted to use it. But yeah, that’s how it happened. She brought it into the producers and they said yes, took it into the studio and they said yes, and then brought it into the network and they said yes. It happened pretty genuinely.

AE: There are a lot of iconic theme songs out there-did you feel any kind of pressure to create something like that?

RC: Not really. She gave me a good reference-you know, she was on 2 Broke Girls and they use a Peter, Bjorn and John song and I was just like, “We’ll just write a cool song and if they can use little bits and pieces here and there, that’ll be great.” We didn’t have that in mind, like the increments and little parts that they use throughout the whole series. So I knew a little bit of that going into it, but luckily Harlan is just a musical genius and he said “Sure, I’ll make up a little guitar riff for a couple seconds here and there, a little melody.” Liz didn’t want something like that [a traditional theme song), something too jingly. We did write a second version that you’ll hear: me whistling, and it’s little faster. So we did write one that’s a little more of a jingle, but it’s not something we’re going to release-it’s just for the show.

AE: I know you’ve had a lot of your songs on television, and you probably aren’t thinking about that as you’re writing them, but have you ever had to write something for a project like this before?

RC: The only time I think I’ve had to do something like that was when ABC had me do a promo for a show and I sang “Every Breath You Take,” and it wasn’t even my song. So I just had to do a different version of The Police song. But I think that’s the only time I’ve had to specifically do that for a project.

photo by Lindsey Byrnes

AE: What’s it like when you’re seeing how they use your music on a show?

RC: It’s crazy, especially when they use it in a way that’s dramatic or pretty up front, not just a song in the background. My first was on “Private Practice” and it was in the last five minutes right before the credits. I didn’t know how any of this worked so I was like, “I don’t know if they’re even going to use this. Maybe they said they were going to and they didn’t.” I was watching with a couple of friends and it was getting toward the end and I was like, “Oh my God, they’re not going to use it-this is so embarrassing. We’re all sitting around waiting and they’re not going to use it.” And then all of a sudden, in a very dramatic scene on a plane, somebody’s freaking out and all of the dialogue drops out and the song comes in and it goes for a few minutes and into the credits and it was so dramatic. And that was my first time hearing my stuff on TV-it wasn’t like background. It was just very prominent. It was crazy. It was so cool. We all know how music makes us feel when we’re watching a film or a TV show, and it can really make a moment. It’s so cool to see yourself make a moment.

AE: So with your wife as the creator of One Big Happy, I’m sure you are surrounded by it and ready to see it come to air. Are you so thrilled?

RC: [laughs] It is incredible. It has been such an amazing journey to watch and be a part of. I went to all the tapings. I’ve been around the entire process. I’ve been around since the second she came up with it and pitched it and every step has been a meant-to-be kind of feeling. It’s really, really exciting. I have to remind myself how crazy this is, you know, once you get too used to it. This is what happens, and this is what’s going on. You have to remind yourself because it’s crazy and it’s so cool. I’m so proud of her, and she deserves it and she’s awesome.

AE: Are you working on your new solo album? What can you tell us about it?

RC: I don’t know about solo stuff. We’re going to record another song with Little Brutes-we’re talking about releasing a vinyl version with an extra song and we just shot a music video. I think Little Brutes stuff. I’m also writing with a couple of different people. One person who I love to death is Tim Armstrong from Rancid, and we’ve written a few songs together. Who knows what will happen with that, but I’m having fun writing with him and a few other people. I do want to do more TV/film stuff. It’s really fun for me, and it allows me to be home and work from home and enjoy life, the life that has come to me.

AE: I was wondering if you were planning on doing any shows or touring.

RC: I’m not, and I hate saying that out loud because I’m totally okay with something in life changing that, but it’s just not something I am focusing on right now.

AE: Can you tell us anything about the music video?

RC: Well I’m hoping it’ll come out in two weeks. Lindsey Byrnes directed it-you guys know Lindsey Byrnes. It was an awesome experience. We shot it in two days. I can’t really reveal anything just yet.

AE: Did you record your EP live?

RC: I mean, pretty much. It’s not technically live-we’re laying down tracks and doing vocals separately, but it’s quick. We’ll do it within a couple of hours.

AE: In the past your sound has had “folk” attached to it, but it feels like you’re moving away from that. Would you say that’s true?

RC: Oh yeah. Because I play guitar and it’s just kind of what I have in front of me. I’m not great at beats and that sonic kind of stuff, and Harlan’s really great at that kind of stuff. I don’t know-when I play guitar, it’s just the style that I play. I’m so attached to it that that’s just what comes out of me. It’s not even that’s what I necessarily want to be coming out of me, even though I’m proud of all of the stuff I’ve done. But it’s just what my hands do, you know? So then my voice just follows along with it. But I’ve been playing a lot of pop songs. I work with a foundation called Songs for Kids and we sing at children’s hospitals, and we sing-I have a binder full of ABCs and pop songs-like Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. I’ve gotten so attached to singing pop songs and it’s helped me discover my voice more, and what I can do and the structure of the pop songs. It’s just fun. I think that’s where it kind of came from. I just love pop music-who doesn’t love pop music? And so to be able to do it and have fun and smile, and kind of dance around is awesome. I love the direction that I’m going in.

photo by Allison Pharmakis

AE: I have to ask about the buzzer situation on This Just Out. Are you really using it, are they keeping you from using it more-what’s going on with it?

RC: It’s not in the second episode-it’ll make a return appearance. It’s funny because, as you can probably tell in the Sara episode, I actually love it when she hits on people. I think it’s hilarious. I also agree that it’s part of the charm. When she brought it up, I didn’t really want to step on anybody’s toes, or the enjoyment of what they liked in the first place. But I started putting it in wherever I felt it was necessary, and it’s not always when she’s hitting on someone. It’s when it’s something about me or something too private. So I’ve actually been having a really great time with the buzzer.

AE: So will you appear on the show at all, outside of background buzzer?

RC: Yes I will, but I don’t know if I’m supposed to keep it a secret! [Editor’s Note: Liz said it was OK to say we’ll see Rachael on a future episode.]

Little Brutes’ Desire is available now. One Big Happy premieres on Tuesday, March 17 at 9:30ET on NBC.

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button