The States BASK Double Feature Ten10 Fest

Ten10 Fest Artist DOUBLE FEATURE: Bask & The States | Saturday, October 7, 2017

by Sarah Schumaker • September 7, 2017

You know when the bartender tells you it’s only $2 more for a DOUBLE whiskey ginger and you think, well…it is more financially sound to order the double now, rather than come back to the bar for yet another single, (which, let’s be honest, you’re definitely going to have.) You’re saving yourself money and spending more quality time with your friends! Win, win, win, win.

Everything is better in two’s. Alcohol. Bands. So, we’re pairing up two Ten10 Fest bands every week to put you inside these artists’ minds and processes.

Drink up!

Bask is the novel you can’t put down. You’re not assigned the book. You find its dusty, weathered cover on your shelf in your childhood home. Your Mom doesn’t know where it came from but its contents have you hooked within the first chapter. Epic imagery of wispy wheat fields and distant battle cries paint each page. The four guys from Asheville, NC are heavy, rich psychedelic Americana and will sweep you into their world with their sound. I imagine the foreword of the book reads, ‘Esse quam videri,’ their state motto, meaning, ‘To be, rather than to seem.’

Shows I Go To: So, we’re turning Bask into a beer. What are you guys going to taste like?

Scott: We are going to have a special “Carry Me Home” IPA made just for the fest that is brewed with honeysuckle and orange, tastes from both North Carolina and Florida.

SIGT: What’s your go to beer/drink at a gig?

Scott: When possible, we enjoy trying out a local city’s craft beers. Water is always necessary at a show. This time of year is definitely IPA heavy for me.

SIGT: You guys are on tour w/ Pallbearer right now, how is it going? How is the energy at each show?

Bask:

Scott: The tour with Pallbearer has been amazing. We’re on the way to Baltimore to play with them and Kayo Dot tonight. We admire and love both bands on an artistic and personal level. The energy has been great at the shows; last night in Boston was exceptional.”

SIGT: What’s the strangest or perhaps, funniest, situation that’s ever happened while you were on tour?

Scott: (laughs) This could take a while, so many strange things happen out on the road. Traveling to so many different places lends itself to meeting many unique characters and unusual circumstances. It didn’t happen on tour, but a few years ago when the band started, I crammed our band van into a parking deck it technically should not have fit in, to the point where for a moment I couldn’t imagine getting it unstuck. That was a crazy experience.

We often aim to squeeze funny situations out of tour and our most transcendent moments usually comes when we’re delirious and exhausted. That’s when the comedy is gold.”

Zeb: Once on tour when I was driving one of our back wheels shot off the van. That’s about the wildest experience of my life I would say.

SIGT: Are you happier on the road? Are you able to create/write while on tour?

Scott: I’m happiest during and right after playing a set, after getting that release. When we’re on tour we don’t always have time to write and be creative. The days usually consist of getting some food and getting to the next venue to wait for a bit and then do it again.

SIGT: What’s the most important aspect of creating for you guys as a band?

Scott: We all enjoy different aspects of the creative process- some like recording in the studio better while others live for the live experience. When working on new material recently, we’ve been trying to find a balance between structure and taking our music into a more free direction through jamming ideas into oblivion.

SIGT: What’s one album you could put on over and over again and never get sick of?

Scott: I’m bad with picking favorites but Isis’ Panopticon is an album I can forever return to. It’s heavy, ethereal, and the concept behind the album is really complex and well thought out.

SIGT: If you could have three artists (dead or alive) play at your funeral, who would they be?

Scott: Definitely Godspeed You! because there are few other bands who capture all life’s emotions through song like they do. John Coltrane would also be perfect to send one off into the ether.

Zeb: My funeral playlist would be

Joni Mitchell – “For Free”

Alice Coltrane- “Lovely Sky Boat”

And a two way tie between Kate Bush performing “Moving”, and “Big Sky”, or Van Morrison playing “Into the Mystic”, and Saint Dominic’s Preview to close the show.

BASK is:

Scott

Jesse

Ray

Zeb

Go follow & share! ?

~~Facebook

~~Bandcamp

~~Soundcloud

The States are arena indie-rock. Sounds a little contradictory, right? How can such a narrowed genre of music appeal to the masses? The five guys from Ocala, FL have figured out the formula. Heartfelt words, big band sound. Joshua Jacobs has a distinct voice. His range fills and chills each space it inhabits. From a floor with no stage to larger rooms, The States have every person closing their eyes and shouting lyrics with passionate fervor. But, like, who can chug a beer the fastest, though?

Shows I Go To: So, what is your go to drink at a gig?

Joshua: My go to drink would have to be whiskey…Jameson and Ginger to be exact. Nothing like it.

Richie: depends on if they’re free or not haha. Usually my drink will be a crown and ginger ale and my go to beer would probably be a shock top or anything dark. I know that’s a Big jump!

Matt: corona. I’m a basic bitch!

Bryan: the cheapest thing on the menu! Haha Usually a beer.

Walker: Water, or beer foam. I’m not 21 yet 🙁 But I will be by the time Ten10fest comes around!

SIGT: You guys have such a wonderful, full sound. I think the first time I saw you was at 64 North in Orlando and you filled that space so well, blew it away. What’s your mindset going into a show? How do you prepare?

Joshua: “Please don’t fuck up the lyrics again”, but seriously it’s usually quiet and reflective. I want to be sure as soon as the first note or groove starts it’s 100% maximum effort. I usually prepare by finding a corner of the greenroom, saying a prayer, taking a shot, and breathing.”

