Shmu

Shmu is an Austin-based artist with Canadian roots. The act is associated with shoegaze, psychedelic, and post-rock, and is described as a solo project with Zorch as the listed member.

Background and activity

Shmu starts out as a Canadian-born musician who moves through Boston, Massachusetts, where he attends and graduates from music college, before re-emerging in Austin, Texas. From there, he plays local venues in Austin and performs elsewhere in Texas.

Style and influences

His music draws on a wide range of influences. It includes elements of 1960s and 1970s California folk-rock and pop-rock, with reference points such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, and Steely Dan. His shoegaze material takes cues from My Bloody Valentine and Smashing Pumpkins, while his more minimal pop side recalls Talking Heads and modern acts such as Animal Collective.

Shmu also explores a combination of shoegaze with glitch and electro, in the vein of Ulrich Schnauss and The Field. Across these strands, the music is presented as psychedelic in character and as a modern take on early 1990s shoegaze, sometimes described as “newgaze”.