It’s officially Twilight season in Iowa, and I always find myself shifting my listening habits to something colder to prepare for winter. This year’s vibe, at least for me, is silky, foggy and, most importantly, green.
Minneapolis dreamgaze band she’s green has toured in China and Europe and just released their debut album, swallowtail. That’s an impressive feat, to say the least, but the next challenge lays in their national headlining U.S. tour, which began at Gabe’s in Iowa City on Sep. 29.
The five friends that comprise she’s green create a strong foundation, with Zofia Smith on vocals, Liam Armstrong and Raines Lucas on guitar, Teddy Nordvold on bass and Kevin Seebeck on drums. Armstrong and Nordvold met while working at a few years ago Radio K at the University of Minnesota.
“I would not be in this band if it weren’t for Radio K,” Nordvold said. “Getting to go to so many shows through it and getting to meet a lot of musicians and do a lot of work with musicians and with people who are just really passionate about it — it threw gasoline on a fire that was already starting to get out of control.”
“Their number one most played artist kind of sucks, though,” Lucas said.
“And who is that?” I asked.
“she’s green,” He laughed. “Three years in a row.”
Deservedly so. Their music sweeps me off my feet and has me floating for the rest of the day, like how Rosalina sways to and fro as she giggles alongside her star creatures in Super Mario Galaxy.
Outside of Radio K is where the band really came together. Their aesthetic is what draws me in — think chilly, damp environment of the Pacific Northwest combined with the lush, hazy appearance of the Midwest.
“The band really started from [Liam] creating instrumentals, and he’s also doing a lot of videography,” Smith said. “I think his instrumentals were inspired by cinema, so that has started the whole nature-cinematic feel that we bring to the table.”
“We just love trees, man,” Armstrong laughed.
Their earthly appearance ties in naturally with the aesthetic of shoegaze, a label that’s been assigned to the band by other music connoisseurs. Look at the aesthetics of bands like Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine and DIIV: it’s like there’s a veil adding a permanent, fuzzy filter when you look at them. Now, artists like Whirr, Alvvays and Softcult are adding the airy, meditative sounds of dream pop, alongside she’s green.
“I love all these new bands, but I feel like shoegaze was just kind of a thing in the '90s, and now bands are just kind of completely different and it’s a whole new thing.” Armstrong said.
Their initial identity was difficult to pin down as gigs began pouring in.
“We were kind of just put on random bills with so many different genres, and I was like, “I don’t know who we are,’” Smith said. “We were playing with a folk artist and then playing with a metal band. When we started in Minneapolis, we were constantly being put on different bills, and we just kind of said yes to all of them, but we were like, ‘Why are we here?’”
Now that they’ve nailed down a vibe and gained a reputation supporting other artists on their tour, it’s time for a tour of their own. It’s a little unreal for she’s green.
“I was sound checking today, like, ‘Who are we opening for tonight?’” Lucas laughed. “It doesn’t feel real. It’s really weird. And we haven’t actually headline toured in the U.S. to this level at all.”
“I am kind of glad that we have that experience [of opening],” Smith added. “We’ve been touring constantly and I’m honestly so nervous to start this tour. I think it’s a bad sign if I’m not super-nervous because I really bring a lot of extra energy to the shows I’m really nervous for.”
The U.S. has become a bit more viridescent, thanks to she’s green. They’ll end their headline tour Nov. 6 at Varsity Theater in Minneapolis.
