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Heatmiser was an American rock music band, formed in Portland, Oregon, in October 1991. Consisting of Elliott Smith (guitar and vocals), Neil Gust (guitar and vocals), Brandt Peterson (bass; later replaced by Sam Coomes, frontman of Quasi) and Tony Lash (drums), they were known for their well-crafted lyrics and songs often featuring the juxtaposition of melancholic and cheery words and melodies. Elliott Smith's pop music-oriented songs provided a contrast to Neil Gust's darker compositions, yet both songwriters explored themes such as anger, alienation, loneliness and despair.
With Heatmiser in need of a bassist, a high school friend suggested Brandt Peterson to fill the position. Peterson had played in a few punk bands, but "was feeling ambivalent about another." Smith convinced him to join Heatmiser, at least until their February 14, 1992 live debut at Portland's X-Ray Cafe. Over the next few years, Heatmiser was a regular act at local Portland venues like the X-Ray Cafe, screenprinting shop Hand Prints, and La Luna, whose cheap, packed Monday night concerts were a hub for the city's twenty-something underground social scene.
Brandt Peterson played bass on the albums Dead Air and Cop and Speeder, the Yellow No. 5 EP, and several singles. He wrote at least two songs for Heatmiser: "Just a Little Prick", released on The Music of Heatmiser, and "Glamourine", a "bass-line with lyrics" that remains unreleased. Peterson did a cover design for the Yellow No. 5 EP that ultimately wasn't used; additionally, he did the cover art for Dead Air.
Smith discussed Coomes' entry into the band:
Regarding his friendships with Neil Gust and Tony Lash, Smith recalled:
Discussing the tension in the band, Peterson later recalled:
Lash also recalled his memories of the band's tense relationship while recording Mic City Sons, and their eventual breakup:
Lash left Heatmiser in late 1996, prior to what would be their final tour. John Moen (later of The Decemberists) was brought in to play drums.
Regarding Mic City Sons, Coomes said:
Lash recalled:
Gust stated:
The recording sessions for Mic City Sons also "found the band dissolving. Smith had his solo career to tend. Gust spent time in the house the alone, learning to work the studio; as engineer, Lash felt he'd become an 'obstacle' to Smith, who wanted to bring in Beck producers Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock to shepherd the sessions. The buffer of the new producers helped bring the album together, but at some point in 1996, the band fell apart. Mic City Sons was released on a smaller Virgin sister label, Caroline, and slipped into the world quietly."
Going on unemployment after losing a bakery side-job had given Smith more time to devote to recording, which also shifted his focus away from Heatmiser and toward his own solo music endeavors. Gust recalled: "That was like the state giving him a grant because for a year, he didn't work. All he did was record at his girlfriend's house. His process just went 'boom!' It was amazing to watch. It was also intimidating because I was working, we had the band and there were things to deal with the band, but he just drifted into his own thing."
Despite Smith's burgeoning solo career, there wasn't tension between him and Gust. "There was never any animosity between me and him about it, because it was art," Gust said. "It only became problematic with scheduling stuff, if the band needed to go on tour or something. He had to give up on doing some things on his own to do it with the band and became less and less willing to do that."
After Heatmiser's breakup, Smith and Lash "didn't talk for a couple years," Lash said, but they reconnected in London in 1999, as Smith toured for XO at the height of his post-Oscars fame, with Coomes in his backing band. And Gust had a new project, No. 2, that brought Smith and Lash together again. "We hung out a little bit when he was working on the first No. 2 record. I started to get a feeling like, 'Oh, you know, even if it wasn't Heatmiser...' It was fun to think about the possibility of maybe doing something with him. So it was hard when that door was closed."
Gust went on to play in the band No. 2. Coomes carried on as half of Quasi, as well as working as a guest musician and producer for other bands, including Built to Spill, Sleater-Kinney, and Bugskull. Lash currently keeps himself busy as a producer. He produced the first two albums by The Dandy Warhols and he helped with the production of Death Cab for Cutie's first two studio albums ( Something About Airplanes and We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes). Peterson teaches anthropology at Michigan State University. Smith went on to a successful solo career before his death on October 21, 2003.
