Former States - Sound In The Signals Interview
First off thanks for the interview
Alex: No problem. I’m excited to have the opportunity.
You announced that Former States would be disbanding in July of 2014. What have you guys been up to since the band split-up?
We’ve all been doing different things. Brad and I tried starting a new band towards the end of the year, but nothing really ever came of that. I think he’s still looking for people to start a band with. Although we haven’t talked much since, I’m sure Tim is still recording demos and trying to get a band going. He’s constantly working on new projects so hopefully he puts out some music soon. In September of last year I started playing bass in Northerner and I’ve been doing that ever since. I also have a new project in the works with Matt from Slowburner/Known Pleasure Records, Nick from You’ll Live, and James from Winter Classic. It’s a lot different than FS, but I think that anyone who liked FS will get what the new project is about. Other than that, I’m currently going to school full-time and working. Being an adult sucks.
You gave a few different reasons why the band would be going on indefinite hiatus. At what point did you guys realize it wouldn't work for you to play in a band together anymore and for readers who are unaware why did you guys decide to go on hiatus?
We were getting ready to do our first out-of-state run with our friends in In Writing. For some reason, it was always really hard to get ahold of some of us sometimes. Personally, I was excited. With Brad in the band I thought we finally had everything together and going in the right direction. I wanted to tour. Some of us didn’t. It never got talked about and that ended up blowing up in our faces in the end. We had to drop the tour. I was crushed. So much work and dedication went into booking everything, all for nothing to happen. I’m alright with it now, but man did it kill me then. At that point I just realized that it wasn’t working for me and that I wasn’t happy with how things were. After talking it over with a few of the guys, it seemed like they were in the same boat, so we decided to call it quits.
When we first talked about doing the interview it was brought up that April marks the two year anniversary of the band. Can you remember back to how you guys first got together and what those early practices and writing sessions were like?
The beginning of the band was one of the happiest times of my life. The band I was in all throughout high school had just broken up, leaving a lot of my demos and song ideas with no outlet. Junior year had just started and I still had a lot of free time, so one of the members of my old band and I started FS. Originally we were called Heritage, which not many people know. 3 out of the 5 of us were still in high school, so this was essentially the most important aspect of our lives. Every thought, every dime, and every free second I had was dedicated to the band. We would get together every Thursday and just write and jam. None of us had jobs or responsibilities, (besides for Tim), so life was pretty awesome during this time. The original lineup was Tim on guitar, Seth on guitar, Jen on bass, Austin on drums, and me on vocals. That was back in 2012. We spent week after week getting our set down, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Austin’s parents were always really cool and supportive of us practicing at their house, which was great. Jen used to drive over 2 hours each way to practice, but we did what we could to make it work.
Do you remember what the first song was that you wrote as a band?
The first song we ever wrote was Stone Angel.
How did your writing process stay the same and evolve over the time you were together?
Honestly? After the EP, there wasn’t a writing process anymore. Over the course of those 6 months, life got vastly busier. Austin had to decide what college he would go to and if he could even still be in the band. We recorded one more song before he left, (Night), but that was one of Tim’s songs. After Austin went to school, things just started to dissipate. Tim moved to drums, prompting me to move to guitar. The entire lineup had to be changed, so we added Genc on guitar. That winter was spent working, focusing on finishing up senior year right, and getting together whenever we could to work on new material. However, due to the fact that we all lived a minimum of 1.5 hours away from one another, this barely happened. We stopped playing shows and pretty much being a band entirely. No new music was written and it really sucked. Around the following spring, Genc told us he couldn’t be in the band anymore. Life was catching up and he had to make some choices that I probably would’ve made too. That was how Brad joined on guitar. Brad and I began writing a ton of songs together, but with the tour and everything that happened with that, nothing ever saw the light of day. So from the original lineup, (Tim on guitar, Seth on guitar, Jen on bass, Austin on drums, and me on vocals), to the most-current lineup, (Tim on drums, Mike on bass, Brad on guitar, and me on guitar/vocals), I’d say that the writing process changed quite drastically.
Heritage is a release that has stuck with me. I heard it fairly soon after you released it and the cover artwork seemed to pop up on peoples instagram's and tumblr pages. It really seemed catch the ears of listeners. Where you surprised at all at the reaction that EP received when you released it?
Surprised would be an understatement. I was blown away by the response it was garnering, especially since we were mostly just a bunch of high school kids in the suburbs of Michigan. I’m not quite sure how it reached so many people so quickly, but I’m glad it did.
The artwork for the EP really is fantastic. Who came up with it and what about it made you guys pick it for the artwork?
The artwork was done by a good friend of ours Josh Viola. We had known Josh for a couple of years now through various local bands we had played in together. He offered to throw something together for free, so I gave him full creative control over the design. I’m still surprised by how well it came out, he’s truly a wizard when it comes to graphic design.
What do you think the legacy of that EP and some of the other music you released is? What would you like people to take away from them?
Personally, I don’t think there is a legacy to anything FS did. I never viewed us as some great, substantial act. There were always so many other bands out there creating much better music. I never really understood what got people drawn to us.
Do you have a favorite Former States song both released and unreleased? Why do those songs stick out to you so much?
My favorite FS song is actually an unreleased track called Quit that was supposed to be on Summer Bummer. Brad wrote it and it’s such a great, great song. The structure is so solid and I’m certain if it had been released people would’ve loved it. As for released material, Heartbreaker is probably my favorite track. It’s a lot more relevant to my life right now and, while I needed Heritage, I don’t really enjoy listening to it anymore.
I'm pretty sure the last new song you guys released shortly after you announced the break-up was a song called "Heartbreaker". The song showed you guys continuing to evolve as songwriters and continuing to write really solid songs. That song was from an EP that was suppose to come out called Summer Bummer. What is the status of that final EP?
Like many other things with FS, Summer Bummer is dead. It was intended to be a tour release that we could bring with us with In Writing, but some trouble with the recording studio we went to and starting college this past year really nailed the coffin on this one. Which sucks, too, because like I said above, two of my favorite FS songs were supposed to be on it. There was also a secret Smashing Pumpkins cover that was supposed to be a free download with the digital purchase of Summer Bummer that was unreleased as a result.
*Alex gave the okay to stream the song. Here is a stream of the unreleased cover song.
What are the chances you guys would ever get back together and do a reunion show, EP, or album?
I wouldn’t get my hopes up anytime soon.
I know Heritage was released on cassette, but if the option ever came up for someone to do a vinyl pressing would you be interested at all?
It’s always been a dream of mine to have music I helped make pressed on vinyl, so I don’t think I would ever be able to pass this up.
You guys labeled your music "gloom pop" and you even had a shirt that asked the question: What's gloom pop anyway? So in your words what is gloom pop?
A lot of the time, Tim and I thought of FS as a pop band with heavy instruments. So, in my opinion, gloom pop was intended to mean haunting, gloomy pop music. It’s pretty much right there in the name. Although we liked to think of ourselves as gloom pop, our early music like Heritage and the 4-way split certainly wasn’t. But I think that if we still had the chance to release new music, we’d fit that explanation perfectly. The shirt was intended to be a joke. I tried to think of the most pretentious shirt design I could. My friend Alystyr Guffy actually hand-drew the entire design. It’s supposed to be a play on the cover of Sonic Youth’s Goo, but with Margot Tenenbaum in there instead. To me, although I enjoy both of them immensely, Sonic Youth and Wes Anderson are two very pretentious subjects. The actual quote on the shirt is just us poking fun at ourselves. Not many people understood what gloom pop meant, so it seemed fitting.
I guess that about wraps it up Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else to add?
Thanks for having me! Have a great day.
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