Smut
ARTIST BIO
Smut is the project of lyricist Tay Roebuck, guitarists Andie Min and Sam Ruschman, drummer Aidan O’Connor and bassist John Steiner. The band started a decade ago, in Cincinnati, Ohio. They’re now located in Chicago, a city perfect for making music. It’s where they made their Bayonet Records full-length debut, How the Light Felt. Now they’re following it up with a brand new single, “Dead Air.” It’s the first track they’ve released with Steiner, who is new to the Smut lineup.
When setting off to write “Dead Air,” Smut wanted to make something that rocked. They wanted to make something that was as fun to make as it was fun to listen to. They went back to their favorite bands growing up, playing My Chemical Romance and Metric. Green Day and The Fall. “Boneheaded classics,” and metal riffs twisted into a pop context. “Dead Air” starts out with crystalline guitars, fall-air crisp bass. Then Roebuck’s vocals come in. She sounds like Elizabeth Fraser, but more rock ‘n’ roll, shifting her vocals from honeyed and dreamy to a pop punk shriek. It’s patched together Frankenstein style, with lyrics and riffs the band worked on solo and together. Lyrically, it’s a break up song, a band break up song, a song about relationships ending and changing. “I heard you say forever,” she sings, “Forever.”
Part of what makes the song so electric is how excited the band felt working in this new iteration. “We have so much energy right now,” says Roebuck. To record, “as live as they could,” they went off to New York to work with Aron Kobayashi-Ritch (Momma) at his studio. Right before they went off to New York, Roebuck and Min got married. When they were recording, the band set out to have as much fun as possible (so much fun that Roebuck had completely blown her voice by the end, chugging lemon and honey and hot water). They slept on friend’s couches and floors. Smut has always been DIY. Because they love it, they love to work together. They love to collaborate. “Dead Air” is the product of that collaboration. It’s about rock and a love for rock. And having fun doing it with your friends.
DISCOGRAPHY
CONTACT
ARTIST
smut.worldwide@gmail.com
LICENSING
syncteam@terrorbird.com
BOOKING
smut.worldwide@gmail.com
LABEL