Biography

Introduction

Smoosh is an American indie pop band from Seattle, Washington. They have released two albums, She Like Electric and Free To Stay. Both albums 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, now the drummer of Death Cab for Cutie.

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.

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 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. Tomato Mistakes is no longer available.

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 sophomore 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.

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") and 'Daydream Vacation' (which can be found on their second album "There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere"). 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 and Sebastian. She sings on two songs: "I Just Want Your Jeans," and "A Down and Dusky Blonde."

In early 2008, they toured with the Tokyo Police Club and The Dresden Dolls.

In April 2009, Smoosh confirmed in updates on their MySpace page and in interviews that they have finished writing their upcoming third album and the songs are getting their mixes. The probable release for this record will be in the U.S during the autumn of 2009.