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Zooey Deschanel

About this Artist

Effervescent actress-singer ZOOEY DESCHANEL is the song-writing half of She & Him, collaborating with guitarist Matt Ward. Together they have released two albums of Deschanel’s original material and select covers, Volume One and Volume Two.

Prior to forming She & Him, Deschanel had been writing and secretly stockpiling tunes for years. She agreed to let Ward hear them after the two collaborated on a Richard and Linda Thompson cover for an indie film, The Go-Getter, that she was starring in and Ward was scoring. Like many movie fans, Ward had first heard her sing on screen in the disarmingly affecting Elf and was intrigued. As Deschanel recounts, “I explored the idea of doing my own stuff with other people but hadn’t found anyone who I’d really trusted. Then I met Matt. He was the perfect person, and the only person who shared my taste. We’re almost always coming from the same point of view musically.”

“I would say all my influences are older, more classic songwriters,” Deschanel elaborates, “from Cole Porter and Gershwin to Carole King and Roy Orbison and Bobbie Gentry. People always expect you to be a fan of what’s happening now, but the things I gravitate toward are older and more worn.”