The Atomics

Daisy Clementine, Pyper America, Starlie, and Lucky Blue Smith grew up as siblings in the small town of Spanish Fork, Utah. They enjoyed their Mormon upbringing, spending time with extended family, and living in the suburbs. But little did they know, the bright lights of Hollywood were waiting for them. At the age of 14, Daisy landed herself a contract with one of the most successful modeling agencies in the world. And after taking one look at her tall, thin, and recently dyed blonde haired siblings, Next LA signed Pyper and Lucky as well. It wasn’t long before the girls were shooting campaigns for massive brands and Lucky was gracing the runway for everybody from Tom Ford to Versace, Michael Kors, and H&M. And then the Internet took notice. After Daisy created an Instagram account, her siblings followed suit. Lucky’s sultry selfies have turned him into a virtual sensation and together, the four siblings have 3.5 million fans following their every move.

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  • Photography: Justin Campbell
  • Writer: Nicole Pajer
  • Editor: David Niederhoffer
  • Stylist: Sean Knight
  • Makeup: Natasha Severino
  • Hair: Ryan Taniguchi
  • Grooming: Mira Chai Hyde
  • Location: Dust Studios LA
Lucky Blue Smith and Pyper America Smith pose for a portrait together
Starlie Smith and Daisy Clementine Smith pose for a portrait together
-Lucky Blue Smith, Pyper America Smith, Starlie Smith, & Daisy Clementine Smith | Photographed by Justin Campbell

Lucky Blue Smith wears a metallic Versace jacket and leather jeans

Fashion Credits


Styled By: Sean Knight

Photo 1 Lucky Blue Pyper America Photo 2 Starlie Daisy Clementine Photo 3 Lucky Blue Photo 4 Lucky Blue Starlie Photo 5 Pyper America

Lucky Blue Smith poses for a photo with sister Starlie Smith

Pyper America Smith poses for a solo portrait in a colorful outfit

The Smith family’s talents don’t stop at strutting down runways and posing for the likes of Annie Leibovitz. They are also musically inclined as well. One Christmas, the kids were all given instruments and, with the help of their musician father, started learning songs together. They began performing shows and playing covers of bands such as Dick Dale and The Ventures. Starlie, who has been singing for as long as she can remember, added her own vocals into the mix and thus, their edgy surf rock project, The Atomics was formed. The band is currently in the studio and gearing up to release its debut album, which to quote lead vocalist Starlie, is “unlike anything that people have ever heard before.”

From organizing Instagram meetups that garner thousands of fans to come out to meet them to making their big screen debut in films, the Smith siblings are quickly taking the entertainment world by storm. We caught up with the fabulous foursome to discuss what’s coming up for The Atomics, making the move from Utah to Los Angeles, who’s single and who’s taken, and what they love most about living the dream as a family.

Just Jared: How did this whole modeling adventure that led you guys to Los Angeles begin?

Daisy: I always wanted to do modeling, as long as I can remember. I would beg my mom to get me to go meet with agencies. So when I was 14, I got signed with Next LA and I would do stuff with them whenever I could in the summer. One summer, we all went to LA to have a vacation and meet the agency. And we brought everyone upstairs with me and so they signed everyone. We’ve been doing stuff with them ever since. We were going back and forth between LA and Utah whenever any of us had jobs. I had always wanted to move to LA and was planning on doing that after I graduated high school. I was the first one to get signed. I started it all I guess (laughs).

JJ: What was the biggest shock to you about Hollywood once you made the move here?

Lucky: It wasn’t that big of a shock for me. It really wasn’t. I just love LA so much. I was following a lot of people I looked up to on social media when I lived in Utah. And they were all here.

Daisy: There are certain things like traffic. When I first moved here, I was so panicked and I had just driven 11 hours in the car to get there. It was so stressful! I feel like the biggest thing I noticed was how casual weed is here. In Utah, if someone smoked weed, I remember in my high school it being such a huge deal. Here it’s so much more casual and out in the open.

Starlie: A homeless guy taking a crap in the middle of the street. We’ve all seen that.

