A Chat with Smallpools

Smallpools, an LA-based indie pop trio, burst onto the scene from their very first single, “Dreaming,” which almost immediately charted. After the release of a self-titled EP in 2013 and a full length album, LOVETAP!, in 2015, Smallpools is back with their new EP, THE SCIENCE OF LETTING GO.  We got to speak with guitarist Mike Kamerman about the release and their current tour supporting Misterwives.  Check out the interview below and be sure to catch them on October 20th at the House of Blues. Congratulations on your recent EP release.  Did the process of writing this one differ at all from your first EP?Thanks! I wouldn't say that our writing process has changed but we've definitely evolved as people and musicians, our lives are very different now than they were when we wrote the initial batch of songs. We've always liked grinding it out in our rehearsal space and waiting for the magic musical moments to arrive but we've also grown fond of collaborating & experimenting with new producers and musicians too.Did departing from RCA Records and signing with Kobalt Music Group for The Science of Letting Go have any effects on the EP?With Kobalt, we can kinda do whatever we want musically. There isn't this pressure of hoping that someone on our team "gets it".  If an idea or song makes it out of our tight judgment zone, it's able to see the light of day without any interruption. With RCA, there was this lingering feeling of hoping that the people over there would think that whatever we were delivering was good enough. Music is obviously very subjective, no one ever really knows what's going to be a hit or not but everyone has their opinions. And I don't mean that in a negative way either. Every one wants the music to succeed but so far with Kobalt, we've had an easier time exploring our creativity.Do you have a favorite song from The Science of Letting Go?I like each song for different reasons but "DJs and Porsches" & "Centerfold" are the songs I'm most proud of.I love the album artwork for the EP and preceding singles, “Million Bucks” and “Passenger Side.”  It feels very different from what looks like vintage photographs from your earlier releases and seems to fit the music very well.  Was the artwork something you guys consciously sought out?Yes, finding the right visual to accompany the music is something we take pretty seriously. The artwork, in my opinion, plays almost as big of role in defining the era the artist is in as their music does.Now that the EP is out, will there be an album in the near future?We may stick with the EP format. We'd like to release music more consistently and dropping tight, condensed packages of music seems to be the best way to do it.Two of you are East Coast natives.  Do you especially look forward to returning there on tour?It's always nice to be able to come home and play for our friends and family!What are you most looking forward to on this tour?We're super excited to play these new songs live, we've totally revamped our set, it's gonna be fun.  We've been away in the studio for a while so we genuinely can't wait to play every night, meet some new people and hopefully see some familiar faces!