Smote was co-founded four years ago by guitarist Blake Jarvis and drummer Jared Escobar. The band remained this way until two years ago, when they added lead singer/keyboardist Ariel Vardy. At first Vardy attempted to play bass for the band too, until the addition of Andrew Ishimaru one year later. Over the summer, Blake went to a five week guitar performance program at Berkeley College of Music, which solidified his technicality as a guitarist. While Blake was at Berkeley, Jared was trained to capture the band’s live sound through the Vera Project’s sound classes. His other achievements include violin proficiency as concertmaster of his high school orchestra. In the fall, Andrew began purchasing high-fidelity recording/producing equipment, and has earned a reputation as a producer for local Sammamish/Issaquah bands to come record their material with. With his newfound producing capabilities, Andrew was presented an opportunity, one that would become his crowning achievement: working with New York rapper Ronnie Dylan. Vardy enrolled in vocal lessons in 2010, and has developed an original singing style complemented by Blake’s inventive harmonies. His other achievements include an eight stave, 26 page orchestral score, which was entered in The Merriman Family Young Composers Workshop. As a whole, the band was given the opportunity to play a great and dynamic show at the East Side Battle of the Bands. The band balances performances with its recording needs as they are working toward the completion of their debut album, Cartoons, which will include ten of their top original songs.

You can catch them on facebook here:
http://www.facebook.com/thesmitten