We recently connected with Sm6 Band and have shared our conversation below.
SM6, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
For us, the biggest risk we’ve ever taken was following our dream to be artists. Each of us plays multiple instruments and at one point we thought “what if we did this together?” – at the time, years ago, it was just something fun to do that we enjoyed but we weren’t thinking about it as a career. Our oldest siblings, George, was going be a firefighter and Isabel, was busy picking out a college to go to. The conventional lifestyle. I can’t recall the exact moment, but at one point our focus shifted… we wanted to make music as a living. Choosing this as our career made us happy and life is short so we thought “shouldn’t we enjoy how we spend our time on this earth?”
And are dreams are coming true! We’ve completed three national tours, played our first show overseas in London, performed at Summerfest, moved to LA, starred in full feature film, we were featured creators at Vidcon, we’ve released a debut album and so much more!
When you’re passionate about something, you have to take the risk… even if you’re not sure how you’ll get there.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
We got into music roughly fourteen years ago because our parents had bought a piano to put in our living room purely for the aesthetic. When our oldest brother, George, started playing Fur Elise by ear, our parents signed the four of us up for lessons. Eventually, all six of us would learn to play and even branch out into different instruments. Emily had picked up drums, Adam had gotten a guitar and soon we realized all we needed was a bassist to form a band – so Isabel took it up and that’s kind of how it all happened. Everything just fell in place. There have been a lot trials and tribulations along the way, as well as plenty of unexpected blessings, such as going viral across social media and gaining such an amazing and loyal fanbase.
We’re always trying to create a welcoming and tight-knit community through our song lyrics, live shows and online engagement. We’ve had a lot of people support us along the way and want to provide our fans that same support and sense of community.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Just like any musician, when starting out we had to decide what kind of band we wanted to be. What story did we want to tell? What genre would we write? Along the way, there were a few times we lost sight of our vision letting others opinions steer our music creation. Luckily, that isn’t the case anymore! We’ve learned not to write what we think is selling or what others would like to hear, but to stay true to ourselves and continue writing the music we’d like to write.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Phones. Growing up, we never had phones or social media, except for those flip phones that only called our parents. After going to an ASCAP music expo in LA, we watched a panel about the benefits of social media. We were intrigued and figured we’d give it a shot. The results were amazing! Posting consistently helped us expand our reach globally, and gave us the opportunities we listed earlier. I get that some artists aren’t fans of social media, and at times we aren’t either. But taking a step back, we’re glad we took that chance.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sm6band.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sm6band/?igsh=MXV4d3Q5ZWJ2NmZjdg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SM6Band/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sm6-band-751a76254
- Twitter: https://x.com/sm6band?s=21&t=Te5rEohctzfAJqm1VhRi_w
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@sm6band?si=28O1f5CWIhvoavM9
- Other: SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1rzOFkcYZsYyDScnFtcHpg?si=kzt-9TpCSrmOHeeMUa0rwg
Image Credits
Becky Obos (for the three concert shots and the one in front of a fireplace)