The Mates of State Interview

Your life can change at any moment. It is always those ontological points that help define you.  For Mates of State duo Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel, it happens every time they hit the stage.  Although the band was formed in '97, the chemistry has been shocking in the studio and on stage since day one.  If you are lucky enough to ever see them live, you will wittiness inside jokes, flirtatious smiles, and the unadulterated love of music and vocal harmonies that are Mates of State.

Using only a keyboard and drums, the two craft the result of six people with what seems like the slightest of ease. But make no mistake, the sound is intricate, driving, gut wrenching and towering. Pensatos had the opportunity to talk to Kori after the bands recent appearance at Lollapalooza to discuss their pressures on and off stage, inspirations, and how it all started with fate.

Pensatos.com: How did all this begin? Was it the band or love first?
Kori Gardner: Brace yourself and please believe it... we fell in love at first sight. It happened at a show. I was playing, he was watching. We had seen each other in bands before but never met-just admired from afar. Then one night we finally introduced ourselves and the rest is history. Love first, band second.

I've been to your shows and you draw in a diverse crowd. Why do you think your music appeals to everyone (besides the fact that it's good music)?
Hopefully it appeals to all types of people because it's pure and honest. We've never really fit in to any one genre. We just make the sounds and songs we want to make without intentionally regurgitating other music. We don't listen to one kind of music, we don't have one type of friend, we don't watch one genre of movies, and I'd hate to have one type of person into our music. I think the people that like us are the kind of people who don't necessarily fit into one crowd, but can relate to all types.

What is your favorite part of touring?
The 30 minutes to 75 minutes we play music each night.

Do you have any pre-show rituals?
We actually do vocal warm-ups (geek out) because we've lost our voices this past year on tour and it totally sucks to show up and not be able to sing after you've driven 8 hours to get there. We make set lists on napkins and then we set up our equipment. Nothing superstitious or juicy. Jason probably would have said we have crazy sex and get wasted every night before a show.

What was it like to play at Lollapalooza in front of thousands? How does that compare to playing the night before at The Abbey Pub in Chicago and only a few hundred people?
Festivals like Lollapalooza are great because most of the people are pumped up to see just about anyone play. Then, the folks that are there for you want to really express how psyched they are that you are playing and they came just for you. It's great to look out and see so many faces-familiar and new. Although, if there are only a few hundred people who are ALL there to see us, I'm just as happy. There is usually a more convincing mood at our own shows, although at the festivals (or when we're an opening band) we always think about how we really have to prove ourselves to the new people.

Where do you get your inspiration for your music?
We get it from living; from traveling, from frustrations, from true stories, from books, jokes, conversations, anything. Recently we were inspired by the idea of people going to see a show together, super pumped up to the point that they vowed to start dancing if no one else would, and, in turn the entire place would catch on, only to make a better show for everyone including the band. Then everyone that left that show would vow to have that good of a time at every social event they went to. Then the whole world would dance every night. I still can't believe there are people who don't dance. There was a place called the Chain Reaction in LA that used to put on shows. Perfect name for a live venue... But, obviously, very simple ideas can inspire us as well as darker, deeper concepts too.

With only 2 of you in the band, is there ever an issue of power or is it an equal partnership? Who has the final say?
This is a total equality. We communicate about all aspects of the band. There are compromises. We both bring ideas to the writing process. Occasionally fights will ensue when one of us has a strong opinion and loves something too much to budge. Overall, it's very 50,50.

How do you juggle living a normal life, i.e. paying bills, raising a family, doing laundry, while touring so much?
Our life is just laid out differently than most people who have a daily schedule that they follow all year long. Instead of going to work 9 to 5, eating dinner, watching TV and going to bed, we work and play in continuous spurts. We sit in a van every day for a month, do laundry at hotels, pay bills online, eat at restaurants, and work at night. Then we're home for a few weeks and we become a family at home-we take Magnolia to music class, cook dinner, go on bike rides to the beach, do some home improvements and then gear up for the cycle of touring to repeat. It's like month-long weeks and 14 day weekends.