It’s been less than a year since the release of Hoffman Manor, did you ever expect it would do as well as it did? Not at all! For us I think we were just stoked because that was the first time we ever spent a good amount of time working and reworking songs and then recording it, I mean I was in my first year of college and Tom and Johnny were in high school, so it was kind of just like “Whoa we made a fucking record.” We put it up for free and got a good response the first month, then everything kind of became stagnant and we thought “OK that’s it. time to put out another release asap”. Then out of nowhere during this fall things really started picking up almost randomly and a lot of people became more receptive toward the album. In the time since the release of Hoffman Manor, you’ve signed with Tiny Engines and recently debuted a new song from your upcoming 7” on Altpress. com. How does it feel to go from being a not so well known band to having your music premiered on the popular music site Altpress.com? I still don’t really understand that all this stuff is happening to my band, it’s weird haha. Friends will be like “I saw State Lines on Altpress!” and I’m kinda just like “Yeah go State Lines!” then I remember that I’m in that band and I kind of mark out. Speaking of Tiny Engines, how did you end up working with them? Well, I have know idea how Will got a hold of Hoffman Manor but somehow he heard it and just emailed us one day telling us how much he enjoyed it and wanted to know what we were up to. Coincidentally we were recording a four song EP at the time and when we finished it up in a like 2 months time (we all go to school and work and stuff) they decided they liked it and we were lucky enough to be welcomed onto their awesome roster. The name of the band was taking from the song “My Friends” with the meaning of it being to travel, go new places and meet new people. Have those goals been achieved since starting State Lines? Most definitely! My favorite part about being in this band is seeing us achieve goals and then having no other choice but to set new ones, it’s seriously the coolest thing. We just keep adding goals and aspirations as we go along, it’s exciting.
You’ve been in a number of bands in the Long Island area, Mooseport, We Laugh At Danger, Smarty Jones, and State Lines, what is the scene like in Long Island and have people been following you from band to band? Yeah, I mean since I was young whenever someone has shown a remote interest or fondness for a band that I’ve played in. I’ve always tried to make it a point to let them know how much it’s appreciated, and throughout the years it’s spawned a lot of cool relationships with people who have been so awesome to me and have listened to what ever band it is that I’ve played in. As for State Lines, the Long Island music scene has been so kind and extremely receptive to us. We played an East Coast Collective show at Ethical Humanist Society (January 2011) and Jake who runs ECC and books a lot of shows dug our set and he has played such a role in spreading the word about this band and giving us incredible opportunities on the Island, awesome dude. How would you compare State Lines to some of your earlier bands like Mooseport, We Laugh At Danger, and Smarty Jones? Hmmm hahah, well Smarty Jones was this thing where me, Tom and our friend kind of just jammed out and that was a lot of fun. We’d say “Let’s jam a song where the guitar is gonna do this, or the drums do that” and then just literally do it. We Laugh At Danger was just something I did for a bit in high school because I was tired of doing Mooseport. Now, Mooseport, that started my sophomore year of high school with me just recording songs in my basement and eventually turned into a full band after about a year. I don’t know how to really explain it, but that band is one of the most important things I ever did with my life because it really shaped me. I remember the night before Halloween my senior year of high school playing our “last show” and kids being turned away at the door because it was capped out and it was just eye opening that this thing that manifested out of my basement due to my teen angst actually meant something to anyone. If I had to compare, I’d say Mooseport is the most like State Lines because it’s just honest music, I think I’m just more mature now (hopefully) and there’s a lot more effort put into State Lines songs.
There are some videos on Youtube of you playing with Mooseport with you on drums, at what age did you start playing music and is there any instrument you prefer playing most? I started playing guitar in 5th grade because I was a chubby kid that knew that if I was gonna get any girl to like me, it’d have to be because of some corny talent like that. I got my first drum set in 7th grade and still no girls. I don’t have a preference towards any instrument, I just like making songs and being able to get an idea of what I want each instrument to do. How has your songwriting gotten better since you started writing and playing? Just simply by writing songs about everything and anything literally all the time. I think the main idea is just to never stop writing, when you’re being honest and you have something to say about everything it kind of just pours out. The song “Cancer” was influenced by your mother while watching your grandfather die, was it hard writing a song that is so personal and tragic? It wasn’t hard for me writing the song because to me, what I get out of that song isn’t so much the tragedy of him passing as it is the beauty of the relationship they shared. My grandfather was someone who voluntarily let my mom become such a significant part of his life seeing that she wasn’t his biological father. That song was written from my mother’s perspective, so it wasn’t really about the tragedy for me, though had it been from my perspective it would’ve been harder (yet a completely different song). I’ve noticed in a couple live videos that some of the songs off of Hoffman Manor are played faster than they are on the album. Why’d you slow them down? I think it has to do with our mindsets in different settings. When we’re playing in a room full of kids that appreciate what’s going on and they’re there to just hear some music and sing along we want to be a punk band, we want to get everyone as into the set as we are. We want the songs to mean as much to these kids as they mean to us. Then, when we’re in the studio we want to make the best songs we can. Maybe we think certain lyrics may hit a little harder if the tempo is slower so they can be better understood and kinda sink in, that’s something we’ll do.
The album title for Hoffman Manor is taking from an assisted living home near where you live and you said something in another interview about living in an assisted living home would be the worst way to end a life for you. When all is said and done, how do you want to go out and how would you like to be remembered? For me, I’d like to be remembered as a better basketball player than I actually was. My perimeter shot has always been decent, but when I penetrate in the paint I get stuffed constantly. I’m tired of being so one dimensional because I’m tired of not being picked early when the teams are made up. As for State Lines, I feel like there are certain bands out there big, small, whatever size, but they have such a proud fanbase. Not like some elitist type of thing, but just this confidence amongst fans who listen to the band and are proud of the fact they listen to that band because they know that band makes special music. That’s the type of band we want to be. When people come to our shows nowadays, I want them to enjoy it and come see us 5 years from now and get the same type of enjoyment out of it. I don’t know if I’m rambling, I just want us to keep doing our thing and go out just like that. You mentioned on your blog that you’ve already started writing the next State Lines full-length. How’s it shaping up so far and what can be expected of it? It’s going good, right now the plan is to have everything written by this upcoming summer so we can rework stuff and be ready to record by late August. I’d give you guys some insight, but I don’t even know what to expect. