Mixtape: Everything And The Kitchen Sink by Little Fish
Dance yourself clean.
Our first official mixtape comes from my friends at Little Fish in Los Angeles. If you haven’t heard of them yet, that’s how you know they’re cool. Little Fish is a do it yourself, stay-at-home, pop up fish fry—or, DIYSAHPUFF. And if that wasn’t enough, the good people of Little Fish—Niki, Forrest, and Anna—also provide a twice-monthly food newsletter you can subscribe to on Substack. But when they’re not busy slinging seafood in Echo Park, or delivering high quality recipes right to your inbox, they’re working hard cleaning the kitchen. And this is the mixtape that powers them through that grueling process.
If you’ve ever wondered whether little fish and green bananas go together, now is the time to find out. Listen above and read our interview with Little Fish below.
GREEN BANANAS: I first want to sincerely thank you for making this mixtape. I think you’ve done an excellent job. Now, explain yourself.
LITTLE FISH: We're Niki, Anna, and Forrest and we run the Little Fish pop-up! Every other Sunday we make fried fish and a few market sides and serve it to guests through a little window in our home kitchen. When the shutdown happened, Niki and Forrest (both chefs at an LA seafood restaurant) found themselves furloughed and with some extra time on their hands, and The Fry was born! In serving nearly 100 people out of your home kitchen, there is inevitably an enormous amount of clean up.
After three long, long, long, days of fish butchery, farmers market trips and veggie prepping leading up to the fry, these are the songs that get us through that final push of the night when we have to tackle the dishes. It's a little bit of everything, but songs that keep us dancing while we fiiiiiinally get to nurse a beer or glass of wine (often very kindly brought by customers!).
What if our listeners don’t run an upstart fish fry out of their kitchen window—can they still enjoy this mixtape?
Yes! If you've ever cooked a meal for a crowd (or even for just yourself) and find yourself staring at a kitchen in disarray, this playlist is for you. There is a specific dread that comes with knowing you still have a clean up to do, and hopefully these songs will ease the pain. There's no reason you can't dance while you scrub.
Is it safe to be dancing so much while cleaning very sharp knives?
You do what you have to do when you’ve committed to a dance lifestyle. It's a risk we're willing to take.
What was the first song you added to this mix?
The first song we added was “Fotonovela.” There isn't a single fry, fry planning meeting, fry dish wash, or car ride to get fry ingredients that goes by without this song playing at least once.
I’m glad you brought this up. Where did this treasure come from and is the rest of the book as good as the first chapter?
This song is a staple of the kitchen in the restaurant where all three of us worked before the pandemic (along with a song called “Rumores” by Joan Sebastian which we cut for time on this playlist, but WOW is it an important song).
That’s something I appreciate about this mixtape. Technically, you could have included “Rumores” as you only used 38 of your allotted 60-minutes. But while I would love more minutes of this mixtape, I would also love fewer minutes of cleaning. Is that the idea?
If you’re cleaning for an hour, I’m so sorry for you. This playlist is a hope, a prayer, a wish that you don’t have more than 38 minutes of cleaning left to do. If you do, 1.) you are in our thoughts and prayers; and 2.) hit us with a DM and we’ll send you the unedited version.
What is your favorite moment on this mixtape?
Around the time “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” comes on, we’re a drink or two in, everyone is in their zone (Forrest washing dishes, Niki scrubbing the stove, and Anna putting things away) and we are feeling good. The cleanup is finally starting to get under control, the finish line is in sight and we everyone hums along.
The opener and closer feel very intentional. Obviously, “It’s My House” is perfect because it is your house and you do live there. But ending on a duet was a really nice touch considering the collaboration and harmony your work demands. Correct?
Absolutely! Though I’ll admit that all of these songs are sung as a duet...trio…? No one isn’t singing at all times, let’s just put it that way.
How’d you come up with this title?
You helped us out with this one. While we can fry a fantastic piece of fish, puns are not our strong suit. Hats off to you.
I’ll take the compliment and your big fluffy chef hats. Though technically it’s just a really artful turn of phrase and not a pun. That said, have you ever thought about doing a special Friday Day Fry in Fryman Canyon?
We think about it every day. It keeps us up at night.
Okay, so where can the people follow you and how can they get in on this fish fry?
Follow us on Instagram @Littlefish_EchoPark where we post when orders open up for Fish Frys! You’ll see in our bio a link to sign up for our newsletter where we post recipes and tips for how to buy, cook, and seek out high quality seafood. Our Frys happen every other Sunday out of our home in Echo Park for take out only (pick up through our tiny kitchen window).
Last question! How does it feel to be Green Bananas’s first official mixtape maker? Would you do it again? And why not?
We’re so excited to be asked! Playing fun music is such an important part of the days we spend working on the frys and we are stoked that anyone would want to be boogying along with us. 10/10 would do again.
“...the days we spend working on the frys.” You really have to go out of your way to not to say fry days, don’t you?
We actually do call them fry days in private.
But not in public because fry day is not Friday.
Fry day is Sunday. Listen, if you’re confused, just follow us on Instagram and we’ll straighten you out.
Thanks Anna, Niki, and Forrest for sharing their Little Fish soundtrack with us. You can get their newsletter anywhere in the world and if you’re in Los Angeles you can order some food. And you should. What else do you have to do right now? Plus, who doesn’t want fry day on Sunday?
And now I’m curious what music other people listen to when they clean. Anything specific? And are there any other songs out there that you feel really compliment this?
If you enjoyed this taste of Green Bananas, please sign up for more. There’s more to come, after all. Big stuff, too. Boffo, even. Can’t wait to share it. Tell your friends.
Stay safe. Stay sane.