Making Music Together: Introducing SonSan

My sons Finn and Haakon have a new music project. It’s called SonSan, and the three of us have started making music together.

If you’ve spent time with me at Yoga Sound Bath, you know how much I value the experience of listening. In a sound bath, we make space to notice what’s happening around us and within us. Making music with my boys has given me another way to explore that same kind of attention.

When we sit down to create something together, we listen to the sounds we’re making and to one another. We try things. We make choices. Sometimes an unexpected sound becomes the most interesting part.

I wanted to give Finn and Haakon the chance to experience what it feels like to make something of their own. There are so many things available to consume, including music, shows, games, and videos. There’s pleasure in all of them. But making something invites a different kind of participation. It gives us a way to explore an idea, follow our curiosity, and see where it takes us.

I also want the boys to feel comfortable sharing what they make. They don’t have to wait until a song is perfect. They can create something, enjoy it, share it with their friends if they want to, and come back to it years from now. Each recording can hold a little piece of who they were at the time.

Why SonSan?

The name carries a few meanings for our family.

Son is for my sons. San is a Japanese honorific, somewhat like “Mr.” Together, SonSan sounds like “Mr. Son,” a nod to Raffi’s “Mr. Sun,” one of the boys’ favorite songs, even though we spell ours differently.

Since they were babies, I’ve also called them FinnSan and HaakonSan. Finn sometimes becomes FinnsonSan. Those names have been part of our family for years, so SonSan felt right.

And san can mean “three” in Japanese: Finn, Haakon, and me.

Our first song

Our first song is out in the world. It’s a chance for us to share something we made together and to keep a little record of this time in our lives.

Listen to SonSan’s first song

I don’t know exactly where this project will go, and that’s part of what I love about it. We can keep listening, experimenting, and making things together. Years from now, I hope the boys can hear these recordings and remember what it felt like to create them.