Although Laura Smith’s band is her namesake, she makes it clear her work is not a solo project.

With frequent referrals to her song-writing partner and multi-instrument playing bandmate Andrew Braun, one gets the impression that Braun is sometimes the anchor to Smith’s careening sailboat.

He puts his degree in composition to good use, she said, as it is him who does the in-studio tinkering, and in this way, he perfectly balances her own love to perform.

And Smith’s love to preform comes through clearly in the band’s work, which is most easily defined as indie pop, but includes hints of jazz, classical, folk and rock.

But Smith also has a lot of admiration for the rest of her band - bass player and fellow Capilano University alum Jeff Riedlinger and drummer Johnny Andrews, who has played with the likes of Tegan and Sara and Holly McNarland, and is the newest addition to the band.

“ We are the monsters.

Laura Smith

The band has already received some success since the release of their first full-length album, 2008’s Sea of Stars. Various songs from the album have made their way onto CBC Radio One and CBC Radio 3, and they’ve performed with Mother Mother, Said the Whale, Current Swell and The Liptonians, amongst others. June marks the band’s they first cross-Canada tour.

But the band’s goals remain fairly simple.

“We just want to improve and play good music. Hopefully that will get us somewhere,” Smith said.

It’s hard to believe that none of this might have happened if it weren’t for a certain well-received high school talent show Laura took part in.

It was then Smith realized, ‘Oh, I can do this’ - she decided that music was a realistic career choice after all, and really began to discover the world of recording and song-writing.

Today, the music Laura Smith offers their audience is rich and varied in sounds and lyrical content. But that doesn’t mean it was always that way.

Smith had little previous experience with an accordion when she sought one out and purchased it on Craigslist. However, she has nonetheless worked it into the music, and with excellent results.

And as quirky as that is, Smith also cryptically works current world issues into her music as well.

“We are the monsters,” Smith explained in reference to the lyrics of “I Spy a Monster,” a song that comments on how bad society has let global warming become.