shuffleboil “I’ll try to find you some and I’ll bring them to you.”

It’s up for dispute whether Mother Goose was really a woman in Boston or just a legend that wouldn’t die — Father Goose, however, is a much more tangible person and he grooves a lot harder than his famous ancestor. Also known as Rankin Don, Father Goose is a Jamaican dancehall rapper and dj whose career took a strange turn when he hooked up with musician Dan Zanes and entered the world of children’s entertainment.

I had the opportunity to interview Father Goose for a story recently — a nicer fellow you could not imagine. Here is the text of the interview:

JM: How did you first become involved with creating kids’ music.

FG: Dan and I were hanging out and he had this idea to make a tape and asked me to sing on the tape. And I was joking around and I did the “Father Goose Medley,” the ABCs. To me it was just clowning around.

JM: What were you doing at the time musically?

FG: I was still in the dancehall band as Rankin’ Don, doing more hardcore stuff. I was a doing a lot of that, I had a couple records out, I was touring.

JM: How long did it take you to transition into the kids’s stuff?

FG: It took a while. At first, it was “Can I do both of them?” and then “If I choose one, which should I choose?” I actually gave it a lot of thought after the passing of my father. I took some time in San Francisco just to clear my head. Thinking of the type of person that he was, the obvious choice was with kids, because he was the type of person who liked to bring kids together, join them, do teams like cricket, soccer teams, he liked to do that sort of stuff. I figured somewhere along the line it was probably my calling.

JM: Is your family musical?

FG: In the sense that they loved to listen to music. They don’t go out very much, but they loved to entertain at home. They loved to play music and invite friends over and have a good time.

JM: You were born in Jamaica — when did you come to the United States?

FG: I came to this country at a very young age, around four or five, and spent all my summer vacations, whether in Brooklyn or in Florida or in Canada or in London, but mostly in Brooklyn, East Flatbush.

JM: When did you first become interested in music?

FG: As a kid, I remember I used to play the stereo from the age of five. I had my first record that my mother bought me — “This Train” by a group called Culture.

JM: Was that the stuff you liked growing up?

FG: Not particularly, I was just fascinated that you put something on the turntable and it had everyone dancing and enjoying themselves. I was fascinated by that, “Wow, this is something that makes somebody have a good time!” That really drew my interest.

JM: When did you start doing music and performing out?

FG: It’s kind of hard to figure, I didn’t actually decide that I wanted to do this, it just happened around friends, they got a big kick out of what I was doing and one thing lead to another. I would never look at it as something I was trying to do as a career, I look at it as something I’m doing just for the fun of it. My stuff as dancehall was mostly comical, I’d tell jokes.

JM: Do you still do any music strictly for grown-ups?

FG: The only thing I ever do for grown-ups is for the parents who come to the shows, for them to get involved in what I’m doing. I love where I’m at right now and I love the type of music that I do right now. To me, it’s a blessing that Dan opened my eyes to this type of music.

JM: It’s interesting hearing your vocal style put in context of all sorts of folk music and blues and even sea shanties.

FG: I always tend to experiment from back in the dancehall days. I never like to do the same thing over and over again, a then be then c. I always try to do something different and way out. Because of that, it made it easier when Dan was showing these off beats to me and I could be a part of it and have fun with it.

JM: Has this all opened up some musical styles to you that you’ve come to like working with more than before you started?

FG: Yeah. I would say it allows me to be me. Doing dancehall is more like acting, I tell everyone that. Sometime I’d have a hard audience and I’d have to play that role, even though I’m not hard. I’m a kid inside, so doing this type of music is perfect, it’s how I see myself on stage, it’s like walking out in my living room and having fun.

JM: What do you think about when you’re choosing songs to perform?

FG: Something has to hit me. Most likely I get my inspiration late at night, like two or three o’clock in the morning, and sometimes when I’m in Florida, I’ll be on the beach at this time, and I’ll see how it moves me and I’ll say “Okay, I’d like to perform that.”

When it comes to performing, it depends on the mood of the people, most of the time that’s how I select what I’d like to play next. A lot of people like to plan, their shows have a set list, my band kills me for that sometime, not all the time, but when there’s a set list, I’ll want to change it because I think they’re in the mood for this song more than the other one. I think that I get that from being a disc jockey, where I would never preselect my songs before a party. You have to go see the crowd, see the vibe of the people, for them to enjoy themselves. It’s the same concept.

JM: It seems like a difficult job to figure out what appeals to kids and figure out what appeals to adults and then figure out what appeals to both and work with that.

FG: Funnily enough, I don’t worry about that, maybe because I’m a big kid, so I tend to give me my experience, what I love, and usually they seem to like the type of music that I like and it seems to be working for me. I don’t tend to worry about what people like, you can drive yourself crazy that way. If it’s good music, people enjoy it.

