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"I think Morning State could be for anyone
who enjoys music."
Lead guitarist Dave Williams' broad opinion
of his band Morning State's potential appeal
might suggest the impetus for creating the
band stemmed from the the desire to make
music for people who enjoy a wide range of
genres. In fact, the goal was to make the same
kind of music the band enjoyed listening to.
Morning State came together in 2004,
when lead vocalist/guitarist Russ Ledford and
Williams took a bunch of songs Ledford had
written and decided to form a band around
them. The boys recruited Aaron Stephenson (a.
armada) on bass and Zach Sharenko on drums.
Directionless but motivated, the guys spent
most of their time writing songs and traveling
between Athens and Atlanta for practice.
"We thought the songs were pretty good
and wanted to see where we could go from
there," says Williams. "Our interests at the
time were to continue to write more songs and
play some live shows. From there, things just
seemed to blossom as far as seriousness and
ability goes."
In late 2006, Morning State recorded a
five-song EP titled The Retreat. The EP was
lauded by local and national music rags alike.
The band began touring religiously in support
of the release, playing alongside such bands
as Apples in Stereo, Yeasayer, Meat Puppets,
MGMT, Black Kids, Colour Revolt, Two Gallants,
and Peter and Bjorn of Peter, Bjorn and John.
As industry bigwigs began catching Morning
State fever, the band was ready to record a
full-length album. In the fall of 2007, the
band signed to Livewire Records and began
the arduous task of making an album. Sadly,
after months of recording, the label folded
and left Morning State in a bit of a pickle. "We
were four songs into mixing and the record
label went under. So, we lost those recordings
and had to re-record," says Williams.
With an unfinished album and no chance
of the label finishing the record, the band
migrated back to Athens to re-record its
debut with longtime friend Asa Leffer (Dark
Meat, The Whigs). The CD was recorded over a
10-day period at DARC Studios in Athens dur
ing February 2008.
"We entered the studio very focused on
the project and really excited about working
with Asa. He is someone we are very comfort
able with and trust his ideas. Recording with
him, we were able to do things that otherwise
we would have never had the opportunity
to do. He was able to bring in some outside
players, such as Page Campbell (Hope for
Agoldensummer), The Vomit Lasers from Dark
Meat, Ben DuPriest (The Pendletons), and
Gnarls Barkley to play on the record. Asa also
came out to South By Southwest this year
with us and ran sound/brought the hype. He is
an amazing guy and a great friend.”
The album I Know People You Know People
is like taking a trip down memory lane.
Streaming from the stereo is nothing but good
old early-'90s indie/alt rock and bit of late-
'80s pop, reminiscent of bands like Spoon,
Live, Tender Idols and maybe a little Verve
Pipe in there. The record doesn't suffer from
awkward progressions or bland arrangements,
and it begs the question as to what it might've
sounded like recorded elsewhere. I Know
People You Know People vacillates between
post-grunge arena rock and melodic indie pop,
but still forms a cohesive little record.
"Having done it once already, we were able
to take a step back and plan the album a little
better the second time around. When we went
in, we knew what songs we wanted, as well as
the sequencing for the album. We did throw
two new songs in there that we didn't record
the first time around, as well as not record
some songs that we did the first time around."
Morning State will celebrate the release
of You Know People I Know People on May 6
at the Caledonia Lounge. After that, the boys
will be performing at a couple of summer fes
tivals and have a bunch of shows lined up for
an East Coast tour, including the Forecastle
Festival in Kentucky and Corndcg-o-rama in
Atlanta. When asked what's next for the band,
Williams just had this to say:
"I am personally looking forward to a
Chicago show we have with White Rabbits
soon. After that, world domination I guess!"
Charley Lee
WHO: Jukebox the Ghost. The XYZ Affair,
Morning State
WHERE: Caledonia Lounge
WHEN: Tuesday, May 6
HOW MUCH: $6 (21+), $7(18+)
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34 FLAGP0LE.C0M -APRIL 30,2008
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