She & Him

She & Him is an American indie duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel (vocals, piano, ukulele) and M. Ward (guitar, production). The band's first album, Volume One, was released on Merge Records in March 2008. The duo is augmented by session musicians Scott McPherson (drums), Chris Scruggs (pedal steel guitar, mandolin) and Mike Coykendall (bass, guitar).

History

Formation

Deschanel and Ward first met on the set of the film The Go-Getter, in which Deschanel had a starring role. The director, Martin Hynes, introduced them to each other and asked them to sing a duet together to be played at the end credits of the film. They decided to perform a Richard and Linda Thompson song titled "When I Get to the Border." The two bonded over a shared interest in the records produced by George Martin and Phil Spector, as well as certain Ralph Peer groups, such as the Carter Family.

Ward, having heard Deschanel sing previously in the film Elf, was surprised to learn that she wrote songs herself, but hadn't pursued a career in music. Deschanel commented in an interview with Venus Zine: “I always thought I would be able to sing and act, but at a certain point, it became difficult for me to share the music part. So I was writing a ton of music, but not really doing anything with it. I didn't really know exactly who to collaborate with… until I met Matt, and everything seemed to fall into place.” Deschanel had actually done years' worth of home demos, but was shy about becoming a big-name celebrity. On a whim, she decided to send them to Ward. Ward called her a short time later, telling her that he would like to record her songs properly, and their band She & Him was formed. Deschanel said in an interview: "I always have loved music, ever since I was really little. I just loved to sing."