Smoosh
Encyclopedia
Smoosh is an American indie pop
band from Seattle, Washington
. They have released three albums, She Like Electric
, Free to Stay
and Withershins
, all of which were written and performed by singer/keyboardist Asya (preferred name Asy, born February 2, 1992) and her sister, drummer Chloe (born March 5, 1994). Their younger sister Maia (born September 5, 1996) joined the band in early 2007.
At the time of their first album, She Like Electric, released on September 21, 2004, Asy was 12 years old and Chloe was 10. All of their songs are originals with both music and lyrics written by the girls themselves. Maia, then not in the band, provided the cover artwork for both that album and their next, Free to Stay.
They live with their father Mike, a medical researcher, their mother Maria, a pediatrician of Swedish descent, and their younger sister Scout. They do not give out their last name to interviewers. Asy, Chloe and Maia are all vegetarians. They are, to some extent, protégées of Chloe's drum teacher, Jason McGerr
, who is now the drummer of Death Cab for Cutie
.
Neither Asy nor Chloe read music, then. Asy had then had some formal piano training but soon quit because it was "boring".
In 2000, Smoosh released Tomato Mistakes – a two-track single
that, for a long time, was mailed free of charge to anyone who wanted it. Four years later, in September 2004, She Like Electric, Smoosh's full-length
debut was released under Pattern 25 Records.
By the time Smoosh released their second LP, on June 6, 2006, titled Free to Stay, they were picked up by Seattle-based indie label
Barsuk Records
. Its third and title track, "Free to Stay", was an early song featured on Tomato Mistakes. Asy also plays guitar on the track 'Waiting for Something' off Free to Stay. The second album also features the song "Find A Way" which Smoosh performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on July 12, 2006, marking their first performance on late night TV. As they toured with the Eels
as part of a world tour in mid-2006, they are also featured on the California
-based band's live DVD/CD Live and in Person! London 2006
.
On August 5, 2007, Smoosh performed at Lollapalooza 2007 at Chicago's Grant Park
. Their set included a cover of "This Modern Love
" by Bloc Party
, who they would later tour with that same year in September. Earlier that year, they also performed a headlining spring tour on the east coast
with The Postmarks.
The band plays "Pajama Party Time" on Yo Gabba Gabba! episode 5 originally aired August 27. 2007.
Critics have generally compared their sound to that of Tori Amos
and PJ Harvey
, and have been almost uniformly impressed with the quality of the material coming from such young writers and performers. They have opened for many leading Pacific Northwest
bands including Pearl Jam
, Death Cab for Cutie
, Sleater-Kinney
, and the Presidents of the United States of America
, as well as for other acts such as Mates of State
, Jimmy Eat World
, Cat Power
(who also covered their song, 'Rad'), Nada Surf
, Sufjan Stevens
and The Go! Team
. Asy collaborated with Seattle indie band Head Like a Kite to create the songs "Noisy at the Circus" (which can be found on Head Like a Kite's first album Random Portraits of the Home Movie), "Daydream Vacation" (which can be found on their second album There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere), and "Let's Start It All Again" (which can be found on their album Dreams Suspend Night, and also available via the KEXP Song of the Day website ). The girls have also been performing a cover of "Flyswatter" by The Eels, in which Maia plays glockenspiel. Asy also lends her voice to the soundtrack of the musical film God Help the Girl
created by Stuart Murdoch
of Belle & Sebastian
, where she sings on the songs "I Just Want Your Jeans" and "A Down and Dusky Blonde". She also provided the vocals on the song "I Fell for the Fall" by Swedish band Karma Tree.
In early 2008, they toured with Tokyo Police Club
and The Dresden Dolls
.
In June 2010, Smoosh released their much anticipated third album, Withershins
(previously titled The World's Not Bad).
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band from Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. They have released three albums, She Like Electric
She Like Electric
She Like Electric is the debut album recorded by Seattle sister duo, Smoosh.http://www.npr.org/s.php?sId=4167837&m=1http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40127-2004Sep21.html They were twelve and ten years old at the time they recorded it...
, Free to Stay
Free to stay
Free to Stay is the follow-up LP to Smoosh's 2004's release of She Like Electric. The album was released on June 6, 2006.-Track listing:#"Find a Way" – 3:03#"I Would Go" – 3:09#"Free to Stay" – 2:51#"Rock Song" – 2:00...
and Withershins
Withershins (album)
Withershins is the follow-up LP to Smoosh's 2006 release of Free To Stay. The album was released on June 29, 2010. It was not released on any official record label, but independently via internet distribution site bandcamp.com and is available for free download.It is also available on iTunes with...
