Ultrababyfat is the collaborative product of lifelong friends Shonali Bhowmik and Michelle DuBois, whose history of composing music dates back to their junior high days in Nashville. After a brief separation for college and a stint together in Santa Cruz, the pair each individually relocated to Atlanta in the early 90s, at which time the band began in earnest as Babyfat. Paired with rhythm section Laurie Garner and Maricio Carey, the band released Dragons Go Away on Sister Ruby Records in 1995 as Babyfat (the band ultimately added the "Ultra" prefix when some bar band appeared from out of the woodwork to claim the Babyfat name). The result of having one lo-fi masterpiece record under its belt and building a reputation of energetic live sets, considerable buzz built around the band, and Walter Yentikoff's Velvel Records snatched the band from the unsigned masses. The Velvel debut, 1998's Silver Tones Smile, featured a new rhythm section with Britta Phillips (subsequently of Luna) and Shane Sanders and a much larger production budget. The record was primarily recorded by Doug Easley at Easley Studios in Memphis and mixed at Keith Cleversley's Playground in Chicago. Silver Tones Smile was a smash hit on the CMJ and Gavin college radio charts, which led to critical media praise, successful tours, a video appearance on My So Called Life, and songs being licensed to MTV, USA Networks, VH1, and the WB Network. Though BMG pulled the plug on Velvel during the crest of Ultrababyfat's rising popularity, the band soldiered on doing what it does best, writing songs and touring. The band landed on Orange Records for the 2001 release of Eight Balls in Reverse. More touring followed, including a stint on the Warped Tour and a tour in support of comedian David Cross. Shonali relocated to New York following the release of Eight Balls in Reverse, and the band has been largely inactive while Shonali and Michelle devote most of their energies to their current bands (Shonali with Tigers and Monkeys and Michelle with Luigi). The two have managed to complete No Ringo No with the help of new rhythm section Jeff Holt (of the Silent Kids) and Joseph Bilinski. <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Ultrababyfat">Read more on Last.fm</a>. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.