Michael Hearst

The One Ring Zero member gets record deal for Songs for Ice Cream Trucks

By Jennifer Coleman
Published: June 14th, 2007 | 12:24pm

When Michael Hearst sticks his head into his Brooklyn freezer to report on its contents, he notes a bottle of gin, lots of coffee, and a bag of lima beans. There are plastic containers of 6-month-old homemade chili and chopped herbs for the next time he needs a pinch of fresh cilantro — à la Martha Stewart, he says.

There’s a surplus of freeze packs that once chilled the lump crab meat his mom brings up from Virginia when she visits. There is not, however, ice cream. The day before our phone interview, Hearst sheepishly admits, he finished off a carton of his favorite local ice cream brand, 5 Boroughs (he especially likes the SoHo flavor — cappuccino ice cream with hazelnut biscotti and chocolate espresso flakes). It was the first hot day of 2007, as fitting a time as any to eat ice cream.

Summertime reminds Hearst of the excitement surrounding ice cream trucks that frequented his Virginia Beach neighborhood when he was a kid. Heavenly Hash was his favorite flavor then, though he has a tough time finding it nowadays and calls most of the ice cream that trucks sell “crappy.” Yet, the incessant, singular tune the trucks blasted as they lumbered down his childhood street has followed him into adulthood. Now, as a music producer and member of the band One Ring Zero, Hearst’s Brooklyn recording studio is located on the street side of his building, where his windows allow for the sounds of passing ice cream trucks to seep in. “So many records that I’ve done have Mister Softee in the background,” he says. Finding this intrusion annoying but fascinating, Hearst decided to make an album of songs that ice cream trucks could play, and the idea for his new album, Songs For Ice Cream Trucks, was born. “I liked the idea. If I can’t beat them, I’ll do one myself.”

One Ring Zero’s music has always had a slightly ice-creamy sound, Hearst says. “I have a hard time avoiding waltzes and weird, circusy melodies, so the album wasn’t a major challenge in that sense.” When he began working on the CD about two years ago, he created a MySpace page for the completed songs. Soon, ice cream truck drivers desperate for musical variety were contacting him, and he began selling them before the album was finished. “There’s a little ice cream community of fruit loops like us!” says Hearst.

Released in April 2007, Songs For Ice Cream Trucks evokes bittersweet memories of clown-shaped ice cream cones, brain freeze, family car rides, backyard games, swing sets, heat- and sugar-influenced tantrums, sand in the sheets, fireflies, amusement parks, and summer-camp sing-a-longs. Hearst shows off his multi-instrumental talents on songs like “Where Do Ice Cream Trucks Go in The Winter?” and “The Moose Track Shake,” playing instruments that might include the glockenspiel, electronic chord organ, melodica, claviola, space crickets (invented by his brother’s friend, they consist of springs and metal balls that vibrate against each other when squeezed together), theremin, Casiotone, guitar, bass, and drums. If you’re unsure what any of these instruments sound like, visit songsforicecreamtrucks.com and scroll over the photos to hear the instruments.

The mostly instrumental songs are as light as cotton candy, but contain an element of Willy Wonka, as played by Gene Wilder — sweet, yet slightly eerie. In a world of “pure imagination,” you could imagine that Willy Wonka would be close friends with Lemony Snicket (a.k.a. writer-musician Daniel Handler) and Michael Chabon, whose blurbs adorn Songs For Ice Cream Trucks’ cover. You could also imagine that Chabon wrote his blurb as atonement for rejecting One Ring Zero’s request to write a song for their 2004 album As Smart as We Are, which featured lyrics by other members of the literati, like Handler, A.M. Homes, Paul Auster, and Dave Eggers.

On the Songs For Ice Cream Trucks’ final, lyrical song, “Before I Drive Away,” Hearst choruses with more elite and eccentric New Yorkers, including Rick Moody, Michael Buscemi, Magnetic Fields’ Claudia Gonson, and his One Ring Zero bandmate Joshua Camp. His friend and neighbor, Las Rubias del Norte’s Allyssa Lamb, brought one of the kids’ bands she leads to the studio as well. The group joins Hearst in singing the very catchy, “It’s cold and it’s sweet, a tasty treat, ice cream’s here to stay / You should come and get some now before I drive away / Ice cream’s for adults and kids and all who sing along / Get it while I’m on your street ’cause soon I will be gone.”

At press time in June, Songs For Ice Cream Trucks had just been scheduled for a larger-scaled release on Bar/None Records. It’s currently available on Hearst’s Web site, MySpace, Amazon and iTunes, and soon might be at an ice cream store near you.

When asked what’s churning next for him, Hearst laughs and jokes, “Songs for grocery stores, and elevators.”

MICHAEL HEARST'S FAVORITE ICE CREAM
(Not your typical ice cream truck fare!)

-5 Boroughs Ice Cream makes a flavor to represent each of New York City’s boroughs. The brain(freeze)-child of a married duo, 5 Boroughs uses local ingredients and is available at stores like Gourmet Garage and Murray’s Cheese.
-Colson Patisserie (374 9th Street, Brooklyn, New York) is a few blocks from Hearst’s apartment. Needless to say, he finds himself there quite often, and is partial to the mango and lime sorbets.
-At Uncle Louie G (various locations) Hearst’s favorites are the chocolate, cherry vanilla, and cappuccino chunk flavors.
-Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory (1 Water Street and also 97 Commercial Street, Brooklyn, New York) is known for its egg-less, smooth and creamy ice cream, and sweeping city views.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Coleman is a New Yorker by way of Charleston, South Carolina. She writes about food on her blog, and is considering starting a national campaign to make ice cream one word. She likes her ice cream with all the fixin’s.