, all of which were written and performed by singer/keyboardist Asya (preferred name Asy, born February 2, 1992) and her sister, drummer Chloe (born March 5, 1994). Their younger sister Maia (born September 5, 1996) joined the band in early 2007.
At the time of their first album, She Like Electric, released on September 21, 2004, Asy was 12 years old and Chloe was 10. All of their songs are originals with both music and lyrics written by the girls themselves. Maia, then not in the band, provided the cover artwork for both that album and their next, Free to Stay.
They live with their father Mike, a medical researcher, their mother Maria, a pediatrician of Swedish descent, and their younger sister Scout. They do not give out their last name to interviewers. Asy, Chloe and Maia are all vegetarians. They are, to some extent, protégées of Chloe's drum teacher, Jason McGerr
Jason McGerr
Jason McGerr is the current drummer for the band Death Cab for Cutie. McGerr was previously in Krusters Kronomid and Eureka Farm as well as the Seattle jazz trio Rockin' Teenage Combo. McGerr is an instructor at the Seattle Drum School when not playing drums for Death Cab for Cutie...
, who is now the drummer of Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
.
Biography
Smoosh started in 2000 when the family was at a Seattle music store The Trading Musician, standing in line to restring a violin. Asy and Chloe wandered into the drum section of the store, where Chloe met Jason McGerr; the family eventually left with a $600 drum kit for Chloe, McGerr's card from the Seattle Drum School, "and no violin." When McGerr learned that Asy had been playing the piano and writing songs since she was very young, he offered to help them both.Neither Asy nor Chloe read music, then. Asy had then had some formal piano training but soon quit because it was "boring".
In 2000, Smoosh released Tomato Mistakes – a two-track single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
that, for a long time, was mailed free of charge to anyone who wanted it. Four years later, in September 2004, She Like Electric, Smoosh's full-length
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
debut was released under Pattern 25 Records.
By the time Smoosh released their second LP, on June 6, 2006, titled Free to Stay, they were picked up by Seattle-based indie label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
Barsuk Records
Barsuk Records
Barsuk Records is an independent record label based in Seattle, Washington, started and still managed by the members of the band This Busy Monster, Christopher Possanza and Josh Rosenfeld, who created the label in 1994 to release their band's material. Its logo is a drawing of a dog holding a...
. Its third and title track, "Free to Stay", was an early song featured on Tomato Mistakes. Asy also plays guitar on the track 'Waiting for Something' off Free to Stay. The second album also features the song "Find A Way" which Smoosh performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on July 12, 2006, marking their first performance on late night TV. As they toured with the Eels
Eels (band)
Eels is an American indie rock band formed by singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, better known as E...
as part of a world tour in mid-2006, they are also featured on the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
-based band's live DVD/CD Live and in Person! London 2006
Live and in Person! London 2006
Live and In Person! London 2006 is a live album by Eels initially released on their 2008 An Evening with Eels tour as a CD and DVD. The album was later sold through Eels' online store...
.
On August 5, 2007, Smoosh performed at Lollapalooza 2007 at Chicago's Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
. Their set included a cover of "This Modern Love
This Modern Love
This Modern Love is a song by Bloc Party from their debut album "Silent Alarm". The remix of the song by Dave Pianka & Adam Sparkle was released as the final promotional single for their remix album "Silent Alarm Remixed" on a white label 12" vinyl in July 2005...
" by Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...
, who they would later tour with that same year in September. Earlier that year, they also performed a headlining spring tour on the east coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
with The Postmarks.
The band plays "Pajama Party Time" on Yo Gabba Gabba! episode 5 originally aired August 27. 2007.
Critics have generally compared their sound to that of Tori Amos
Tori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
and PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
, and have been almost uniformly impressed with the quality of the material coming from such young writers and performers. They have opened for many leading Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
bands including Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
, Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney was an alternative rock band from Portland, Oregon that formed in 1994. Originally formed in Olympia, Washington, the group's name is derived from Sleater-Kinney Road, Interstate 5 off ramp #108 in Lacey, Washington, the location of one of their early practice spaces. They were a...
, and the Presidents of the United States of America
The Presidents of the United States of America (band)
The Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as Pot USA or "PUSA" or The Presidents, are a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew,...
, as well as for other acts such as Mates of State
Mates of State
Mates of State are an American indie pop duo, active since 1997. The group is composed of the husband-and-wife team of Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel .Over the course of the band's fourteen year career, they've released three EPs and six full-length, studio...
, Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World is an American alternative rock band from Mesa, Arizona, that formed in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jim Adkins, guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind....
, Cat Power
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...
(who also covered their song, 'Rad'), Nada Surf
Nada Surf
Nada Surf is an American alternative rock band. Formed in 1992, the New York band consists of Matthew Caws , Ira Elliot and Daniel Lorca .-Early years:...
, Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came...
and The Go! Team
The Go! Team
The Go! Team are a six-piece band from Brighton, England. They combine indie rock and garage rock with a mixture of blaxploitation and Bollywood soundtracks, double dutch chants, old school hip hop and distorted guitars similar to the style of Sonic Youth. Their songs are a mix of live...
. Asy collaborated with Seattle indie band Head Like a Kite to create the songs "Noisy at the Circus" (which can be found on Head Like a Kite's first album Random Portraits of the Home Movie), "Daydream Vacation" (which can be found on their second album There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere), and "Let's Start It All Again" (which can be found on their album Dreams Suspend Night, and also available via the KEXP Song of the Day website ). The girls have also been performing a cover of "Flyswatter" by The Eels, in which Maia plays glockenspiel. Asy also lends her voice to the soundtrack of the musical film God Help the Girl
God Help The Girl
God Help the Girl is a musical project authored by Stuart Murdoch, leader of the Scottish indie pop group Belle & Sebastian, featuring a group of female vocalists, including Catherine Ireton, with Belle & Sebastian as the accompanying band...
created by Stuart Murdoch
Stuart Murdoch (musician)
Stuart Lee Murdoch is a Scottish musician, and the lead singer and songwriter for the indie pop band Belle & Sebastian. The majority of his childhood was spent a stone's throw from the birthplace of Robert Burns in Alloway, Ayr until he left school and attended university in...
of Belle & Sebastian
Belle & Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. Belle and Sebastian are often compared with influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. The name Belle & Sebastian comes from Belle et Sébastien, a 1965...
, where she sings on the songs "I Just Want Your Jeans" and "A Down and Dusky Blonde". She also provided the vocals on the song "I Fell for the Fall" by Swedish band Karma Tree.
In early 2008, they toured with Tokyo Police Club
Tokyo Police Club
Tokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. It consists of vocalist and bassist David Monks , keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook , and drummer Greg Alsop ....
and The Dresden Dolls
The Dresden Dolls
The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione...
.
In June 2010, Smoosh released their much anticipated third album, Withershins
Withershins (album)
Withershins is the follow-up LP to Smoosh's 2006 release of Free To Stay. The album was released on June 29, 2010. It was not released on any official record label, but independently via internet distribution site bandcamp.com and is available for free download.It is also available on iTunes with...
(previously titled The World's Not Bad).
Members
- Asy (Asya) – leadLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Chloe – vocals, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion - Maia – vocals, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, harpejji
Discography
- Tomato Mistakes (2000)
- Free to Stay EP (2002)
- She Like ElectricShe Like ElectricShe Like Electric is the debut album recorded by Seattle sister duo, Smoosh.http://www.npr.org/s.php?sId=4167837&m=1http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40127-2004Sep21.html They were twelve and ten years old at the time they recorded it...
(2004) - Free to StayFree to stayFree to Stay is the follow-up LP to Smoosh's 2004's release of She Like Electric. The album was released on June 6, 2006.-Track listing:#"Find a Way" – 3:03#"I Would Go" – 3:09#"Free to Stay" – 2:51#"Rock Song" – 2:00...
(2006) - Live and in Person! London 2006Live and in Person! London 2006Live and In Person! London 2006 is a live album by Eels initially released on their 2008 An Evening with Eels tour as a CD and DVD. The album was later sold through Eels' online store...
(EelsEels (band)Eels is an American indie rock band formed by singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, better known as E...
CD and DVD; Smoosh plays on three tracks) - WithershinsWithershins (album)Withershins is the follow-up LP to Smoosh's 2006 release of Free To Stay. The album was released on June 29, 2010. It was not released on any official record label, but independently via internet distribution site bandcamp.com and is available for free download.It is also available on iTunes with...
(2010)
External links
- Official site
- Smoosh's Myspace Page
- Smoosh page maintained by University of Washington librarian Tom Bolling, very extensive set of links to newspaper stories.
- Interview by Alexander LaurenceAlexander LaurenceAlexander Laurence is a writer who was born in Los Angeles, California in May 1964. He attended CSULB and studied English Literature, where he graduated in 1988. He moved to San Francisco, California in 1989 and New York City in 1996. In that time, he attended classes at SF Art Institute and the...
- Smoosh on Barsuk Records
- Smoosh Raises the Lights with 'Dark Shine' / Sister Band Smoosh Rocks Kids-at-Work Day, National Public Radio. Two NPR pieces on Smoosh.
- Smoosh Notes A Database of Smoosh information, ranging from articles and media to graphics and fanart.
- Smoosh-Links-Archive of Smoosh related links: interviews, bios, videos, ect.