SML - How You Been

SML is the quintet of bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann. Their second album, How You Been, finds the supergroup of prolific composer/producers pushing ever further into the hyperrealist, collectivist approach to music creation nascently explored on their debut Small Medium Large, which was lauded as “awe-inspiring” by Glide, 'exuberant' by the Los Angeles Times, and 'an exciting milestone' by Pitchfork. How You Been represents a breakthrough in the musical language of the group.

This new work was crafted via extensive post-production of recorded improvisations from a handful of shows in a similar fashion to their debut, but whereas Small Medium Large was constructed from analog tapes of the band's very first (and very modest) shows at bygone Highland Park LA venue ETA, How You Been was built with a far higher level of self-awareness and a far deeper pool of source material. As SML has evolved and spread out in space-time, their fluencies, both as an improvising unit in performance and as a production team in the studio, have sharpened.