Former States is an indie/emo or self-proclaimed gloompop band. Still relatively young (some members are still in high school), Former States is gearing up to make a name for themselves. Take a look at an introductory interview to these Michigan natives after the jump and keep your eye on our blog for an exclusive release from them in the future!
Table Three Media: Introduce yourself and what you do in your band.
Jen: I’m Jen and sing and play bass.
Alex: I’m Alex and I play guitar and sing.
Tim: My name is Tim, I play drums and also do some song writing.
T3M: Give us a little history behind Former States.
Alex: We all played around in our local scene in bands. An old friend and I used to be in a band together and, when that band broke up, we decided to start this project up in the winter of 2012. Our band formed as Austin Vansen on drums, Tim Maze on guitar, my friend on guitar, and me on vocals. We’ve since lost said member, but we’ve gained a huge factor of our music; Genc. Genc joined the band just 3 days before our second show ever, learned all the songs and everything. Ever since then it’s been like he’s been here since the start. But around August, we learned that Austin was going to Western Michigan University for college, which is a 3+ hour drive for most of us. Luckily, Tim’s been playing drums in bands like Louder Than Bombs ever since he was a teenager. So, now we are where we are today: I play guitar and sing, Jen plays bass and sings, Tim plays drums and sings, and Genc plays guitar.
T3M: Where do you guys draw your influence from?
Alex: When I was maybe 7 years old, my older cousin used to burn me mixed CDs with all this great music on there. The Get Up Kids, Saves the Day, and Jimmy Eat World became huge influences for me from him. From there I started listening to a lot of Elliott Smith and Modest Mouse. And over the years I’ve always gone back to these bands. Now, a lot of my influences lie in 90’s bands. I’m really into Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, and bands like Mineral. I guess it’s all over the board, really.
Jen: Tim definitely brings the faster more hardcore sound to the table, he’s into metal and good old fashion punk. Whereas Alex brings the sad feeling from current bands he listens to. I think that’s what really gives us something special, the fact that we all listen to such different music.
Tim: For myself, I draw influence from a lot of earlier emo/post hardcore bands, as well as grunge. Sunny Day Real Estate, Farside, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and Texas is the Reason to be more specific. The rest of the band has interests in all sorts of sub genres of punk and emo.
T3M: Tell us a little about your EP “Heritage”.
Alex: Heritage was actually written in the fall of 2012. My friend and I were just transitioning from our old band breaking up and we wanted to do something we both could put our emotions into. We had the idea that we wanted this to be something really special to all of us. In February of 2013, we went into the studio with Nick Diener. Recording with him was a blast and we were all very proud of how the EP turned out. It felt like we were just going over to our friend’s house to record some demos and jam. Nick was a class act, and a connoisseur of the diamond push-up. After that, we just sort of put it out. We weren’t really expecting people to jump on it and like it, because, quite frankly, no one ever gave a shit about anything we did before. But when it had the response it did in its first week, I think that’s when we all started to take this more seriously than we had been.
Jen: Heritage was actually the original name of the band. After finding out the name was being used we decided to use the name for the EP and switch the band name. What I like most about the EP is that you get the feel for everyone’s different writing styles with the sound still being coherent enough for an EP.
T3M: You guys work extremely hard, networking all over the place. It seems this is way of the music scene where it’s more of who you know. What’s your opinion on this?
Alex: It’s an unfortunate truth. There are so many unbelievably talented and hard-working bands out there right now that don’t get half the credit they deserve, and I think that’s bullshit. Just look at the band Toe. They are literally some of the most talented human beings at what they do, yet not many people know who they are, let alone listen to them.
Jen: It never hurts to know people in your scene. But your popularity shouldn’t depend on that, it should be about your quality of music. I’ve seen a lot of bands who aren’t even good be put on awesome shows just because they know someone. It can be awesome when it’s you in that position, but it’s something I’d like to see a lot less of.
Tim: This fact is bitter sweet. Though I appreciate how much the internet helps us to expose ourselves, it is also frustrating how facts can be changed around.
T3M: Which bands do you think are really killing it these days?
Alex: I’m really into a lot of bands lately. Most notably would have to be In Writing, Raintree, Mid-Nineties, Grandview, True Love, Pity Sex, Temple, Free Throw, Brave Bird, Panucci’s Pizza, Personality Disorders, Hampshire, Secret Grief, Wayne Szalanksi, Mountains for Clouds and Toe. Oh, and Funeral Sounds Records is doing some pretty awesome things.
Jen: Pentimento and Lemuria both put out new music this year. I love both bands’ sounds and think they really stand out.
Tim: As far as current bands, there are the rockstars like Title Fight and Balance and Composure, but also Seahaven, Diamond Youth, and Pity Sex are truly killing it. On the heavier side, bands like Deafhaven, the legendary almighty Converge, and Earth Crisis is putting out a new record that I am excited to hear.
T3M: What’s in the future for Former States? What can we look forward to?
Alex: We have an extremely awesome release planned for early 2014, I’m just not sure if we’re allowed to announce it yet. As for the rest of 2013, we’ll be playing with Living With Lions on November 26th in Pontiac, MI and writing all the time.
Jen: More shows, more music, and a lot more sadness.
Tim: Writing, writing, and more writing. We aren’t a band that sits and waits around. We feel that some more splits, an EP or two, and possibly a full length should be in the works soon. Other than that, playing shows and doing what we can to be heard.
