A Dirty Dozen with ANDREW ORVIS & SHEA STRATTON of STATE TO STATE – February 2019

According to a recent press release: “Since releasing their first LP, No Bounds, in 2014, State to State have established themselves in Los Angeles as flag bearers of atmospheric rock, a landscape forged by bands like Radiohead and Interpol. They recently played a sold-out show at the Troubadour, residencies at The Hotel Cafe and The Viper Room, and outdoor events like Street Food Cinema, Showtime’s Eat See Hear, The Surf Rodeo, and the High Times Cannabis Cup. Vocalist/guitarist Shea Stratton and guitarist Andrew Orvis create a dynamic landscape of ambient guitar textures, anthemic riffs, and haunting melodies that is well navigated by the rhythm section of drummer, Michael Schneider, and bassist, Patrick Morgan. Their EP, Motives, was produced and recorded by Grammy-nominated Producer/Engineer, Ian MacGregor.” We get Andrew (with a little help from Shea) to discuss new music, influences, and much more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

We recorded our latest release, produced by Johnny K, live in the studio with no overdubs other than some of the vocals. We love working with Johnny K because he pushes us to get it right the first time.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Music was always around in both of our households growing up. We both had musician fathers who introduced us to all kinds of music early on so that was probably the main catalyst for becoming musicians. We also both had older brothers to teach us what bands were cool before they were cool.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Too many to name.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

I think the three most relevant influences between us would be: Radiohead, Interpol, & QOTSA.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

More than anything, we’d love to have DJ Khaled yell all over one of our songs.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

We like to think of ourselves as DragonForce meets Amy Grant.

7. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

Spending countless hours a day crafting the perfect social media posts with all the right hashtags.

8. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

There are never any acoustic singalongs but we do love to cook.

9. When was the last time you were star struck and who was it?

When Steve Perry stopped by our recording session.

10. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

Running an Animal Sanctuary

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”, even if it didn’t change your current situation?

No regrets.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Dark Side of The Moon would have been incredible to witness the creation of… Kid A would have been a good one to experience first-hand. Those are both pretty important records.

STATE TO STATE LINKS:

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Category: Interviews