photos by Dylan Simmons & intro by Sofie Foster
UCLA Radio’s Rising Artist Spotlight aims to highlight upcoming artists who have demonstrated unique creativity and talent through their music. Through interviews and features, we delve into their journey, influences, and aspirations, giving listeners a glimpse into the future of music.
Some things are worth driving to Orange County for. I was looking forward to my first trip to iconic alternative venue the Observatory this March, but I was even more excited to see she’s green on their tour supporting Slow Crush. The Minnesota-based band has grown in well-deserved popularity over the last year for their addictive, dreamlike tracks and distinct, shoegaze-influenced sound.
I attended the show with OC native Dylan who gave me the lay of the land as soon as we arrived, leading me through the smoky outdoor patio before passing by the Constellation Room, the Observatory’s second, smaller stage. Waiting anxiously for their set to begin, I remembered how I’d just discovered she’s green last May (at my dad’s recommendation). Since then, they’ve released a new EP, chrysalis, and toured prolifically alongside artists like Blondshell, Slow Pulp, and Glixen.
Vocalist Zofia Smith led the band with her signature hypnotic, feathery vocals and a tambourine at her hip, backed by a heavily distorted duo of reverberating guitars played by Liam Armstrong and Raines Lucas. Accompanying them was the powerful rhythm section of bassist Teddy Nordvold and drummer Kevin Seebeck, who easily got the crowd head-banging along.
It was a fleeting 30 minute set, but I was glad to hear two of my favorites: “smile again” and “mandy.” The band also highlighted their new, heavier single “mettle,” which unsurprisingly stirred a small mosh pit in the middle of the floor — a fun watch for Dylan and I from a level above. After their short-but-sweet setlist, we were eager to catch Smith and Armstrong (and later, Lucas) outside for a post-show debrief.
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Interviewed by Dylan Simmons & Sofie Foster on March 14, 2026. This interview has been edited for clarity & brevity.
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Dylan Simmons: Where’d you guys get your band name from? What does that mean, “she’s green”?
Zofia Smith: It was honestly just thrown out playfully when we were coming up with names. Then we made the connection that we’re all really into nature, and that’s where we tend to find inspiration when we write, so that’s attached more meaning to it.
Sofie Foster: I was gonna ask about your guys’ writing process. You mentioned that you’re really inspired by nature, and I just wanted to know what that looks like. How does that come together?
Zofia: Some of it has just come from acoustic songs — the songwriting came first, and then we added a lot of the twinkly, emotional feels to it with the effects. But also a lot of them came to be just from us messing with guitar pedals and playing certain chords, and really building up that emotional instrumental first. That started with Liam creating those himself with the first two songs that we released; I heard them, and I was like, “Holy shit, I want to write to this,” because I was making music, too. And we were both separately kind of nature heads. For me, when I’m writing lyrics, I like to close my eyes when I’m listening to those really pretty instrumentals, and it makes me think of the leaves flowing in the trees. I just get into the scene in my head, and it’s always some place in nature that I’m taken to. So I think that’s where it comes from.
Liam Armstrong: [When] we’re outside writing music, we usually just use an acoustic [guitar], and we let a lot of our surrounding guide the writing process. But then when we get inside, like [in] a practice space, [it] doesn’t have any windows, so all the effects and playing music really loud kind of fills its own room, where it takes us out of the interior space and into our imagination.
Zofia: Also, we really love movies, and specific movies really inspire us a lot. It’s just fun to close our eyes, and I like to think of a Studio Ghibli movie or something.
Dylan: I feel like ethereal is a very overused word, but I do feel like that’s how your music sounds to me. It feels very dreamy; I feel like I just want to close my eyes and listen to it. Are there any specific movies that have inspired you?
Zofia: Liam and I directed this new music video of a song coming out soon, and I referenced Fallen Angels when I was creating the PowerPoint for it.
Sofie: What other creative mediums do you find yourself kind of falling back to as a band? I feel like, as artists, you’re gonna be influenced by so many different forms of art.
