We were lucky to catch up with Symon Hajjar recently and have shared our conversation below.

Symon , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up in rural upstate New York. That’s where, at 19 years old, I learned to play the guitar. From the very first time that I was able to put two chords together, I was writing songs. I had never really listened to much music growing up and although my parents tried, I quit piano lessons after a month. From the moment I picked up a guitar, though, I had the irresistible urge to create. At the time I worked as a plumber’s apprentice, and I would spend my days silently working out lyrics and melodies in my head as I drilled holes and glued pipes. I remember being at an open mic night when I was first learning how to play and hearing a local songwriter say something that changed my life forever. He said, “If you want to write a good song then write a song every day until you do” Those words would come to define my artistic practice for the next 22 years and running. I am always writing. I have finished hundreds and hundreds of songs, released six albums, and continue to work on a new song every single day.

In 2014, after releasing a few Americana albums, my music career took a turn with the birth of my first child. I realized that if I was to continue writing the way I wanted, I’d need to include my son in the work. I started writing children’s music under the name Hot Toast Music Company. As a new parent, I was soon confronted with the reality that, like it or not, my consumption of music was going to change. I now had a vested interest in creating music that wasn’t only enjoyable and meaningful to kids but also elevated the experience of childhood and invited adults to share in it once again. So I set out to wrap words and melodies around topics that both kids and their grown-ups would connect with. A great example of this can be found in the lyrics to my “I Want Monster” song. “Happiness comes from inside. You can’t find it in things, not even the things you like.” I can’t tell you how many parents have pulled me aside and told me stories of how those lines hit hard on the drive to school and then hit even harder when they listened again after the kids were dropped off.

I released my debut album “Let Me Hear Your Voice” in 2018 and it became somewhat of an overnight sensation here in Tulsa, OK. Since then I have played 300+ shows every year at venues, museums, zoos, aquariums, festivals, schools, libraries, and other non-profits, as well as fitting in the occasional birthday and block parties. Last year I started a touring schedule as well, making regular trips to Dallas, Austin, Bentonville, Waco, Denver, Witchita, and Brooklyn. My most recent album, “All The Feels” sold out two release concerts drawing over 500 people in attendance at each. It has been an entirely grass-roots build as almost all of my marketing has come from word of mouth. I am honored to have become a sought-after songwriter and have been commissioned to write songs for many artists and organizations as well. Some of my current noteworthy collaborations include writing and recording a song for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, creating an SEL music curriculum for Tulsa Public Schools called “Musical Moods”, writing and releasing a song for the internationally acclaimed park (Gathering Place), and working with local elementary schools to write, compose, and record songs with students.

I’ve always believed that music should be accessible to everyone. Whether you have a grand piano in your living room, or just the pots and pans in your cabinet, music is yours for the discovering. One thing that sets a Hot Toast show apart is my commitment to this idea. I create hundreds of DIY instruments with kids and then bring them to all of my shows so that everyone is a part of the band. I take it way beyond just shakers! At any given Hot Toast concert, along with a dozen mini pianos, you’re sure to see bucket drums, floor mallets, musical spoons, jingle jangle sticks, and hose horns. For me, a successful show is one where kids don’t feel like they are at a concert so much as a part of a conversation. When I’m interrupted mid-song with a question about unicorns, I know I’m doing something right. Because of this, my “concerts” are extremely adaptable. I play everything from full band big stage performances to small groups of preschoolers, to battery-powered shows in the middle of the park. Every time I play for kids, it’s an opportunity for us all to learn something new!

After doing this over the past 9 years, I’m incredibly grateful to have stayed true to my original mission of making songs that aren’t only written for kids, but WITH kids. Every single song I write is a collaboration with kids, inspired by a curious question, a thoughtful observation, or an interesting conversation. My goal is for kids to have a song for everything that they think about. Adults have this, so why shouldn’t they?

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The very first weekend of the lockdown in 2020 I got a call about a birthday party I was scheduled to play. The kid’s parents were canceling the party given the situation. In the time between hearing the disappointment in the mom’s voice and hanging up the phone, I had an idea. What if I played a birthday concert for that family in the street in front of their house? They could listen from the porch. It wouldn’t be the full party experience but the child would still feel celebrated and it would be safe for everyone. I called her back and the rest is history. Over the next four months, I played an average of five driveway concerts a day for families all over the state. At the same time, I wrote and recorded a song for kids encouraging them to wash their hands and support their community by staying home for a time. I used videos from my concerts to create a music video documenting the magic of these experiences. It caught the attention of the Instagram page @SomeGoodNews and was shared with their one million followers. I was also featured on our local news station and an episode of The Yippee Show. This publicity even led to a featured quote in a New York Times article by Alex Williams. It is no secret that the pandemic was an incredibly difficult time for performers everywhere. I feel so fortunate that it was the complete opposite for me. One single decision to pivot and try something different than I had planned fueled my current career.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Before I started writing music with kids, I used to get incredibly attached to my art. The hours I would pour into writing and rewriting songs to express my thoughts and feelings made every creative endeavor personal and an extension of my identity. I remember how difficult this made it for me to share my music in fulfilling ways. My perfectionism and idealistic goals were an Achilles heel that made my recordings and performances bittersweet. Letting go has to be one of the biggest lessons you learn as a new parent, and that lesson inevitably trickled down into my creative world as well. I used to see music as a way to communicate my perspective and work through my inner conflict, but when my sons were born those things all took a back seat to more pressing issues. Suddenly changing diapers, researching developmental benchmarks, and even psychoanalyzing the effects of my own childhood hardships took precedence. One of the first songs that I ever wrote for kids is about my son Isaac’s first favorite solid food, toast. It sounds like a silly topic to make music about as an adult, but in order to write it I had to intentionally look outside of myself in a way that I had never done before as a writer. When I paid attention, I realized that I was taking for granted some of the same things that he was enchanted by. His excitement when the bread would pop up from the toaster and how he would shout when it did, the way he would always point out that it was too hot to eat, and how safe and comfortable he felt whenever we made it for breakfast. The simplest of things had so much depth and I never would have seen it on my own. From that song on I stopped feeling like the music was mine, or maybe better said “me.” I had a piece of a puzzle and I needed a community to put it all together.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hottoastmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hottoastmusicco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hottoastmusicco/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hottoast
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4RD7ZKkKA4xqv87XSUvkXX?si=xYlyC71DRZqs_f6T4rh_Fg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/hot-toast-music-company/1452032048

Image Credits
Tony Li