Battling invisible enemies through the power of song for kids

Teeny Tiny Stevies – aka Melbourne sisters Beth and Byll Stephen – are the latest stars to grace our Isolation Room series.

When live music venues began to close in March due to restrictions on social gatherings, Byll and Beth Stephen were in the same unenviable position as most performing artists as they watched concert bookings evaporate, as well as their reliable source of income.

The Melbourne-based sisters were unusually poised to make proverbial lemonade from that truckload of lemons, however, given that their music duo Teeny Tiny Stevies is geared at adding melody and harmony to simplifying everyday situations for small children — or as the title of their ARIA-nominated 2018 album has it, they make Helpful Songs for Little People.

“We basically lost all our work and were a bit shell-shocked, and then people started tagging us ­online, saying, ‘We need a song’,” says Byll. After initially demurring, the songwriter came around to the suggestion and relished the challenge of creating something topical for young ears that named neither the virus nor the disease.

“For me, this was a way I could contribute,” says Byll. “I can’t be in hospital, literally saving a life, but what can I do? Well, I can write a song. That’s what inspired us to ­finally sit down and just do it.”

Named Stay Home, the resulting creation explains the massive social upheaval in simple but effect­ive terms, and the pair have recorded an exclusive acoustic duo version for The Australian’s Isolation­ Room video series. “’Cause when your enemy’s invisible, and nobody’s invincible / You’re a bit of a hero if you talk on the phone and stay home,” they harmonise in its chorus.

Teeny Tiny Stevies’ Beth Stephen. Picture: Aaron Francis

Teeny Tiny Stevies’ Byll Stephen. Picture: Aaron Francis

Other than a short and socially distanced live-streamed performance, the Stephen sisters haven’t seen each other in person since the lockdown began. Stay Home marks the first time they have written a song remotely and, in this case, their physical isolation has emphasised their respective strengths as musicians and writers.

“She plays all the picky, really good-sounding parts and I play the basic chords,” says Byll of Beth. “But I’ve also grown to learn over the years that isn’t necessarily something that holds you back with songwriting. As Paul Kelly will tell you, there are plenty of great songs written with three chords, so I try to remember that.”

Later this week, Isolation Room will feature a performance by pianist Elena Kats-Chernin, and novelist Trent Dalton will read an exclusive excerpt from his forthcoming second novel, All Our Shimmering Skies.