FUSE TV - No, RCA Did Not Build Smallpools

Seemingly out of nowhere, L.A.'s Smallpools hit the scene with guns blazing in 2013 when their first single, "Dreaming," tore up the Hype Machine charts before they'd even played a single show. Understandably, even those who received the music well approached with nervous skepticism, as if frontman Sean Scanlon might bite if they got too close. Questions like, "Did Urban Outfitters put this band together?" and snide remarks like "I bet they were on RCA before they even released a song" dangerously floated around the Internet. 

Days before their major label debut (LOVETAP!, which dropped March 24), I connected with the band at their Empire Garage performance at SXSW to learn the true narrative behind their genesis. 

How did Smallpools truly connect with RCA Records?

Sean: Greg, my best friend from middle school—met him in 7th grade in English class—we had a band together in high school and college. And he kind of branched off into music management, and I stuck with writing songs. I met Mike [Kamerman, guitarist] at SXSW in 2007, and then we moved to L.A. and were inspired by Greg because he had moved to LA to get a job at Warner Brothers.

Mike: Sean was back home substitute teaching, and I was working at a salad restaurant chopping salads.

Sean: We figured Greg would be on the inside and be able to tell us where to start; just help us out. And so we showed him our first kinda cool song, “Over & Over.” And he was like, “Hey, come let’s talk.” And he was like, “Hey, I wanna manage you guys.”

Mike: And then it was all of these happy coincidences, like Greg happened to have an office next to a guy whose roommate was one of the guys in Captain Cuts. He sent him “Over & Over,” and they liked the song.