Smile circa 1995
Smile were a hard rock trio from Southern California that sang the song She at the end of the Mega Man cartoon series episode "Showdown At Red Gulch". The track was originally from the band's album Maquee. According to former Smile bassist Aaron Sonnenberg, singer, guitarist Mike Rosas didn't know what he was trying to write when he wrote the song other than that he was trying to mimic You Really Got Me by The Kinks. The group has been compared to fellow California rockers Kyuss.
History[]
Smile formed in 1992 by classmates Mike Rosas and Aaron Sonnenberg. The two placed a want ad for a drummer which led them to find Scott Reeder, and with Reeder on drums, Sonnenberg on bass and Rosas on guitar and lead vocals, the line up was complete. A while after forming, the band released a 7" EP called Resin and a single called Amanita. Following them was the band's full length debut album Maquee. The album was originally released in September 1994 on the San Diego based record label Headhunter, distributed by Cargo Music. Atlantic Records heard the album and offered the band a major label deal, and Atlantic re-released the album in July 1995. Upon Atlantic re-releasing the album, the band enjoyed a minor radio hit with Staring At The Sun. The single's minor success persuaded the band to quit their day jobs and move out of their parents' houses, and they spent nearly a year and a half on the road promoting Maquee. They found themselves opening shows for bands like CIV (who also contributed a song to the Mega Man cartoon series ironically), Everclear and Silverchair. Sometime in 1996, the band released another ep called "Masterlocks + 3". By 1997, the band had decided to leave Atlantic, because they felt a sense of resistance from the label, plus they didn't feel comfortable with the new staff members that came on board as a result of an upper management shake up at the label the year before. They were still under contract with Headhunter however. Soon afterwards, Sonnenberg left the band because he didn't like touring the way Rosas and Reeder did. He was replaced by Bob Thompson, and in 1998, they released their second full-length album Girl Crushes Boy. The album was a hit in Southern California. Awhile after the band expanded to a quartet by adding keyboardist Matt Fletcher, Reeder left the band to join Fu Manchu, and Fletcher suggested his brother James as a replacement. Smile disbanded in 2003. Mike Rosas is currently the frontman/guitarist for the group Satisfaction. The band briefly re-united in 2013 to perform a series of live gigs.