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10 Questions with ... Samestate
August 22, 2011
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
LINE-UP:
- Dalton Diehl (vocals, guitar, piano)
- Darren Harms (guitar)
- Ryan Lytle (bass)
- Raymond Wyatt (guitar, synth)
- Blake Leoni (drums)
LABEL:
- Sparrow Records
DISCOGRAPHY:
- The Alignment (Early 2012)
- SAMESTATE EP (2011)
1) Introduce the members of the band, using musical background and/or personality traits.
SAMESTATE is like one of those crazy families in a movie: Dalton = The controlling father figure Darren = The worrisome mother Ryan = The "too cool for school" son who will wear his sunglasses inside Ray and Blake = The 3-year-old twins boys who are out of control and like talking about fire and things blowing up! It makes for fun road trips!
2) Can you describe real briefly how you guys became connected to Sparrow Records?
Sparrow was the last major label to come along when we were doing showcases for labels and we actually were told that Sparrow was not looking for bands. So it was a huge blessing when we got a call from Brad (in A&R) who said they wanted a showcase. It went great, and the relationships we built in that short amount of time were a great foreshadowing of the relationships we have with them now and will continue to have.
3) What's the story behind the first single "Hurricane"?
"Hurricane" is a different look at God's love for us. I think we all fall victim to paralleling human kind of love with love from God. We spend so much time trying to figure out what we do to deserve someone's love or focus so much on not messing it up, that we can't even accept their love. The thing about God's love for us is that it's free and we don't have to do anything to earn his love. It will always be there for us.
4) Do you have any inspiring or humorous stories from recent radio visits?
I personally have a story that doesn't need very much detail. Let's just say, bad Mexican food is never a good friend of mine! You get to know your radio reps and PDs well in situations like that!
5) Where might we find you guys playing this summer and fall?
This summer we've been playing a lot of festivals like Spirit Song Fest and Kings Dominion Fest. Those have given us great exposure as a new band. This fall we go out on the "Music With A Mission" tour with headliners Hawk Nelson, Fireflight and Superchick, all of whom we have heard great things about as people, both on and off stage. We are very excited about the fall!
6) What's the meaning behind the name?
The name is simply a text message from a friend who was asking about the band. They forgot to put a space in between the two words so we put it in Photoshop and put it on a t-shirt template and it looked good. There was also nothing by the same name on myspace or google. So we snatched it!
7) Is there a favorite song on the album that you guys love?
My favorite song on the EP is "Hurricane," and we can all agree that our overall favorite on the upcoming full-length album is "Upside Down." Our favorite songs have a connection between the lyrical emotion and the musical emotion; they move you to the action of change. That's where our music can become more of a ministry than just another band who plays some songs.
8) What is the coolest thing about your home Kansas City?
One word: BARBECUE!! Some of our favorites: Oklahoma Joes, Arthur Bryants, KC Masterpiece and Jacks Stack Barbecue!
9) What song do you wish you had written?
Unfair question! I feel so uneducated by saying a song that is from a recent decade and not an oldie but I would say "Fix You" by Coldplay. Like I was saying earlier about the connection between lyric and musical emotion, that's it exactly! Listen to it at night; you'll probably cry!
10) Do you have much time to check out other artists' music? What are you listening to right now?
We get to ride in a van for 85 percent of our job so yes, we get to check out a lot of music out. Right now we really dig the Adele "21" record and The Civil Wars "Barton Hollow" album. They're both incredibly talented artists! This is gonna be a year of great new music. Switchfoot, Neetobreathe, Coldplay, The Fray and a lot of our favorite bands are coming out with new records before the end of the year! Needless to say, we are a little antsy!
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