It helps to be a movie star, or in this case, the star of a short film based on the new album by one of the biggest indie bands in the world. I’m referring, of course, to Schmillion, the all-high-school-girl band from Austin that got their big break this week opening for Arcade Fire on the Texas leg of their summer tour. Zoe Graham, Schmillion’s guitarist, is one of the young stars of Scenes from the Suburbs, the Spike Jonze directed saga entirely based on the themes and lyrics of AF’s now Grammy-winning record (yep, it still feels weird to think about that). Two nights ago, seemingly forming out of oblivion, she and her young band mates got to rock Austin’s Backyard before Explosions in the Sky and eventually Win & Co. took to the massive stage, which later projected giant images of Zoe’s face as snippets from the movie were projected in front of thousands.
Schmillion, however, are not completely new to the Austin music scene. They played their brand of guitar-heavy garage rock at a number of showcases at SXSW 2011 and we’re even tabbed by a CNN blogger as one of the festival’s 5 must-see bands. The Austin Chronicle also named them the “Best Under 18 Band” in 2010. Check out their video for “Overgrown” below and watch out for this young Austin girl band with very (very) important friends.