Newspaper Page Text
I
• Fitness Center • llaskeibull • Sand Volleyball • Water Volleyball ^
• Tennis • C lubhouse * iih Tool Tables. Wi-T i and 24-!lour Access
t
On Busiine
• ithrocms
• Within Minutes of Campus
• Individual Leases
• Roommate Marchs? g Service
• . Maintenance Response
• Fun Size Washer & Dryer
• Refrigerator v./ ice Maker
• Large Pa*, os & Baicor es
• R-35r* Style Poo
Sen:no Shutt’e ">o an j F'Oiri Dov»r«tCvvr
, 2, 3 & 4 BEDROOM APARTMENTS
£l (706)'549-2058
110 International Dr. • Athens, GA 30605
*! ^ www.clubproperties.com C-
r
M ates of State are
Happily married since 2001, Jason
Hammel and Kori Gardner have essen
tially made a career out of serenading
each other. While their lyrics dip into darker
more abstract territory than their hyperac
tive, bubblegum sound initially suggests, their
love songs always sound like they're written
by people who are really in love. One is hard-
pressed to escape the feeling that the couple
are not only singing with one another, but to
one another. On Crushes: The Covers Mixtope,
the Mates' romantic tendencies are on full dis
play, as they assemble a collection of songs by
other artists and stamp them with their own
inimitable indie-pop brand.
"It's just .songs that, in the 12 years that
we've known each other, have meant some
thing to us at some point in our love life
together—our band life together—they're
songs that we just love," says Hammel, taking
a few minutes out of his day to chat from the
group's tour stop in Nevada. "We were just
trying to explore a different sound; the great
song was already written, and we could just
explore the concept of recording."
This marks the first time the band has
done all of its own recording, and Mates of
State absolutely nailed it. The album has a
slick, shimmery quality about it that perfectly
compliments the group's joyful electric organ
and drum arrangements. Although tunes by
Genesis, Harry Nilsson and PJ Harvey all ended
up on the cutting room floor, the final track-
list is a cohesive unit comprised of indie con
temporaries like Belle and Sebastian and Dear
Nora, as well as major artists like Nick Cave
and Fleetwood Mac. (Their boppin' take on
"Second Hand News" is a highlight.) While the
duo sticks pretty close to its stylistic wheel-
house, a couple of the band's choices came
out of left field, particularly The Mars Volta's
"Son et Lumiere" and an almost unrecogniz
able version of Tom Waits' "Long Way Home."
In shedding light on the process of adapt
ing this darker material, Hammel muses that
"a lot of people—I don't know why; I think
it's because of our energy—they re like 'Oh,
you guys are so upbeat, and fun and confident
all the time,' which I think we are, but I also
think that a lot of times people miss some
of the darkness in our Mates of State songs.
So it's just a way to explore our darker side,
choosing songs that were more aggressive and
lyrically melancholy."
For the Summer Crushes Tour, the Mates
have put together a camivalesque stage
show that inserts unplugged variety acts in
between the bands, all but eliminating any
kind of downtime. "So, what the idea was,"
says Hammel "is we're traveling with a come
dian, in addition to Free Energy, an amazing
re
us. And before them is the comedian. Todd
Barry went on for the first half [of the tour]
and Nick Thune is doing our second half, and
before that we hired a local freakshow variety
act kinda guy like a contortionist or a magi
cian; somebody that we could find online and
handpick for each city."
"So," he continues, with a note of pride in
his voice, "we just wanted to make it, rather
than a sort of 'boring, stand in line, listen
to this opening band you don't care about
and wait 30 minutes for them to break down
their equipment' standard rock show more of a
seamless, three-hour, all-in show' that's sort
of warm and fun."
This heady atmosphere can be both exhila
rating and exhausting when the couple is
simultaneously doing the work of full-time
musicians and full-time parents. Their two
young daughters, Hammel quips, have offered
some new perspectives on their music. "Yeah,
they like our band. They're immersed in it all
the time. They're different ages, so they view
it differently at this point. Maqgie's almost
six; she kinda gets it now, and she has her
favorite songs. June is a little younger; she's
two-and-a-half, and she likes different songs
than Maggie for different reasons. With this
covers album, it's kinda funny because all
June wanted to hear was the covers record in
the van. She'd be like T wanna hear mommy
and daddy' and we'd play it, and at first it was
like 'OK, cool' and then she'd be like 1 wanna
listen to that again,' and we got tired of it, so
we'd try to sneak in our other songs and she's
like 'No! I want that album! I wanna listen to
mom and dad on that album!' over and over
again. I guess that's a good sign."
A good sign indeed. As Flagpole's interview
wrapped up, Hammel shared the band's plans
for the future, and that future is looking very
sunny. "We have like 10 or 11 songs written
and half of 'em recorded," he reveals. "We're
playing for the rest of this year, to finish up
recording them, and release in winter and go
on a tour next year." Yes, Mates of State are
going strong, taking their indie-pop traveling
circus all over the country. The couple is head
ing across the country, from San Francisco to
Athens, truly spreading the love.
David Fitzgerald
14 FLAGPOLE.COM JULY 7,2010
LUYNIS ARBAN