Pyper: I think the lifestyle differences. Growing up as a Christian, living in Utah where it’s very popular there, it was just different to come and have no friends who were necessarily Christian. In Utah I was surrounded by people that were similar to me. And then coming to LA where everyone is so different is so beautiful; it’s a huge difference. I love having a lot of friends who do different stuff.

JJ: Utah is more conservative. Is it hard to hold true to your roots in Los Angeles?

Daisy: I’ve met some really cool people out here and people that have my same lifestyle. I have a bunch of friends who go to church with me. I like hanging out with them. I think it would be very different if I was in the crowd that was very much into things that had never been a part of my life before. You see a lot of people change but I’ve made a very conscious decision to stay true to myself and what I believe in and not just let my surroundings change me. I feel like I’ve really tried to stay consistent with who I am and what I know. And I feel like it’s worked out for me.

JJ: What do you love most about modeling?

Lucky: Meeting new people and traveling. That’s my favorite thing. Fashion moves really fast paced and there is always something new coming out. I really like that. And it’s fun to dress in cool clothes.

JJ: Lucky, you are known for your famous Instagram meetups that you arrange for your fans. How did those come about?

Lucky: I went to London one time and I tweeted, “I’m going to London. Who lives there?” And a bunch of people said, “I do.” And then I was like, “Well why don’t I do a meetup?” And then I started doing meetups everywhere I went. It started randomly. And then one of the shows in Milan, it was the last night I could meet people so I was just like, “Just come after my show.” And then everyone came after the show. It was crazy. That’s how it started. The first meetup was kind of smallish. But I’ve had a couple thousand come to one of them one time. In China about 2,000 people showed up to this mall. At fashion shows, there are sometimes 400 to 600. One time in Paris, I swear there were like 1,500 girls. Now I kind of want some type of security to be there because I’ve heard some things on the news that happened that were so tragic.

JJ: Hearing about these incidents, like with Christina Grimmie, does it make you less inclined to do these?

A photo posted by Just Jared (@justjared) on

Lucky: No. I’m always going to do them for sure, 100%. Really you just need a big open space. That’s the only rule. I try to stay and take pictures with everyone. Sometimes it’s hard though. Maybe security would help in the future though. At least I’ll recruit some friends to help out.

JJ: Is it true that you actually had a girl faint after taking a picture with you?

Lucky: (Laughs) Well. Yeah that happened. It was kind of funny.

JJ: Is it surreal to wrap your heads around the fact that you have so many dedicated social media admirers?

Lucky: It’s really crazy to think about it because I never thought it would ever happen to me.

Daisy: Yeah! I don’t really get it, to be honest. I feel like I’m the one of the four of us that’s the least into social media just because that’s not my natural instinct to be very into pop culture. I think it’s so cool how you can connect with so many people. But it’s so crazy. To me, we’re just random kids. Why do you care what I’m doing? You want to follow my brother, cool? It’s so weird to me. He’s just my brother.

Pyper: I remember even before I came out to LA, I found Instagram to be a very fun creative place. And then I made all my siblings get it. The following started to grow when we were in Utah. And then we moved to LA and I was becoming friends with people who had tons of followers and it was kind of crazy. They would post a photo and I would gain like 20,000 followers. And being in the modeling industry has really brought out our names into the world. Lucky has so many followers, I can’t keep up. It’s kind of interesting to have this following on the Internet. I was at church the other day and this girl came up and was like, “Oh I follow you on Instagram” and it was so cool.

Starlie: I don’t have as many followers as they do. I try to post but I feel like I just post selfies. I just never think of it in the moment I guess, then I’m like, “I should post something but I don’t have anything.” But I really love Instagram and interacting with the followers and the fans. It’s really fun.

JJ: What’s the craziest fan encounter you’ve all had?

Lucky: This one girl in China wore a wedding dress and brought a bouquet of flowers to the airport. She thought she was going to get married that day.

JJ: To you?

Lucky: Yeah.

The three sisters of The Atomics - Starlie, Pyper America, and Daisy Clementine - are pictured together

JJ: What was your excuse for not being able to marry her?

