This is New Wisco Weekend, I'm Lisa Hale.
When you think of someone as a hero or a superhero, do you picture someone who's brave?
Now let me ask you this, do you picture yourself?
For Terry Barr talks with someone who suggests through a song, you can be a superhero.
And better yet, you can be your own brave hero.
Here's Terry with more.
Thanks Lisa, the discussion around the idea of heroes and superheroes, you know being
one for others or maybe others for you, this has been so powerful today.
But then I heard a local band has a song about it and I was determined to find and talk
to one of them.
And I found her.
Sean Del Marks is with the band Gin Chocolate Bottle Rockets and she joins me.
Thanks, Shawnee.
I love this song.
Thank you Terry, I'm so glad you love it.
First tell me a little bit about Gin Chocolate Bottle Rockets, we'll keep the suspense
on the song for a minute.
All right, Gin Chocolate Bottle Rockets is a music project that I'm involved in with
the lovely ladies Beth Kelly and Jen Farley.
We've been together for 11 years now and we play around the area.
We have a lot of fun.
We love our fans, just lighthearted, whereas fun as we sound, Gin Chocolate and Bottle Rockets.
The song, what about be your own superhero?
You took a different angle because we always talk about other people as superheroes.
Where did the idea of being your own superhero come from?
Be your own superhero was just at a time in my life where I was about to step into something
that was new for me and I was afraid.
When this phrase came to mind, be your own superhero.
It's just a reminder of how powerful we really can be that we forget, sometimes we forget
about how powerful we are.
That phrase came to mind and I brought that title to my bandmate Beth Kelly and we've been
together 11 years now and this was the very first song that we wrote together.
I said, hey, how about writing a song about this and she was like, yes, I love it, you
know.
She's just so open to ideas and we just ran with it.
It turned into sort of like an anti-bling song for kids and we were like, okay, well,
this will be a kid's song, that's okay, but what was really interesting is our adult
fans like it even more than our kids fans because it's a message that I think all of us need
to be reminded of.
You know, you don't have to wear capen tites to stand up for what's right or even to stand
up for yourself or to stand up for something that you want to achieve for yourself.
So it's really about empowerment, self-reliance, I have to remind myself of it pretty much
every day.
Oh, I understand and I can feel that, you know, you wrote it years ago, you said, with
Beth.
Is the meaning different for you now or is it pretty similar?
I would say it's pretty similar, of course, as we go through life, things change, our surroundings
change, our kids grow up.
We step into new situations, rooms all of the time.
I think the message remains the same, but there's a line in it like, I have x-ray vision,
I can see through the other side, you know, that can be applied to different situations
as well.
It's fun when you hear it, it's almost like an anthem and I've been around both adults
and kids when you play it.
It's fun to watch everybody sing along.
It really does give that power to every single person who's singing with you.
But if you listen to the recording, there are Beth's son, Gus, my daughter, Ellie, she
was six years old and they also sing.
There's a little hidden part in the songs, if you listen carefully, you can hear them singing
and now they're taller than us, so it's easy to sing.
Well, we'll listen for that part in the song when we play it in just a minute.
I wanted to ask, you know, you believe in empowering others to believe in themselves.
What do you do to try to help support others?
I just feel like people have so much to offer if they get in touch with their authentic
selves, because usually that truth within is universal and other people need to hear that.
But we're a little bit afraid to share it, right?
It's vulnerable, sharing that.
And I just wanted to write a song that reminds people that they're stronger than they think.
We all have hero versions inside of us that we just need to believe in.
On that note, Shondelle Marks, let's listen to Gin Chocolate and Bottle Rockets and your
song Be Your Own Superhero.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Terry.
I can see that you said I'm hurting, your dreams and plans have come undone, nobody's
nice, nothing's fun.
The Browse and Bullies have you wishing you could fly off in a single bound, find a steel
and don't back down.
You don't have to wear a cape and tight, stand up for what is right.
Be Your Own Superhero when the sun doesn't shine, hurt those clouds, make way for the light.
You've got heart, you've got muscle, you've got nothing too high, have no fear of
superhero.
I used to soak up my pity heartily, I couldn't leave, couldn't find a door till I learn what
my eyes are for.
I discovered I had extreme vision, I could see it through the other side, through the
field and out of the skies.
Find your wings and trust your might, don't feel your pockets up with crib tonight.
Be Your Own Superhero when the sun doesn't shine, hurt those clouds, make way for the light.
You've got heart, you've got muscle, you've got nothing too high, have no fear of
Be Your Own Superhero.
There'll be days when the forces of evil try to bring you down.
All you've got to do is sound in alarm, bring your super friends around.
Thank you for being a part of New Wisco Weekend, your look at Superheroes and Everyday Heroes in Wisconsin.
New Wisco Weekend is produced and written by Terry Barr and Lisa Hale, our executive producer
is Todd Michaels, directed by Lisa Hale.
Our lead correspondent is Terry Barr, with features from Conrad Krieger, Brittany Merlot,
Joanne Croulette, Adam Hess, and Peach Waba.
Our commentator is Amanda Nimmer.
If you have a story you'd like to hear covered, email me, Lisa.Hale at civicmedia.us.
I'm civic media northeast Wisconsin bureau chief Lisa Hale for WISS and WGBW news.
Be unstoppable.
Thanks for watching.
