As Smart As They Are focuses on One Ring Zero, the quirky Brooklyn house band for McSweeney's Publishing, and documents their collaboration with an ensemble cast of noted authors.

After moving to Brooklyn, One Ring Zero’s founding members, Joshua Camp and Michael Hearst, discovered a curious unmarked storefront that doubled as a makeshift office for McSweeney’s, an offbeat publishing company founded by author Dave Eggers. In addition to selling an odd assortment of products ranging from small rubber cubes to lumberjack supplies, the store also served as the venue for weekly literary readings that brought both burgeoning and established writers to the tiny space.

With Camp on accordion and Hearst on claviola, One Ring Zero soon began performing regularly at the events and ultimately invited a handful of authors to contribute lyrics. After receiving contributions from a variety of writers including Dave Eggers, Paul Auster, Jonathan Lethem, Rick Moody and Jonathan Ames, the duo then faced the challenge of setting this diverse compilation of lyrics to music.

Featuring live performances, studio sessions, and interviews with the writers and musicians, As Smart As They Are: The Author Project explores the relationships between music and literature while painting a portrait of the literary community that fostered the band.