Lucky: I said “Hi.” I was getting in a car and going to a thing so I was kind of busy-ish.

Daisy: I was chaperoning Lucky one year for Fashion Week. We were in Paris and Milan mostly. So I got to do a few meetups with Lucky and it was so fun. I had never really experienced that before. It was so much excitement and so much energy. It was crazy but it was really fun. I had heard of Lucky’s meetups and my mom would send me videos. But to be in it, it was crazy. All of the energy was put into the girls touching him somewhere and you could feel it. It was crazy.

Pyper: I found it really weird to hear that I have fans. I just don’t think that’s real. It’s kind of a weird concept to me. I was in China for a job and my brother is very popular in China. There were tons of fans in China that came up to us at our hotel and they were screaming and going crazy. And they knew my name! They wanted a picture and they were so cute and so happy. I never pictured myself to be in a place like this.

Lucky: I often get asked to sign these crazy collage posters that these girls make. It takes them a lot of time and they are so rad. Or a phone. Cell phones. People are like, “Sign my phone, the actual phone.” I’m like, “You’re weird. Get a case.”

JJ: Is it weird to you girls that Lucky has so many female admirers?

Daisy: Yeah. I know he’s like cool and everything -- he really is the best brother --but sometimes I’m like, “If you only knew what he was really like.” He just leaves his socks everywhere and makes me make him waffles every morning. He’s so funny.

JJ: Your careers really took off when you dyed your hair blonde. Will you ever go back to brunette?

Lucky: Yeah. Just grow it out and change it. But I don’t know yet. I don’t have any plans to actually change it. I’d just like to go back to it sometimes.

JJ: Do blondes really have more fun?

Lucky: Blondes do have fun.

JJ: Why is that?

Daisy: You feel different when you bleach your hair. I don’t know what it is but I’m telling you, when you bleach your hair and you look in the mirror, you’re like, “I can run the world!” It’s like the same thing as putting on red lipstick or putting on heels or your favorite outfit, you’re just like, “I got this. I can control everything.” And that’s just how it feels all the time being a blonde.

JJ: And Starlie, you are the token brunette in this clan.

Starlie: Well we are all pretty much naturally the same color about. I’ve been like every single color – red, blonde, light brown, dark brown, black. I guess when we moved here, they are all really tall and I’m not. I’m only 5’3 so I was just like, “I’m not going to be compared to them so I’m going to be the dark one. I’m my own thing. I’m not tall. I’m little.”

JJ: What’s the most luxurious gig you’ve done?

Pyper: Attending the Met Gala in New York was so crazy. Everything was just taken care of. Everything was super nice. The hotel we stayed at, the people we worked with at H&M were so amazing and so nice. We show up at the hotel in New York and there was a robe with my name on it. I was like, “This is so cute!”

JJ: What do you think about when you’re walking the runway?

Lucky: When I do the runway thing, I think about food a lot because you’re running around everywhere and you’re so hungry all the time. So usually I’ll eat a pizza backstage before. So I’ll be thinking, “That pizza was good” while I’m walking.

JJ: What foods do you splurge on after finishing up a runway show or big photo shoot?

Lucky: I never had to worry about that to be honest with you. And I’m never wanting to worry about that. Workout and get a little muscle for shiz but worrying about my weight, I don’t really care. I don’t really worry about it. I’ll eat a whole pizza before I do runway. There is so much food back there. There are like 20 pizzas stacked.

JJ: Lucky, you are getting into acting. Tell us about your new movie, Love Everlasting.

Lucky: I’ve always wanted to, ever since I was a kid and even more as I got older. Then this opportunity came and the story is really cool. I was like, “I love the story and I believe in it. It sounds fun so I just want to try it out.” I did it and I loved it. And the movie is really good. I play a kid who grew up poor. His mom was in and out of relationships. He has a heart transplant when he was a little baby. He is 17, almost 18 in the movie, senior in high school. He is moving to California and then some things happen and then I can’t say anymore.

JJ: How did the band start?

