Smoosh

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Smoosh
The girls of Smoosh - Chloe and Asya (not pictured: Maia)
The girls of Smoosh - Chloe and Asya (not pictured: Maia)
Background information
Origin Seattle, Washington
Genre(s) Rock, Pop, indie rock
Years active 2000–present
Label(s) Barsuk Records, Pattern 25
Members
Chloe (original member)
Asya (original member)
Maia (joined 2007)

Smoosh started as an American indie pop duo, consisting of two sisters, singer/keyboardist Asya (born February 2, 1992) and drummer Chloe (born March 5, 1994). Recently their younger sister Maia (born September 5, 1996) joined the band for their Summer 2007 tour.[1] At the time of their first album, She Like Electric, released on September 21, 2004, Asya (currently aged 16) was 12 years old and Chloe (currently aged 14) 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 in Seattle, Washington with their father Mike, a medical researcher, their mother Maria, a pediatrician of Swedish descent, and their younger sisters Maia and Scout. They do not give out their last name to interviewers.[2][3] They are, to some extent, protégées of Chloe's drum teacher, Jason McGerr, now the drummer of Death Cab for Cutie.[4]

Contents

[edit] Biography

"There’s this band Smashmouth, and we liked how that sounded, so we came up with Smoosh. We just liked the sound of the word. But we pronounced it Smush [rhymes with bush]. Then people started saying it Smoosh, with the ooo sound. So it became Smoooosh. "
Asya on the band name's origin in a 2005 interview.[5]

Smoosh started in 2000, when the family was at a Seattle music store, The Trading Musician, standing in line to restring a violin. Asya 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."[6] When McGerr learned that Asya had been playing the piano and writing songs since she was very young, he offered to help them both. Asya does not read music[7]. Asya had had some formal piano training earlier but soon quit because it was "boring".[6]

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.[6] 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. The sophomore album also features the song "Find A Way", which was performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, on July 12, 2006, their first performance on late night TV.[8] Touring with the Eels as part of a world tour in mid-2006, they are also featured in the California-based band's live album 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.

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.[9][2][10] They have opened for many leading Pacific Northwest bands including Pearl Jam,[4][6] Death Cab for Cutie,[6] Sleater-Kinney,[4][6] and the Presidents of the United States of America,[4][6] as well as for other acts such as Mates of State,[6] Jimmy Eat World,[6] Cat Power[6] (who also covers their song, "Rad"),[4] Nada Surf, Sufjan Stevens and The Go! Team.

In the midst of currently writing and rehearsing songs for a forthcoming album, they have toured North America with Tokyo Police Club in the spring of 2008[11] as well as The Dresden Dolls.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Gallery

Chloe and Asya, 2007

Maia, 2007

Chloe, 2007

Asya, 2007

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ imaginary liz,Meet Smoosh's Bass Player!, Three Imaginary Girls, May 24, 2007.
  2. ^ a b Lisa Heyamoto, Tweenage band Smoosh rocks Seattle scene, January 30, 2005. Accessed 12 April 2006.
  3. ^ Marc Hirsh, Novelty? Think again, The Boston Globe, June 14, 2006. Accessed 19 November 2006.
  4. ^ a b c d e Almond, Steve: "Smoosh" (interview), The Believer June 2005. Accessed online 13 November 2006.
  5. ^ Steve Almond interview, (brackets in original)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Smoosh, Pattern 25 Records. Accessed 16 November 2006.
  7. ^ Alexander Lauence, An Interview with Indie Sensation, Smoosh, Free Williamsburg, February 18, 2005. Accessed 11 December 2006.
  8. ^ Performance on YouTube http://youtube.com/watch?v=pfdQoTdazq4
  9. ^ Douglas Wolk, Discovering the Dream, Seattle Weekly, September 29, 2004. Accessed 12 April 2006.
  10. ^ Anuj Desai, Pre-Teen Smoosh Are "Rad", Rolling Stone, December 28, 2004. Accessed 12 April 2006.
  11. ^ Support fo the EXCLAIM! 16th annivesary tour featuring Tokyo Police Club announced. Retrieved on 2008-05-23.

[edit] External links

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