JM: You work a lot with kids on the albums — in fact, on Dan’s albums, it seems like all your songs are centered around working with the kids. Can that be challenging?

FG: It’s fun for them to have their input. You ask them what they think, how they feel about it. You work together, you give them the idea you have in mind, something like that. I like to have it where it’s call-and-respond. When I first laid down a track, I make sure that I have a lot of space there for the kids to come in and sing the ABCs so that I’m the one whose singing it out and the kids sing along. It’s pretty cool working with kids.

JM: Are there any areas that you’d like to go into musically that you haven’t yet?

FG: Its a journey and I’m at the beginning of my journey, from my childhood coming to Brooklyn, and there are a lot of different styles of songs that I used to listen to as a kid growing up and I didn’t get to put them on this album. The next album you’re definitely going to hear some more stuff, definitely like rock and roll and a little country and western. Growing up in Jamaica, we used to listen to a lot of country and western songs.

Sometimes me and Dan, we’re joking, and people will ask, “Who on Earth is that?” They never heard of Marty Robbins. “Who is Marty Robbins?” So I’ll say, okay, let’s bring it back, how about “Kenny Rogers?” That’s my background. Songs like “One O’Clock, Two O’Clock, Three O’Clock Rock.” It’s a journey and I haven’t reached that side of it yet.

JM: In Brooklyn and New York City, there’s a lot of music in the air, and a lot of varied styles. That seems very reflected in both your and Dan’s music.

FG: I like it when people come together, you bring a little bit of your culture, I bring a little bit of my culture, we mix it together and make something wonderful. My whole concept is that if we can bring the whole world together through music, why not?

There’s nothing I like better than hopping in my car at 3 o’clock in the morning, popping in a CD and just driving and everything just all comes together.

JM: What music do you listen to these days?

FG: I don’t listen to a wide variety of stuff. At night to put me to sleep, I listen to old country, it puts me and Baby Goose to sleep. Maybe a little old jazz. Or maybe we rock each other to sleep.

JM: Do you still go to Jamaica?

FG: Yes, I do. I’m such a house rat when I go to Jamaica. I stay inside, walk around the yard. My mom is there now, she moved back. I don’t have to really leave, everything is here, oranges, coconuts, mangoes, everything is right here for my enjoyment.

A lot of people would like to say, “I’m from the rough part of Jamaica,” but I am not. That’s the sad truth. I can’t say that I’m coming from the streets, I can’t say that. It’s pretty comfortable. It’s in the suburbs, a gated community. Everyone knows everyone in the area. Even when I was in school out there, it was the same thing.

JM: How many children do you have?

FG: I have one daughter, 13, and I have a son, almost two months.

JM: How do your kids effect the music?

FG: My daughter made me change from the hardcore stuff. She’s listening, my mom’s listening, you realize that you have a responsibility. She’s on the album.

JM: Do use a lot of the same musicians from Dan’s album or a crew of your own?
FG: I did use some of the musicians on Dan’s albums, but I use a lot of my friends who are musicians as well.

JM: Are these guys you were working with before you did the kid’s music?

FG: Some of them. They understand the direction that I’m going in and it’s fun for them as well. It’s a good thing. I show them, this is what I’m doing, and they become a part of it, they like it and then they can try it.

JM: The kids music thing is a new movement and a growing one and now you’re bringing in guys and that may just expand it and perpetuate it.

FG: That’s exactly how I see it. I do my share, somebody comes in and adds what they can to it, it’s like we’re having a big barbecue, everybody brings their own little flavor and their own spice and everything and we all come together and have this huge cookout and we all enjoy themselves. At the end of the day, everybody feels great and they all go home with a nice smile on their face.

JM: Sometimes do they bring spices that you didn’t expect but you’re happy they did?

FG: Some of these guys, I’ve known forever, I’ve known since the 80s. Like Evil Screecher Dan. I remember after doing this music for a while and I ran into Screecher Dan and he said “This music you’re doing, it’s different,” and I said, “Yeah, I feel like you’re the perfect person for this type of music because of the way your mind thinks,” and he was laughing. When it came time for me to do an album, I brought him on it, it was a blast, we were just making up stuff right there on the spot. Everyone adds their own little flavor and when I see the reviews I’m getting for this album, I have to thank everybody who actually came in and did their share.

JM: How does it translate to a live show?

FG: When we perform, you can see the whole picture come together, the whole puzzle. Sometimes, I have to catch myself, because I tend to want to stand and soak it all up, forgetting that I’m performing. I have to stop tear rolling down my cheek because I’m so happy that this is an idea that I had, we worked it out in the studio — and then there’s the audience, the kids and the parents and how well they’re enjoying it. Sometimes it really comes to me deep down and I have to stop myself – “Whoa! I’m doing a show now, let’s think about this later!”

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