The Beanies facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Beanies
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The Beanies (from left to right: Miriam "Mim" Rizvi, Michael Yore, Laura Dawson)
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Sydney, Australia |
| Genres | Children's |
| Years active | 2016-present |
| Labels | ABC Music |
| Members | Laura Dawson Miriam "Mim" Rizvi Michael Yore |
The Beanies are an Australian children's music group, formed in 2016. The band consists of three theatre performers, Canberra-born Laura Dawson and Miriam "Mim" Rizvi, and Newcastle-born Michael Yore. The group have drawn acclaim and garnered an Australian Podcast Award for their educational podcast of the same name, and their second album was nominated for an ARIA Award.
About
The Beanies were formed in Sydney in 2016, as a response to the rising usage of tablets and smartphones amongst young children, with the aim of producing Australian-made children's entertainment and encourage creativity and imagination without the use of screens. They enlisted as their songwriter Sydney-based composer James Court, and with the support of the Mamamia Podcast Network, produced ten 15-minute podcast episodes, which were released in April 2017. A second season was confirmed soon after, with sponsorship from Kinderling Kids Radio, and was released in December 2017. A third season was released in July 2018, and in its leadup a series of mini-episodes, Beanies Breakthroughs, were released weekly. Since the fourth season, released in late 2019, the podcasts episodes have been interspersed with a series of shorter Show & Tell episodes, where the trio interact with fans via voice-messages and answer their questions. Since mid-2020, the podcast has shifted to a regular weekly schedule, being released every Friday morning, and has amassed in excess of 750,000 downloads from over 30 different countries.
In October 2018 The Beanies premiered their one-act musical for children, entitled The Beanies' Eggs-traordinary Day, at the Sydney Fringe Festival, which has since been performed at various regional locations throughout NSW. The group performs regularly at fairs, festivals, and community events Australia-wide, including shows at City Recital Hall and the Australia Day Sydney Children's Festival, and their episodes and songs are broadcast internationally. The trio has also been guests on ABC's Weekend Breakfast, Channel 9's Today and Weekend Today, several parenting and productivity podcasts, and at Australian podcast conference OzPod.
In early 2020, The Beanies were signed to the ABC Kids music label, who released their fourth album in April of that year. The group also began live-streaming concerts, due to live concerts being postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and released a single called Quarantunes during that time. In July of that year, the group also moved their podcast to the Podcast One network, which has since rebranded to LiSTNR.
The group also maintains a YouTube channel, releasing music videos and comic sketches on a regular basis.
Members
The Beanies consists of Laura Dawson (Laura Beanie), Miriam Rizvi (Mim Beanie), and Michael Yore (Michael Beanie & Professor Know-It-All). The three also play all of the characters in the podcasts. Singer and drummer Brendan Paul performs with the group occasionally as an understudy (Brendan Beanie).
For larger concerts, the trio perform with the 'Big Beanie Band' - a live band which consists of a number of Sydney-based session musicians including James Court on keyboards, Rachel North on saxophone/clarinet, Michael Napoli on guitar, Amanda Jenkins on bass, and Brendan Paul on drums.
Music
The Beanies' songs and albums are produced independently, and released on the ABC Music label. All tracks are written and produced by James Court (frequently referred to by the group as their 'Music Wizard'), with lyrics by Laura Dawson, Miriam Rizvi, and Michael Yore.
