Defying all pre-conceived notions you might have that involve combinations of the words Seattle, grunge, rain, sadness, long hair and (capital R) Rock, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head (NPSH for short) comes blasting out of the Space Needle, literally, armed with more sunshine and pop fun than a Technicolor cartoon on a sugar-fueled Saturday morning. NPSH are all about shiny disco beats, synth-drenched dance numbers, and audience participation, and as their star continues to rise, Seattle will soon be known as the least ironic of cities, the anti-Williamsburg if you will.
NPSH didn’t so much form as emerge. There were no thousands of hours of practice in front of the mirror for these kids; rather, the idea of starting a band was their response to participation in a high school talent contest. Luke Smith, Shaun Libman, Claire England and David Price all met in film class at Seattle’s The Center School, an arts focused institution under the Space Needle in the Seattle Center.
During their summer break in 2005, Shaun and Luke threw together some ‘weird techno songs.’ When school resumed, an in-class game required a name, and inspired by E! News coverage of a newly follicle-free V for Vendetta star, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head was born. The next day a MySpace page was up, and all that was left was…err, the ability to play instruments. Drummer Liam Downey Jr. joined soon after.
“We never really planned to start a real band. All we wanted to do was try out ‘acapella electronica’ music made with our mouths. The songs that followed were funny, for our friends, to impress the ladies (it worked), and a few times for school assignments in lieu of written essays” says singer/guitar player/clapper, Luke. "It started out as just an excuse to mess around with a really ancient drum machine I had. We were more serious about making high school horror films." Shaun adds, "We never even thought we'd play a real show, but we kept doing it because our friends liked it."
Throughout 2006 and 2007, as the music developed and the band found its footing, NPSH saw audiences at its all-ages (legal drinking age is still in most of the band member’s future) shows growing quickly. What started out as a few die-hard fans coming to every show soon turned into hundreds of kids lining up around the block, and faster than most bands take to develop substance abuse issues, NPSH had achieved real success. In fact, as of mid-February 2009 the band had over a million plays on MySpace, got more than 14 offers to play at SXSW, and just finished opening for Lily Allen on this spring’s hottest pop tour.
Amazingly, NPSH have done all of this without the help of a major label. Their debut album, GLISTENING PLEASURE, released in the summer of 2008, was self-produced and self-distributed. Their must-see video for the giddily infectious track “Sophisticated Sideways Ponytail” (sung by keyboardist/vocalist/clapper Claire) was produced by the band and creative collaborators That Go, and they have only recently brought on management to guide them to the next level, a level which we can hope abounds with clapping. “The next album will have crazy amounts of clapping,’ confirms Shaun, thankfully, ‘we’re going to have a big clapping party with all of our fans.”
NPSH is on the precipice of bringing their dance party to the pop charts and they have done it in less time than it takes to actually go through high school. The band has always been artistically ambitious, and as they set their sites on creating their own ‘new pop’ niche, success looks inevitable. Their audiences are already out there clapping with them.
NPSH ARE:
Luke Smith: Guitar, Vocals, Claps
Shaun Libman: Vocals, Claps
David Price: Keyboard, Guitar, Vocals, Claps
Claire England: Keyboard, Bass, Vocals, Claps
Liam Downey Jr: Drums, Claps
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