Which band was Elliott Smith in before his solo career?
The all too tragic ending of Elliott Smith’s short life often overshadows the extraordinary things he achieved during his career – not least being Oscar-nominated for ‘Miss Misery’ from the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, which established him among the American indie folk greats. But before Smith’s rise to illustrious prominence, his musical ventures had begun in a much more collaborative, albeit largely unheard, place.
You would be forgiven if the name Heatmiser doesn’t ring too many bells, but this was, in fact, the band in which Smith began his career. Alongside Smith were singer-guitarist Neil Gust, bassist Brandt Peterson, and drummer Tony Lash, who formed a four-piece for five years between 1991 and 1996. Their sound was one markedly different to that which Smith would later go on to create individually, encompassing gritty post-hardcore vibes with screeching guitars, like their song ‘Dirt’, but was offset by sombre and often deeply personal lyrical ruminations.
These included taboo issues of the time, such as loneliness, mental health, and, in particular, Gust’s life as a gay man surviving the Aids epidemic of the 1980s. It was the latter experience for Smith, although not lived by himself, that struck a chord, said Gust: “He wanted to empathise and understand – we were brothers.”
To that end, Smith would omit or change the heteronormative position of female desire from their love songs. “He saw that as an opportunity to be more universal about what he was describing,” Gust explained, not least because “[Smith] was fully on board with being a queer band. There was really horrible anti-gay shit going on in Portland [Oregon, where the band were based]. It was also a time of Act Up, Queer Nation and Aids activism.”
The space Heatmiser occupied was an antidote to the frequent toxic masculinity, homophobia, and misogyny that filled rock music of the period. It was disappointing in this sense that they didn’t receive much commercial or public attention at the time. Still, Gust and the other remaining members have attempted to right that wrong by releasing 29 virtually unheard tracks called The Music of Heatmiser in 2023.
Amid the band’s time together, Smith began pursuing ventures as a solo artist with the release of his album Roman Candle. Although this could have proved strenuous, the other members maintain that it didn’t cause tension in their dynamic. Gust even helped make the artwork for its front cover. “It didn’t seem like any kind of threat – it was like, good job!” said Lash.
However, their tightness and genuine friendship as a group made the eventual breakup even more upsetting. On the release of Smith’s third solo album and as his career individually skyrocketed, the once cornerstone strength crumbled to pieces. “There were forces within the music industry that felt like they were pulling us apart,” Gust said. “It was painful.”
The repercussions of this fallout, alongside some industry snubs for those left behind, meant that Gust, who had once described Smith as “the best friend you could possibly have”, remained distant from his former bandmate for several years. Thankfully, they had been able to rekindle their relationship shortly before Smith passed away and had vowed to reunite the band, but never having been graced with the opportunity to do so, Gust and the rest of Heatmiser are right for making sure their music gets recognised now.