Richie: Going into a show can only be adequately summed up by quoting step brothers….”I’m here to fuck shit up.” But, in all seriousness, as a musician, I want to be a strong player and give the music what it needs at that particular moment… Being one of the few “free” ones on stage, meaning that I’m not constantly required behind a mic or a stationary instrument for the majority of the set, I feel it’s kind of my part to be a little extra involved with the crowd so I try to interact and connect with the people in the room as much as possible. I will say, Bryan can give some of the most inspiring speeches you’ve ever heard, so on the rare occasion he gives us that quick hype speech right before we go on, I can’t help but to have a great night.

Matt: When I get up there I use all the things I’ve felt that day and play it.

Bryan: We’re all different, I always focus on have a clean sound and making our audience feel apart of the show/band. I prepare by practicing more complex music, that way the basic stuff (rock music) is a breeze.

Walker: If I’m feeling tired, I’ll wake myself up with some slaps or caffeine. But in a comforting way, to stay chill.

SIGT: Your influences are quite eclectic. Who is the Laura Marling fan among you? I think “New Romantic” may be the most tender heartbreaking song of all time; both lightheartedly candid and cutting.

Bryan: We all have such different musical tastes, it’s a wonder how we ever got together playing music in the first place!

Joshua: I am the Laura Marling fan, been with her since Alas, I Cannot Swim. Her voice and playing style captured me. It’s tragically beautiful. Hit me up for the ultimate Laura Marling/Folk playlist!

SIGT: The new record sounds so epic and clean! I love it btw! How was the recording process for Cathedral?

Joshua: We had been sitting on these songs for two years, breaking them down and building them back up, so we had a clear vision going in. Plus a huge nod to Adam and David at Pioneer Sound for breaking them down that famous “one last time” to get them damn near perfect.

Richie: The recording process was long but so satisfying (that’s what she said.) It took a while, especially considering we’ve probably written and recorded this album 2 or 3 times in full, when we finally dove in for good with our brothers Adam and David. It flowed, it felt right, and it kind of just fell together. Super happy with the outcome.

Matt: I was a little out of my bubble. I played the same parts that I knew but I played the studios equipment, which was strange. But as the guys put it all together I finally heard what we have been playing this whole time without a guitar in my hands and it was amazing.

Bryan: Recording was such a wonderful process! Adam and David are such easy guys to work with and we’ve grown a lot with them. They definitely made me a better musician.

Walker: Thanks! It was fun, it went swimmingly. The organ was nice.

SIGT: Y’all are from Ocala but Orlando has sort of adopted you boys:) What’s your favorite ORL spot to play and why?

Joshua: Oooooo that’s a tough one. I’ll give you my favorite show we’ve played in Orlando instead. Last December, we played Shows I Go To’s Whiskey Wonderland and had all the bands up to sing “With a Little Help from My Friends” and it was that perfect shining moment.

Richie: I love just about every venue we’ve played in Orlando but it’s not even a second thought to answer either North 64 or The Social. It’s all because of two men. Over the past couple years, of all the people we’ve met and worked with, no one has ever supported, cared for, and nurtured us as much as Mitch Foster (SIGT) and Marshal Rones (Foundation Presents). I can’t put into words how much I genuinely love and care about these dudes and I can’t thank them enough for everything.”

Matt: I think it’s probably a toss up between The Social and 64 North. At The Social, I have broken a string and had no back up anything. So, it’s bittersweet there,and maybe I’ve been cursed from it somehow. 64 north has just always been a jolly old place everyone gets real drunk and happy in there. They listen and dance.

Bryan: The Social is my absolute favorite spot to play, the subs and the sound guy really make the place feel like home.

Walker: 64 north is always fun.

SIGT: “Your body is young but your heart is old.” Love this lyric from “Gloria.” What does this mean to you? What inspires you when writing?

Joshua: When I wrote that lyric, it was about 3 years before we even started The States, I was a bit of a mess and I remember looking at myself in this bar bathroom mirror in Ocala and saying that line to myself. Basically, saying that I’m wearing myself thin and that I can’t sustain on a wild lifestyle. So, I wrote that down and saved it. Three years later, Matthew and myself were in New York visiting family and we wrote the base melody in the upstairs guest room, brought it back to the guys, and “Gloria” was born.”

Matt: The band inspires me. We will eventually all click and come up with parts that seem like they have been there the whole time.

Bryan: Probably one of my favorite lines of EP, and to me it really reflects on the youth that have old hearts and old souls; like us.

SIGT: Who can shotgun a beer the fastest between you all?

Matt: Not me. I’m not good at drinking.

Joshua: To be decided, but either Richie or I.

Bryan: Josh. For sure.

Walker: I don’t know, but I’d bet on Bryan

Richie: I feel pretentious saying it, but if I’m honest, I think I might be the beer chug king of the group. It comes down to Bryan and I. We’re the drinkers, but based on size alone, I have to think I’d kill him. Maybe we’ll put that question to the test at Ten10 Fest.

SIGT: If you could have three artists (dead or alive) play at your funeral who would they be?

Joshua: Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen

Matt: I’d have John Mayer play BB Kings Lucile guitar and tell jokes. I’d have Matt Corby sing “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaac. And maybe Ray Lamontange singing Jolene.

Bryan: Bon Iver, Hillsong, Tori Kelly.

Walker: Jim Morrison, Lana del Rey, and Lou reed. The Velvet Underground playing “The Black Angel’s Death Song” as I’m buried, maybe someone’s playing a bag pipe.