mxdwn PREMIERE: Eli Smart Plays Tropicalia-Influenced Blue-Eyed Soul in Live Performance Video for “Highschool Steady”

[D J C]

 

Raised on Hawaii’s sparsely populated, heavily-forested island of Kauai, it’s only natural that a tropical influence would seep into singer-songwriter Eli Smart’s music. Later in life he spent time a world away, studying at Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institution for Performing Arts in the United Kingdom. Together, these two disparate influences meld together into a style he cleverly refers to as “Aloha soul.”

 

He recently released a new EP called Boonie Town, a record that shows off Smart’s ability to meld classic genres like soul, blues and pop with tropicalia influences. The first single from the album is “Highschool Steady,” and we’re premiering a live performance video of the track today. The live cut, just like the studio version, is built around a slick, funky-soul style guitar riff that is drenched in laid-back island vibes. The live cut shows off the fun-loving vibe of Smart and his bandmates, all the while their impressive chops as performers are evident.

 

 

“I wanted to shoot the live version of this tune in my old room on Kauai (where we shot the music video) so it would have a similar theme and atmosphere to the proper video,” said Smart. “I got all my mates together and we learned the tune in a few takes, they’re all such amazing players! I even got my dad to play Hawaiian lap steel guitar for this version, it glued the live version together in such a beautiful way. The band is Jordan Paul on lemon shaker and backing vocals, Kaniho on bass, Cory Mira on guitar, Kirk Smart on lap steel and Hamster on drums. Shot by Cliff Mello and recorded by Andrew Vastola! The dream team!!”

Music has always been a big part of Smart’s upbringing – his grandmother Denise Kaufman was known as Mary Microgram and played guitar in the all-female psych rock band Ace of Cups. That musical heritage runs through to his father, mother and grandfather, all jazz musicians, with Smart saying his mother’s songwriting is a “massive” influence on his own music. Another big influence for Smart was Beleza Tropical, a compilation of Brazilian classics curated by David Byrne and released in 1989. He came across this album while working at the island’s only record shop, Hanalei Strings. The tropicalia influence from that record is evident in his technique on “Highschool Steady.”

 

 

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