Cullen Omori (Smith Westerns) Signs to Sub Pop, Announces Solo Debut

Photo by Alexa Lopez

Cullen Omori, formerly of Smith Westerns, has signed to Sub Pop for his solo debut. The record, which will be released under his own name, will be out in 2016. He'll make his live debut as a solo act on October 30 at Schubas in Chicago.

Omori spoke with The Chicago Reader about the record. He said he began writing the solo material in 2014, and called Smith Westerns' "Varsity" the closest jumping-off point for his new work. Of getting started as a solo artist, he said:

It definitely got kind of dark for a while. I mean, there was no breather between becoming an adult and figuring out what you want to do: It was chosen for me, because we had early success with Smith Westerns. After doing Smith Westerns for seven years and then having it stop, you go, "All right, what do I do?" Other than having some records that did critically all right, what do I really have? Because I don't have any money. It's not like I can go live on island for the rest of my life. I'm going to have to continue working.

It also was that thing where, for the rest of my life, is what defines me going to be Smith Westerns? Is that going to be the cool thing for the rest of my life, and I'm always going to be trying to live up to that? Am I always going to be, like, "Oh man, back when I was 22 it was fucking sick!" Or am I going to take that and then do something that I feel like is a stepping stone to something better? Instead of having the Smith Westerns experience be some cool trophy of my life, I decided I'd rather use it to do something more representative of myself as a whole.

Smith Westerns broke up at the end of 2014. Omori's former Smith Westerns bandmate, Max Kakacek, now plays in Whitney.

Here's the video for "Varsity":