The show had just finished, and Smallpools lead singer Sean Scanlon, was “a little worn out.” However, wearing his Pokemon T-shirt, leather jacket, skinny jeans, and classic messy hair, he looked as cool as ever. Leaning back on the big white couch backstage at Wooly’s, he was quick to express that even though they just had three shows in three different cities in three days, the Wooly’s show was a 9 on a scale of 10. “The crowd was loud, and I was not upset,” he says. The lights were bright and pulsated to every beat of their fast-paced songs, the crowd was jumping and dancing, their signature dog statue watching over the excited fans.
This LA-based band has been making music since 2013 and just released their first full-length album last spring titled LOVETAP! Their single from the album “Dreaming” was what first brought attention to the indie-pop band. Their fan-base has only continued to grow with songs like “Over & Over” and “Karaoke.” They’ve rocked many shows in the past, including Lollapalooza in 2014, Firefly music festival, and the Americana Hotel Lobby in Glendale, Los Angeles. When asked about life on tour, Sean chuckles and says the best part is “it’s like you are lifted out of reality and you just float around to different cities.”
The actual show was a concoction of an uncontrollable dance party, a light show that was just as loud as the bass bumping from the speakers, and inflatable whales flying all over head.
The crowd had a feeling of being lifted from reality into some amazing indie-pop dream. With Sean on the keyboards and singing lead vocals, Mike Kamerman on guitar, Joseph Intile on the bass, and Beau Kuther on drums. Sean showed that he and the band have an understanding of providing this energetic atmosphere by noting that “every show is someone’s party night to go out and have fun and every night is the people’s party night for us too.”
Watching them jump around on stage and feed off the energy of the crowd and each other, it was clear that they were not just band mates but they were also good friends. “We share really awesome moments together” and one of those awesome moments was discovering a band that was mutually influential to all of them. Sean first heard the New Radicals when his dad would play it on trips “to his cabin upstate” and “revisited it a couple years ago and as a band we connected with it.” Mike and Sean later connected with it further on their drive across the country in a van through the Midwest. “Starting a new life, listening to New Radicals, with a blank canvas ahead.”
As they finish the last stretch of the tour, they will be facing another blank canvas as they return home, and lucky for us that means new music is coming. As his final message, Sean leaned forward on the big white couch and states with the finesse of a true rockstar, “yolo.”