Zofia: I really like reading. I tend to read from women authors, and I think that’s also really inspiring — just so much emotion that’s so raw and beautiful. Like writing just what it is to be a woman, the pains, even the bad parts…
Dylan: Dude, you should see my Goodreads, because I just saved like 50 feminist-ass books. [all laugh] I’m so excited, like I actually can’t wait to read all of them.
Zofia: I’m reading right now Breasts and Eggs. It’s by Mieko Kawakami. It’s a little silly, but it’s like, we really have to deal with so much. That’s what I also like, I like that our [band] name is feminine.
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Sofie: What is your biggest challenge you’ve faced, and [your] proudest moment?
Zofia: We’ve had a really amazing year. I’m really happy and proud to have gone to China. I think that was just like a huge thing for me, to get to go to Asia for the first time, and be performing there, and then having people be there and giving me sweet letters. That was just like, “Wow, girl, you really made it.” My younger self in me was like, “You did this.”
Liam: I think biggest challenge, though, is probably staying healthy on the road, and just like keeping everybody sane.
Zofia: ‘Cause I’m with all boys, [sometimes] I’m just like, there’s too many men around me. And I’m just like, crashing out, and then I go on a walk, and I’m like, “Okay, I’m good!”
Dylan: Yeah. Retreat to the feminist literature for a second. [all laugh]
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Dylan: How did you guys meet? Was it college?
Liam: Yeah, I went to the University of Minnesota.
Zofia: I [didn’t], but I had a lot of friends going to the University of Minnesota, so we all lived in a house together. I was just in the music scene there.
Liam: I had met her friend, Jacqueline — her roommate at the time — in college. [We had] a bunch of mutual friends.
Zofia: We’d jam a lot.
Liam: And then COVID happened, and everyone went home, but we still kept [in touch], [and] we had more free time.
Dylan: So was she’s green born during COVID?
Liam: No, I think it was after.
Zofia: But we were all kind of just in our own– like, I was writing my own stuff.
Liam: Yeah, [if the pandemic hadn’t happened] I definitely wouldn’t have played as much [music].
Zofia: That was the first time I even picked up guitar. I played piano when I was a kid, [and] I did percussion. So piano and drums, I knew. So I was like, “Let me try to learn guitar.” And that’s really helped with the [song]writing.
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Dylan: I was gonna ask about the Minnesota music scene, and the DIY scene there. It’s a very overlooked scene, and I also know being from Minnesota is a big part of your identity. So I was wondering [your] thoughts on that, how starting in that scene shaped you, or any artists in that scene right now that you’d want to highlight.
Zofia: Oh, definitely. I love Lana Leone, she’s my friend. Whenever we’re home, we’re like, “We gotta hang out!” She’s amazing. The live performances are insane. She’s also in this band, berzica, and that was our first guitarist’s band. Also Linus and Peeler. Peeler’s like an all-star lineup from the Minneapolis scene; every single member has been going to shows for years.
Liam: Minneapolis is really unique, because it’s kind of a big small town. Everybody kind of knows each other, and it’s shifting all the time; people are leaving bands, joining different bands, and starting new projects. Right now, it’s still really cool DIY shows all the time, like in basements of student housing and stuff.
Zofia: People are really there for each other. And we blend genres a lot, which I think is cool. I don’t think a lot of cities do that. It just feels really safe. There’s always like fundraising, and it’s just such a sweet community. I’m trying to think of other bands…
Liam: Prize Horse…
Zofia: Prize Horse, and bugsy, and 12th House Sun– they’re like a little heavier.
Liam: Dad Bod…
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Dylan: Your most recent single was “mettle,” [which] feels to me a little bit heavier — I was a little surprised when I first heard it. I’m curious if this feels like kind of the trajectory you’re going in, or what influences are shaping this new era of your music.
Liam: I think we’re just trying to push ourselves in a bunch of different directions at the same time. Like, this next project, every song is super unique compared to the other ones on the record. We’re trying to get heavier, but we’re trying to get more folky as well– I think we just don’t want to be constrained to any sort of specific sound. It’s also fun to just write a bunch of different types of stuff and see what people are into.
Zofia: It’s fun, because we’re trying to just change it up and expand, but also keep certain things very us, and signature. So it’s like, it’s definitely their song, but at the same time, it’s in a different genre. It’s kind of a goal; we just want to widen our scope.
Sofie: Yeah. It’s like, she’s green explores their sound. The cohesive [element] is you guys, rather than a certain genre…
A loose pug wanders over to our conversation.
Dylan: Oop, hello!
Sofie: Oh my God!
Zofia: Oh my God. That’s really adorable.
The pug scurries off.
Dylan: That makes a lot of sense. I feel like you guys have already found a very distinct sound. I just feel like the “she’s green” is going to come out in whatever you make, just because you’re she’s green. I’m just excited to see what that’ll look like, because I love the elements of your sound that make you distinct, and I’m excited to see how those transfer into different spheres.
Sofie: We’ve got a band member lurking…
Queue a brief round of introductions as Raines Lucas joins the conversation.
Dylan: When you were talking about this new project kind of going both heavier and like folksy in a way, that made me think of Wednesday. I feel like their new album [Bleeds] did that, and they did it really well, where there were some songs that were very country, or some songs that were the softest songs I’ve ever heard from them, and then also the hardest songs I’ve ever heard from them. I think it works really well. I’m excited to see how that looks for you guys. There’s a way to do that and still sound cohesive. Because, again, she’s green is the throughline, because it’s still you guys.
Zofia: I think when we make a record, we kind of want people to be on a journey, and not just feel like you’re stuck in the same moment. That’s a big thing we’ve been more conscious of.
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Dylan: We were talking about media and books and movies and stuff. I’m curious if there’s any specific films, or pieces of art, or [references to] nature– like, any specific moments that are shaping this new project. [Can you] paint me a picture of where you think that’s headed?
Zofia: We went to a sea cave [in Malibu] — it’s a specific spot that’s been really important to me. I was tearing up every few minutes, ‘cause I was just like, “Oh my God.”
Raines: I think, because the songs are so different, there’s not like one thing; every song’s kind of got its own influence.
Dylan: Like its own vision board.
Raines: Yes.
Zofia: One of the songs is kind of like [influenced by] Chungking Express.
Dylan: That’s been my watchlist for so long. Brokeback Mountain is a movie I love for nature reasons. It’s just so pretty.
Raines: And no other reason. [all laugh]
Dylan: I feel like so many stills from that movie feel like a painting to me. That’s one of the first ones I think of when I think of nature and cinematography, that kind of vibe. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it. I cried, and I never cry at movies. It’s so good, it’s beautiful, the score…
Zofia: That’s kind of like When Marnie Was There.
Dylan: I’ve heard that like seems lesbian, and then it’s not. [all laugh] I haven’t seen it yet.
Zofia: That one made me cry. And it’s also like, there’s a lot of water…
Raines: This is funny for me to say, because I haven’t even seen it, but Twilight keeps coming up all the time. People comment like, “Added this to my ‘Forks’ playlist,” which apparently is a reference to Twilight.
Dylan: Also Princess Mononoke, have you seen that? That’s a good one, because it’s so pretty and it’s obviously very environmental.
Liam: We just watched Nausicaӓ [of the Valley of the Wind].
Sofie: All Studio Ghibli movies…
Dylan: It’s always gonna do it. I love animation so much.
Sofie: Guys, stop motion. That’s where it’s at.
Dylan: Isle of Dogs…
Sofie: Marcel the Shell [with Shoes On], are you kidding me? Beautiful movie. Memoir of a Snail, I highly recommend.
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Dylan: Before we wrap it up, is there anything you guys want to shout out?
Liam: Our homies in berzica just released an awesome track called “new star.” Also, Lana Leone just released a song called “Paper Cranes” — it’s so sick!
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swallowtail, the new album from she’s green, releases July 10. Check out lead singles “mettle” and “paper thin” here!
Check out UCLA Radio’s Rising Artist Spotlight playlist!
