Ó (band)

Ó
Ó performing at NU Afterhours on February 11, 2016.
Background information
Birth name	Gabrielle Smith
Origin	Brooklyn, New York
Genres	Indie pop, Indie rock, Folk, Bedroom pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-Songwriter, Musician
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Double Double Whammy
Associated acts	Frankie Cosmos, Bellows (band), Told Slant

Ó (formerly Eskimeaux) is the recording project of Gabrielle Smith, an American singer-songwriter and producer from Brooklyn. Smith began making and releasing experimental ambient music in 2007. Since then, the solo project has turned into a four-piece indie pop band made up of Bellows' Oliver Kalb, Told Slant’s Felix Walworth, Sharpless' Jack Greenleaf and Smith.

Gabrielle Smith grew up in New York City. Born in Corvallis, OR, Smith was adopted at a young age and to this day knows little about her family history except for the fact that her father is of Tlingit descent. Smith spent her youth singing in choir and playing violin but did not start writing and performing her own songs until after dropping out of Bard High School Early College. Growing up in Manhattan, Smith also spent many of her late-teen years going to DIY shows in Brooklyn. Inspired to be a part of the DIY scene, Smith started writing songs under the moniker Eskimeaux.

In 2008, Smith enrolled in the University of the Arts (Philadelphia) but dropped out in early 2009. During these two years, Smith met many of their current collaborators and friends, forming an artist collective based in Brooklyn that Smith later co-founded. These artists opened up Smith's eyes to new music stylings and influenced much of her work. Her early recordings from around this time were more electronic, experimental and synth heavy than her more recent releases.

In 2011, Smith released Two Mountains and formed an artist collective with friends as a way to support each other and release art under one umbrella. A year later, Smith released a self-titled album, which was almost entirely made up of re-recorded songs from an extensive collection of demos. It was with eventual collaboration from friends' bands, such as Told Slant, Bellows, and Frankie Cosmos, that inspired Smith to overcome a long writing block. She began to write and record new material through a song-a-day project with Frankie Cosmos, Japanese Breakfast, Florist (band), and Small Wonder. Many of the songs written during this time appear on O.K.