| It's Raining Jelly Beans (2016) | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "It's Raining Jelly Beans" | 2:00 | |||||||
| 2. | "Silly Dizzy Dance" | 1:33 | |||||||
| 3. | "Opera Moo" | 2:44 | |||||||
| 4. | "The Mean House" | 2:05 | |||||||
| 5. | "Gee Billy! That's A Hot Chilli!" | 1:46 | |||||||
| 6. | "Zigzag Stomp" | 1:45 | |||||||
| 7. | "Painting Party" | 3:17 | |||||||
| 8. | "There's A Fish In The Tea" | 1:51 | |||||||
| 9. | "Can I Get A Milkshake On Mars?" | 1:57 | |||||||
| 10. | "Boss For The Day" | 1:54 | |||||||
| 11. | "Sing In Harmony" | 2:40 | |||||||
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Total length:
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24:00 | ||||||||
| Imagination Station (2017) | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Power!" | 2:07 | |||||||
| 2. | "Bubbles" | 2:53 | |||||||
| 3. | "Jazz Shark" | 2:39 | |||||||
| 4. | "New School" | 2:01 | |||||||
| 5. | "Sneaky Robber" | 2:45 | |||||||
| 6. | "Saturday Morning Cuddles" | 3:32 | |||||||
| 7. | "My Shoes" | 2:08 | |||||||
| 8. | "The Shoelace Song" | 1:10 | |||||||
| 9. | "Sneezes" | 1:48 | |||||||
| 10. | "Speedy Snails" | 1:33 | |||||||
| 11. | "Christmas Rumba" | 2:20 | |||||||
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Total length:
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25:00 | ||||||||
| Big Day Out (2018) | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Brush Your Teeth" | 2:10 | |||||||
| 2. | "Seasons" | 3:23 | |||||||
| 3. | "Wobble Wombat" | 1:53 | |||||||
| 4. | "The Art of the Fart" | 2:36 | |||||||
| 5. | "Jinx!" | 2:09 | |||||||
| 6. | "Scissor, Paper, Rock!" | 1:37 | |||||||
| 7. | "Dig, Dig, Dig!" | 1:37 | |||||||
| 8. | "Shy Shadow" | 2:21 | |||||||
| 9. | "Fingernails" | 1:41 | |||||||
| 10. | "Amazing Machine" | 3:37 | |||||||
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Total length:
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23:00 | ||||||||
| Full of Beans (2020) | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "We're The Beanies!" | 0:43 | |||||||
| 2. | "Full of Beans" | 3:34 | |||||||
| 3. | "Super to Me" | 3:16 | |||||||
| 4. | "Can You Get Dressed by the End of This Song?" | 2:27 | |||||||
| 5. | "Puppy Love" | 2:37 | |||||||
| 6. | "Push the Button" | 2:14 | |||||||
| 7. | "Teeny Tiny Spider" | 2:12 | |||||||
| 8. | "Rainbow" | 3:53 | |||||||
| 9. | "The Escalator Challenge" | 2:26 | |||||||
| 10. | "Pluto's Lament" | 3:18 | |||||||
| 11. | "Why Are We Here?" | 2:15 | |||||||
| 12. | "We're The Beanies! (Reprise)" | 0:43 | |||||||
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Total length:
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30:00 | ||||||||
| Noise Factory (2020) | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Quarantunes" | 2:48 | |||||||
| 2. | "Band-Aid Boogie" | 2:01 | |||||||
| 3. | "BOAT" | 2:10 | |||||||
| 4. | "Noise Factory" | 2:14 | |||||||
| 5. | "Topsy Turvy Zoo" | 2:20 | |||||||
| 6. | "My Secrets" | 2:43 | |||||||
| 7. | "My Poor Farmer Friend" | 2:55 | |||||||
| 8. | "Elderly Elephants" | 2:13 | |||||||
| 9. | "Safe With Me" | 4:00 | |||||||
| 10. | "Spaghetti" | 2:21 | |||||||
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Total length:
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26:00 | ||||||||
Awards
In 2018, The Beanies were winners of an Australian Podcast Award for their eponymous podcast, in the category Best Podcast for Family and Kids. The group was nominated again in 2019 in the same category.
In 2019, the group's second album, Imagination Station, was nominated for an ARIA Award for Best Children's Album, but lost to Dan Sultan for Nali & Friends.
| Year | Nominated works | Award | Result | Lost to |
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| 2018 | The Beanies (podcast) | Australian Podcast Award for Best Family & Kids Podcast | Won | |
| 2019 | The Beanies (podcast) | Australian Podcast Award for Best Family & Kids Podcast | Nominated | |
| 2019 | Imagination Station | ARIA Award for Best Children's Album | Nominated | Dan Sultan – Nali & Friends |
Podcast
Each episode of The Beanies podcast is written, performed, and edited entirely by The Beanies, and includes a story, a song, and an educational segment with 'Professor Know-It-All'. More recent episodes also include an imaginative meditation section, or ‘brain break’.