Pyper: My mom grew up with music in her family. My grandpa started a music school. My dad has been in bands all his life. So I was kind of born into it. We all got instruments for Christmas one year and we started learning the same songs. Then there were a few opportunities to play shows at different festivals or little fairs around town. So we were like, “Let’s take this more seriously.” Our first show was at the public library steps of Spanish Fork, Utah for Fiesta Days. We would play surf songs, covers of music that was popular in the 50’s and 60’s. That’s the sound we started with, traditional instrumental surf music. When we moved to LA, we were like, “We want to be a relevant band. We don’t want to be a cover band. We want to have our own sound and explore that.” We’ve started to hone in on that and we’ve been lucky enough to work with tons of really good writers.

Lucky Blue Smith wears a leopard print jacket draped over his shoulder

JJ: Starlie, you’re the vocalist. When did you start singing?

Starlie: I was obsessed with Britney Spears when I was younger. I would tie up my shirt and make my own dances to her music. I wanted to be that. Growing up listening to Britney and Christina [Aguilera] and Avril Lavigne, those were who I loved. It wasn’t a magic discovery. It was just what I was. I was a singer. That’s what I wanted to do from the beginning of time.

JJ: You initially played surf rock, which had no vocals. At what point did your vocals come into the picture.

Starlie: Once we learned our instruments more and got better, that’s when I was like, “Let’s stop doing the instrumental thing and make our own music. I want to sing.” So that’s kind of how it happened.

JJ: What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome with starting the band?

Starlie: I think getting comfortable with myself. I’ve been sort of shy in the past. So overcoming, “Oh I can sing that note. I don’t have to be nervous to sing that note.” Or if I do something wrong, it’s not the end of the world. I’ve had to overcome being scared and fear to try new things.

JJ: What’s your vocal style like on stage?

Starlie: I feel like I am a bit mysterious and sexy. I dance but I’m not like crazy. It’s kind of mellow but it’s not. I’m not boring!

Daisy Clementine Smith pose for a solo portrait in a silver outfit

Fashion Credits


Photo 6 Pyper America Starlie Daisy Clementine Photo 7 Lucky Blue Photo 8 Daisy Clementine Photo 9 Lucky Blue Pyper America Starlie Daisy Clementine
JJ: You are working on your debut album. What will it sound like?

Starlie: People say that it’s nothing like what they’ve heard before. So it’s going to be something fresh and new. It’s all super positive. It’s really exciting, upbeat, positive music.

Pyper: It’s a very heavy surf rock influence but we’re trying to find our groove. The key thing is we want people to be able to dance to our music. We want it to be catchy but we also love that alternative place where it’s grungy and it sounds raw and that’s where our reverb guitar can come in. It’s been interesting to define ourselves as a band.

Lucky: We released a single a while back but we’ve changed our sound since then. Our new songs are super cool. We have a bunch of songs done and ideas cooking. It’s all cooking in the pot. It’s going to be super cool. I want funky bass and drums inspired/old school hip-hop break beats with the surfy guitar. That’s what we’re going for. Toughness, surfy guitar, edgy. And then Starlie’s vocals are Starlie’s vocals. You can’t really compare them to anyone else because they are their own thing.

Daisy: We just want to be sure that anything that we put out, we’re really proud of and we really love. So it’s taking a while. Our new sound is similar to what our single is but better I think. We are learning more and are working with people that are teaching us cool things. Hopefully we’ll have something released in the fall. That’s the goal. We’re putting more attention to music and making that the number one priority and putting that above everything else.

JJ: What’s the experience of seeing The Atomics live like?

Lucky: We haven’t really played so many shows in LA so we’re eager to see what people think about that. It’s more of a high energy type thing. Pyper dances around the whole time, Starlie does too. Daisy just shreds on the guitar and then I just kick back on the drums laying down the beats bro.

JJ: Being in the fashion industry, how important is it for you guys to be rocking amazing clothes at your shows on stage?

