SML - How You Been (2025 International Anthem Vinyl LP)

SML - How You Been Vinyl LP - 2025 International Anthem Recording Company

The collaborative quintet SML (comprising saxophonist/electronics artist Josh Johnson, modular synthesizer player/sampler Jeremiah Chiu, guitarist Gregory Uhlmann, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Booker Stardrum) presents their latest album, compiled from four live performances across Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle between July 2024 and March 2025. The group's approach merges experimental electronic music with jazz improvisation, Johnson's processed saxophone and electronics interacting with Chiu's modular synthesis and live sampling, Uhlmann's effects-laden guitar, Butterss' electric bass, and Stardrum's drums and percussion. Released on 7 November 2025 by International Anthem Recording Company, this black vinyl LP was lacquer cut at SST and pressed at Germany's Pallas plant, the twelve tracks demonstrating contemporary creative music's synthesis of acoustic improvisation and electronic processing.

The album's compositional approach reflects collective creation, the material composed, compiled, edited, and overdubbed by the ensemble after capturing performances at Zebulon in Los Angeles (8 and 9 July 2024, engineered by Bryce Gonzales), The High Low in Los Angeles (11 November 2024, engineered by Bryce Gonzales), Empty Bottle in Chicago (3 March 2025, engineered by Dave Vettraino), and Tractor Tavern in Seattle (20 March 2025, engineered by Dr. Jon). This method allows the spontaneity of live performance to inform studio refinement, the group shaping improvised material into coherent compositions.

The instrumentation creates textures that blur boundaries between jazz, electronic music, and experimental composition. Johnson's saxophone, filtered through electronics and synthesizers, meets Chiu's modular synthesis and live sampling to create layered sonic environments, while Uhlmann's guitar effects, Butterss' electric bass, and Stardrum's percussion provide both foundation and colour.