Main Squeeze Keyboardist Smile High Shares ‘The Vibetape;’ RnB/Funk Album Packed with Features

This past Friday, LA-based producer/keyboardist Smile High shared his highly anticipated LP The Vibetape, a dynamic fusion of RnB, jazz, funk and hip-hop, in collaboration with internationally known jam band The Main Squeeze. Featuring over a dozen vocalists, including 6LACK, Chuck Inglish, Tiffany Gouché and Felly, the ten-track project cements Smile High (AKA Ben “Smiley” Silverstein) as a need-to-know producer and A&R.

Smiley, who got his nickname from his “resting smile face,” co-founded The Main Squeeze while studying at Indiana University, and has been the band’s keyboardist since its inception. Spontaneous jam sessions were a hallmark of the band’s founding, and they’ve maintained this emphasis in the decade-plus that followed, whether in Indiana, Chicago or their current home of Los Angeles.

The studio sessions for The Vibetape were assembled with the intent of breaking a pattern of excessive seriousness in LA’s music scene, which Smile High & the Squeeze began to notice as they partook in industry sessions and went to concerts. On The Vibetape, the band created space for collaborators to express themselves freely and without fear of judgment, resulting in a warm, cohesive body of work that feels like an afternoon barbecue with friends.

“I’ve always found the most joy in collaborating with others and combining what I do best with what other people do best, and just being pleasantly surprised with the end result,” shares Smiley. “That’s always been the essence of what I’ve been doing, and The Vibetape is truly the culmination of that.”

The first single from The Vibetape—“Real” (ft. Tiffany Gouché & Abhi the Nomad – stream HERE)—arrived September 29 and the band has released singles on a weekly basis since. Each track has been accompanied by a visualizer shot at the Squeeze House, in a series they call the “Treehouse Sessions.”

Singles from The Vibetape have received widespread critical acclaim on streaming and at press. Breakout single “Kinks” (ft. 6LACK & QUIN) has already amassed over 500K streams, with NPR adding the song to their New Music Friday playlist and VIBE Magazine calling it “a riveting, soulful record.” Several other singles have landed prominent placements on key DSP editorials, with “To the Moon” (ft. Chloe Angelides) recently landing the No. 5 slot on Spotify’s Fresh Finds R&B tastemaker playlist.

The Vibetape is Smiley’s second project with Nettwerk of 2023, following April’s Snack Pack LP (HERE), a chillhop-jazztronica fusion project created with instrumentalists Horace Bray and Teddy Roxpin. 

The Vibetape is available at digital retailers here: https://smilehigh.ffm.to/thevibetape

The Vibetape Tracklist

On the Way (with Davion Farris & Cocoa Sarai)

Real (with Tiffany Gouché & Abhi The Nomad)

All For You (with Felly & Tia P)

Kinks (with 6LACK & QUIN)

Love Lost

To the Moon (with Chloe Angelides)

Livin’ for My Dreams (with Marieme & Dom 2 Timez)

I Love it When You (with Lando Chill & Chuck Inglish)

317.323 (with Def Sound)

Rewind (with Skywalker)

All tracks made in collaboration with The Main Squeeze