Lucky: Definitely, it’s very important. It’s one of the most important things other than the music. In the past, we’ve all coordinated outfits and sick clothes. This time, I don’t think we’re going to be so coordinated but we’re all just gonna look cool. My vibe is going to black skinny jeans and I like wearing a cool blazer when I play the jams.

JJ: What do you hope people take away from your music?

Pyper: I want people to have so much fun when they see us live. I want people to have so much fun and leave being like, “I want to do what they’re doing” and be inspired and feel happy and positive energy and so excited about life. I hope people like what we put out because I do. I like what we’ve written so far. I really just hope that people want to dance to our music and want to play it for their friends.

Starlie: In five years, I hope to have a few amazing number one albums. I really hope to be on my way to being the number one performer in the world.

The four siblings of The Atomics pose for a group portrait

JJ: What’s your current relationship status?

Daisy: Single. I’m obsessed with my car and my guitar. That’s what I care about in my life currently. Right now I’m just trying to put the time that I have to myself into my career and my family. I don’t think I’m going to have that same opportunity any other times. I definitely want to have my own family one day so when it comes to that time, I won’t be able to focus on myself anymore. I’m just taking it as it comes and not having any expectations and appreciating the people that come into my life and while I’m more independent.

Lucky: I’m talking to this one girl. It’s fresh. I can’t say her name right now but I’m talking to her. She lives here in LA. She is a singer and songwriter. We’re finishing our album and then finishing shows and then she is finishing her album as well. We’re both just chilling. We’re just hanging out. It’s not even a thing actually. It’s just a thing before a thing. It’s a pre thing.

Pyper: I am single as a Pringle. There are so many cute boys in LA and all over the world really. You’re just like, “Whoa. Let me kiss all of you.” I don’t think dating is a bad thing, dating a lot of people and getting to know a lot of people. I think that’s great because for me, I do want to get married some day and have a family. It’s kind of exciting to be in a big city like LA and explore that.

Starlie: I was engaged but I broke that off in February. But I’m just really happy. And I’m open to dating but I’m not in a rush because I’m very happy with my career and busy with that. I want someone who is going to truly accept me for me down to my core because I’ve had trouble with that. And I just want someone loving and fun. Someone that takes me out of my comfort zone.

JJ: What’s your ideal date?

Lucky: Some bomb dinner and then something fun and random after.

Pyper: I like when things are planned but I also live for spontaneous adventures. My dream date is I’m with someone that I like and we’re going all over the city and wherever we are, we are exploring. And it’s going fast and it’s fun and maybe we go to 5 million places and we are running around not even thinking about anything.

Starlie: Dinner, like a 5 hour dinner. I’m just obsessed with dinners. Out at a restaurant. We just talk. We take forever to order. It’s just romantic.

Daisy: I love bowling. That’s my number one. It’s so fun. I always tell everyone to go bowling with me. I’m really not good. I’m maybe average sometimes but to me, that’s not the point to be good. You’re just having fun and listening to whatever music they are playing. You just mess around and joke with people. I love to go bowling and maybe would get a hamburger or something. I’m really into hamburgers these days.

JJ: You were all born with such naturally cool stage names. Do you know what you were named after?

Lucky: My mom and dad – I have three sisters and they were “lucky” to have a boy. That’s what they always tell me. I think they just really liked the name. They were trying to decide between Lucky and Blue so they decided to combine the two. You have to go all out if you are going to have Lucky as a first name. It’s the best name in the world. The best name ever!

Daisy: I feel like my parents are just really creative people and they never like to do what’s expected. They just picked cool names and it’s working out. It’s my mom’s favorite flower. I would rather be thought of as a flower than a random character named Daisy in The Great Gatsby who they always make evil (laughs).

A video posted by Just Jared (@justjared) on

A video posted by Just Jared (@justjared) on


Credits

  • Photographer: Justin Campbell
  • Web Producer: Chris Choi
  • Stylist: Sean Knight
  • Makeup: Natasha Severino
  • Hair: Ryan Taniguchi
  • Hair and Grooming: Mira Chai Hyde at The Wall Group for R&Co and iS CLINICAL
  • Writer: Nicole Pajer
  • Editor: David Niederhoffer

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