Biography
Smoke Bellow, the project of Meredith McHugh and Christian Best, forges links among motorik, post-punk, drone, highlife, and dub yet leaves ample room for fresh exploration. After repeated moves between Australia and Baltimore, Maryland, the pair issued early material such as 2012’s dreamy, twangy Old Haunts, a release that both absorbed and contributed to the thriving experimental communities in each city. Their approach continued to shift across 2014’s Blooming/Middling and 2018’s Isolation 3000, where repetition and improvisation served as primary engines of change. Although sharper post-punk traits came to the fore on 2021’s Open for Business, the band’s probing warmth kept it distinct from surrounding acts.
Originally based in Brisbane and Sydney respectively, multi-instrumentalists and vocalists McHugh and Best relocated to Baltimore for professional reasons—McHugh as a social worker and Best as a nursing student. The city’s experimental scene drew them in, prompting a 2011 debut through webuyyourkids’ John Carpenter, a collaboration with the art collective that honored the director and composer for a Brisbane gallery exhibition. Drummer Alex Haworth entered the lineup in 2012 and performed on October’s self-released Old Haunts, co-produced by Jon Ehrens. The trio then joined Baltimore’s Ehse Records for July 2014’s Blooming/Middling, which introduced greater rhythmic drive to the earlier drones and featured contributions from Horse Lords’ Owen Gardner and Andrew Bernstein.
Visa complications sent Best and McHugh back to Australia at the start of 2015. During their two-year stay they kept writing and recording, working inside a cabin outside Sydney. After returning to Baltimore in 2017 the duo placed Isolation 3000—now reflecting post-punk and minimalist leanings—on Ehse in April 2018. With Emmanuel Nicolaidis on drums, McHugh and Best pursued a leaner, more direct sound. That focus yielded September 2021’s Trouble in Mind debut Open for Business, where inventive rhythms supported melodies, spoken-word vocals, and further input from Gardner.
Originally based in Brisbane and Sydney respectively, multi-instrumentalists and vocalists McHugh and Best relocated to Baltimore for professional reasons—McHugh as a social worker and Best as a nursing student. The city’s experimental scene drew them in, prompting a 2011 debut through webuyyourkids’ John Carpenter, a collaboration with the art collective that honored the director and composer for a Brisbane gallery exhibition. Drummer Alex Haworth entered the lineup in 2012 and performed on October’s self-released Old Haunts, co-produced by Jon Ehrens. The trio then joined Baltimore’s Ehse Records for July 2014’s Blooming/Middling, which introduced greater rhythmic drive to the earlier drones and featured contributions from Horse Lords’ Owen Gardner and Andrew Bernstein.
Visa complications sent Best and McHugh back to Australia at the start of 2015. During their two-year stay they kept writing and recording, working inside a cabin outside Sydney. After returning to Baltimore in 2017 the duo placed Isolation 3000—now reflecting post-punk and minimalist leanings—on Ehse in April 2018. With Emmanuel Nicolaidis on drums, McHugh and Best pursued a leaner, more direct sound. That focus yielded September 2021’s Trouble in Mind debut Open for Business, where inventive rhythms supported melodies, spoken-word vocals, and further input from Gardner.
Albums
Singles
