“We lived on the same hall at Hampshire in 1987…he was a sweetheart, but…a little moody. Went by Steve then. But was already a pretty fucking impressive singer/songwriter….but did I mention he was a little moody? He was in a duo named Swimming Jesus and in a fab cover band called Heatmiser…they did a very serviceable version of “Calling Dr. Love” and “Los Angeles””
Bill Meyer
“Road trip with Elliott Smith. We were on our way from Portland to college in Massachusetts and broke down 70 miles from Sheridan, WY. We spent three nights in a junkyard. I met Elliott Smith in French class my first day of high school when I was thirteen. He was very interested in music, so that’s what he focused on. He was a huge inspiration to me, writing amazing music in high school. I was really impressed by what he was able to communicate through his music.”
Lucas Ward
“I went to college at Hampshire College, which is in Amherst, Massachusetts; it’s one of these real progressive liberal colleges that came out in the sixties with no tests, no grades, no credits. Everything at our school was a little different, including the orientation. So instead of doing a traditional orientation, you had the option to come up a week early before school actually started and go on a trip. There were many options you could go on: kayaking trip in Maine, rockclimbing trip, vision quest… I ended up signing up for the weeklong backpacking trip in the Green Mountains of Vermont. It just so happened that Steve Smith also signed up for that trip. So we met that day. Eight of us including Steve backpacked for a week together through the Green Moutains of Vermont. We got to know each other really well and it was a way that – being in a college and a very experimental education – instead of just showing up not knowing anybody in your dormroom, you spent a week intensively with some of these people, and a lot of those people became good friends throughout college. Continue reading
“I wish I still had my Swimming Jesus poster. Neil Gust and Elliott would play acoustic under that name at the end of each semester at Hampshire College. I put mine on my wall. I doubt anyone kept one of those. Don’t remember that many shows as Heatmiser. I think their first official Heatmiser show was at Amherst College playing a party at the German House Winter 88/89. Dylan Nolphy on guitar and Jason Hornick on bass and of course Elliott and Neil. Jason was in Stranger Than Fiction with Elliott at Lincoln HS. Went to Amherst. I think I saw them play the Hampshire College talent show. 90/91. I remember Lou Barlow sitting in the corner watching. Rumor was he was looking for a bass player.”
Jason Blumklotz
“Before I saw his picture when he tragically died in 2003, I had no idea that singer-songwriter Elliott Smith was my old friend Steve Smith. We were both clear outsiders at our Texas middle school and he (being a masterful fighter) protected me from the school bullies. Now I recognize him for his artistic genius and rich contribution to music. This morning, when I played Elliott Smith’s album XO in the car, my son Aidan remarked, “His music makes me feel strange – both happy and sad at the same time. There aren’t many musicians I can think of that do that.” I couldn’t have said it better. Thanks, Steve, for your voice.”
Andreas Engel
“As the Class of 89’s 30-year high school reunion approaches, I’ve been thinking of the kids we went to school with. My Facebook feed is a flood of pictures and memories. Some pictures make me laugh, some cause confusion, some bring – most bring – all of the insecurity back.
That knot in the stomach.
Some pictures and the memories they trigger make me curious about what life would have been like if had been a little more courageous, a little more of myself. Mostly, I am astonished by how interesting these children have become. And these are just the children who were in my class. There are so many more who were older or younger who I watched from afar who went on to the extraordinary. Continue reading
“I didn’t know Elliott Smith. I knew a Steve Smith. He and I went to the same school in Duncanville, TX, a Dallas suburb. He had blonde hair, and a characterful, acne-scarred face, even as a thirteen year old. He was a quiet, older kid, with a demeanor that implied intelligence and maturity. It’s possible he wasn’t mature for his age, but at the time I imagined he was. I liked and respected the guy, even though I didn’t know him that well. The fact that he was also a year older than me – an 8th grader -didn’t hurt his image, either. That made him almost as intimidating as a teacher.
I wasn’t friends with Steven Paul Smith (who later changed his name to Elliott Smith). I was friends with his friends. I very briefly dated a girl he once dated. I wasn’t in a band with Elliott Smith, but I did play in rock bands with a few guys who, reportedly, played in Elliott’s first band. Pathetic joke: actually, I did play in one band with Elliott Smith: The Byrd Junior High Symphonic Band. He played clarinet; I played xylophone and snare drum. I was sometimes first chair; he was almost always first chair. Continue reading
“Elliott Smith, or Steve Smith as his yearbook picture says, went to my high school. He was a senior when I was a freshman. I’m not that familiar with where he came from, but I remember seeing him play in this prog rock band and he had a pink paisley guitar. They were called Stranger Than Fiction and he was a great musician so I think I looked up to him. He’s an amazing guitarist. The guy would never remember me from high school. If anything he’d remember me from bands we played in high school.”
Josh England
“The first thing that happened when I moved to Portland was that I got assigned a locker partner who was supposed to shepherd me around this new place and be my pal or whatever and he stole my Walkman, like, the second day. It was weird. There were no fights but there were mass cliques and just weird attitude, you know, a very ’80s, Breakfast Club kind of situation, which I couldn’t relate to at all.”
Elliott Smith
so flawed and drunk and perfect still 