Editing Elliott Smith (section)

=== 1991–1996: Heatmiser ===
{{main|Heatmiser}}

In 1991, Smith graduated from [[Hampshire College]] in [[Amherst, Massachusetts]] with a degree in [[philosophy]] and [[political science]]. "Went straight through in four years", he explained to ''Under the Radar'' in 2003. "I guess it proved to myself that I could do something I really didn't want to for four years. Except I did like what I was studying. At the time it seemed like, 'This is your one and only chance to go to college and you had just better do it because some day you might wish that you did.' Plus, the whole reason I applied in the first place was because of my girlfriend, and I had gotten accepted already even though we had broken up before the first day."<ref name="Under the Radar 2" /> After he graduated, he "worked in a bakery back in Portland with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and legal theory".<ref name="Under the Radar 2" />

While at Hampshire College, Smith formed the band [[Heatmiser]] with classmate [[Neil Gust]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sweetadeline.net/bio5.html |title=Elliott Smith: Biography – Page 5 |last=Shutt |first=S. R. |website=Sweet Adeline |access-date=December 8, 2015}}</ref> After Smith graduated from Hampshire, the band added drummer [[Tony Lash]] and bassist [[Brandt Peterson]] and began performing around Portland in 1992.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=byhMHIYrkSkC|title=Torment Saint: The Life of Elliott Smith – William Todd Schultz – Google Libri|date=January 24, 2018|isbn=9781620403785|access-date=January 24, 2018|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124174401/https://books.google.com/books?id=byhMHIYrkSkC&printsec=frontcover|archive-date=January 24, 2018|last1=Schultz|first1=William Todd|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA }}</ref> The group released the albums ''[[Dead Air (Heatmiser album)|Dead Air]]'' (1993) and ''[[Cop and Speeder]]'' (1994), as well as the ''[[Yellow No. 5 (Heatmiser E.P.)|Yellow No. 5]]'' EP (1994) on [[Frontier Records]].<ref name=":0" /> They were then signed to [[Virgin Records]] to release what became their final album ''[[Mic City Sons]]'' (1996).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.treblezine.com/32195-heatmiser-mic-city-sons-bridge-elliott-smith-solo/|title=Heatmiser's 'Mic City Sons' built a bridge to Elliott Smith's solo albums|date=January 24, 2018|access-date=January 24, 2018|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124174840/http://www.treblezine.com/32195-heatmiser-mic-city-sons-bridge-elliott-smith-solo/|archive-date=January 24, 2018}}</ref>

Around this time, Smith and Gust worked a number of odd jobs around Portland, including installing drywall, spreading gravel, transplanting bamboo trees, and painting the roof of a warehouse with heat reflective paint. The pair were also on unemployment benefits for some time, which they considered an "artist grant".<ref name="Under the Radar 1">{{cite web |url=http://undertheradarmag.com/es.html |title=Elliott Smith – Better Off Than Dead, Elliott Smith Comes Clean |last=Kagler |first=Marcus |date=June 2003 |website=Under the Radar | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031105005159/http://www.undertheradarmag.com/es.html |archive-date=November 5, 2003 |access-date=April 17, 2013}}</ref>

Smith had begun his solo career while still in Heatmiser, and the success of his first two releases created distance and tension with his band.<ref name="Under the Radar 1" /> Heatmiser disbanded prior to the release of ''Mic City Sons'', prompting Virgin to put the album out inauspiciously through its independent arm [[Caroline Records]].<ref name=":1" /> A clause in Heatmiser's record contract with Virgin meant that Smith was still bound to it as an individual. The contract was later bought out by DreamWorks prior to the recording of his album ''[[XO (Elliott Smith album)|XO]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/9246-keep-the-things-you-forgot-an-elliott-smith-oral-history/|title=Keep the Things You Forgot: An Elliott Smith Oral History {{!}} Pitchfork|website=Pitchfork |date=January 24, 2018|access-date=January 24, 2018|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124191042/https://pitchfork.com/features/article/9246-keep-the-things-you-forgot-an-elliott-smith-oral-history/|archive-date=January 24, 2018}}</ref>