The Softies

Math and Physics Club began as a basement project for longtime friends Charles Bert (vocals) and James Werle (guitar), but in the summer of 2004 the band coalesced around the additions of Kevin Emerson (drums), Saundrah Humphrey (violin) and Ethan Jones (bass).

After recording a four-song demo in James’ basement, the band sent a copy to California-based pop label Matinee Recordings. The band signed on with Matinee in the fall of 2004 and released their first EP, Weekends Away, in early 2005.

John Richards, a DJ at Seattle’s influential indie radio station KEXP, also got a copy of the demo and began spinning “Sixteen and Pretty” on his morning show. Local music blog Three Imaginary Girls also began touting the band and helped build a local following even before the full lineup had played its first show together.

In spring 2005, they played several West Coast shows with new labelmates and heroes The Lucksmiths, and scored an invite to the Sasquatch Music Festival. The band released a follow-up EP titled Movie Ending Romance in July, and finished off the summer with a packed set at Seattle’s Bumbershoot arts festival.

After taking some months off to write and record, they released their self-titled debut album in October 2006, working with local producer/engineer Kevin Suggs (The Walkabouts, Smoosh). The band celebrated by making their first trip to the East Coast for a short tour, then returned home for a sold-out record release show. The album was crowned “Best Indiepop of 2006” by Popmatters, among other end-of-year lists.

Things slowed down in 2007 when both James and Charles became fathers and had less time for the band. They still managed to release a third EP in the fall of 2007, Baby I’m Yours, followed by a short West Coast set with The Lucksmiths, but then only played a few shows in 2008 and none in 2009. Saundrah left the band during this time and moved to Denmark, and later Kevin also called it quits to focus on his burgeoning writing career.

In summer of 2009, the remaining three members (Charles, Ethan, and James), started work on their second album by trading recordings over email. They tapped Martin Feveyear (Presidents of the USA, Mark Lanegan) to produce this time, and began recording in fall 2009 at Jupiter Studios in the same space where The Posies recorded Dear 23 with John Leckie twenty years earlier.

With Kevin joining them on drums again for the sessions, the recording process stretched in bits and pieces over six months. The resulting 10 track album, I Shouldn’t Look As Good As I Do, was released in June 2010. The band also returned to the stage for a short run of shows, their first in nearly two years, enlisting friend Chris MacFarlane (Iji, Patience Please) to fill in on drums.