Neil Gust recalled that the last time that he saw Elliott Smith, in 2002, Smith said he wanted to make another Heatmiser record. The pair recorded just one new song together, "Who's Behind the Door?"
Gust recalled how "Who's Behind the Door?" came together in the studio and how that was the last session he shared with Smith before his passing in 2003:
Elliott Smith later dismissed the group's music as "loud", and his own singing on their first album as "an embarrassment". Smith also bemoaned that being in Heatmiser changed the songs he was writing at the time into "loud rock songs with no dynamic." Heatmiser also frustrated the members of the band. In an interview, Smith recalled:
Gust stated that touring behind their first album, Dead Air, meant that Heatmiser "had to be this much more muscular, single-minded kind of band than we really felt any of us were interested in being."
JJ Gonson, Heatmiser's manager (and later, Smith's girlfriend) recalled her impressions of Heatmiser:
Their musical style has been described as indie rock, indie pop, alternative rock, and post-hardcore.
Brendan Benson was the opening act for Heatmiser on their final tour. Reporter Jeff Stark's SF Weekly article about a date on that tour, a December 1, 1996 show at San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill club, recalled Smith as "part charismatic rock star, part bar-band regular, oozing nonchalant confidence".
Heatmiser also had a less-serious side:
Gust has "the fondest memories" of the band, and he has stated that "his view of the legacy of Heatmiser is those records. It was a great time in my life. It's been something that has paid off in my life over and over, far more than it ever paid at the time." Tony Lash also looks back on his time in Heatmiser favorably: "I have a lot of fond memories of that time. Portland still has an extremely vibrant music scene, but there was a bit more of a united, focused community with the bands and the people that came to see music then. La Luna, along with a few other places, was the epicenter of that, the place where the large shows happened. We definitely packed our shows, and people were really into it."
In 2013, photos taken by Gonson of Heatmiser appeared in the Elliott Smith: The Portland Years photo show and series.
Later years: line-up changes and Mic City Sons (1994–1996)
Peterson left the band in August 1994 and was replaced by Sam Coomes, a friend of Smith's. Coomes played on Heatmiser's last album, Mic City Sons, and on tour. Coomes has a modest view of his contributions to the album: "There's two levels of playing for me on," he added, laughing. "Decent and could be better." After Peterson's departure, the band "struggled on to draw the same crowds they'd built in Portland. They played wherever they could, even a laundromat."
Disbandment
The band broke up in the fall of 1996, prior to the release of their third and last album, Mic City Sons. "It was kind of ridiculous to carry it up to a certain point and then drop the ball or the bomb, like quitting the band right after we had signed to Virgin," recalled Smith. "I was the guy who made that gravy-train crash so to speak, and it was a gravy-train at the time. The breakup happened almost immediately after the contract was signed. I watched myself put my paw in the bear trap on that one because there was this clause about leaving members. In the event of the band dissolving, any members could be kept to that contract with or without their consent under the same terms. They didn't pick up Neil's option, only mine. It turned out to be a fucked-up situation because they said the reason they had signed Heatmiser was that they'd been hoping this the would happen-or something to that effect. They said that right in front of Neil and I couldn't believe it."
Artistry
Musical style
Heatmiser was labeled as a "homocore" or "queercore" band by the mainstream press, because of the themes espoused in the songs of the openly gay Gust. It was also speculated that Gust and Smith were lovers. Elliott Smith repeatedly denied this in interviews or that he was even gay. Smith also said that Gust's being gay was "not a big deal, nor anyone's business".
Performance style
Gonson spoke of the uniqueness of the 1990s Portland music scene in relation to Heatmiser:
Legacy
Later in his career, Smith believed that his blatant dismissal of the band in interviews for his solo albums hurt Neil Gust and led to discontent between them. The success of Roman Candle and Elliott Smith caused tensions in the band, especially between Smith and Gust, and led to the band's break-up.
Discography
Further reading
Categories: 1991 Establishments In Oregon, 1996 Disestablishments In Oregon, Cavity Search Records Artists, Elliott Smith, Indie Rock Musical Groups From Oregon, Indie Pop Groups From Oregon, American Post-hardcore Musical Groups, Musical Groups Disestablished In 1996, Musical Groups Established In 1991, Musical Groups From Portland, Oregon
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