Smalldogs Bring Special Force To Smallpools Stage

smallpools

SMALLPOOLS play The Observatory Nov. 4 and the Fonda Theatre Nov. 5 photo: Andy Ortega

It has been more than two years since indie rockers Smallpools made their live debut at New York’s Brooklyn Bowl on July 13, 2013.

Well, sort of.

Under the guise of several different pseudonyms ranging from “Met The President,” “Pop The Culture” and “Buffalo Cauliflower”, the band quietly prepared for the first show in rundown venues across LA during the weeks leading up to their gig in Brooklyn.

“We came out of the gate so fast that we had to play catch up when it came to the live game,” said frontman Sean Scanlon. “It was mostly our friends watching us which made it a little awkward and hard to gauge what our shows would actually be like but, it definitely helped. I couldn’t imagine just going right into the first show.”

To say that Smallpools rise to fame was quick would be an understatement. Within a year of the formation of the band and before they had even played a live set, their breakthrough debut single “Dreaming” was released online. The energetic synth-pop track quickly rose to No.1 on Hype Machine and No. 23 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart. With the help of Captain Cuts, a multi-platinum selling songwriting and production team, Smallpools released an EP that same year and their first full-length album last March.

The band has since grown accustomed to playing at some of the biggest and best music festivals across the country such as Lollapalooza, SXSW and Rock in Rio USA. Regularly gracing the stage alongside the group are two plastic greyhound dogs, which the band have appropriately dubbed “Smalldogs.” Scanlon originally won the dogs during a game of Hip Hop Bingo at a bar in LA. The pair of statues have since been upgraded to steel versions for their latest tour.

“Every place we walked into with them we would draw a bunch of people who came up to us asking their names,” Scanlon said. “They had this special force so we thought ‘let’s bring them on stage.'”

Despite having played SoCal extensively over the past few years, including both The Observatory and The Fonda Theatre, both venues remain personal favorites for Scanlon.

“We’ve opened so many different shows in this area that the LA shows are all such a blur but I love both venues, especially The Observatory,” Scanlon said.”Their green room is awesome and they have a basketball court in the back. The whole place has this kind of fun family vibe.”

Having been more than two years since their string of incognito shows, Scanlon acknowledged the considerable transformation Smallpools has undergone on stage.

“I feel like during that first show I was a little more reserved,” Scanlon said. “We definitely needed to be more fluid and comfortable. We were lucky enough to serve as openers for some great bands in our genre doing really professional, dialed in shows.

“It made us realize right away that we needed to make our own unique show. Now it feels like were finally doing that.”
Smallpools play The Observatory Nov. 4 and The Fonda Theatre Nov. 5.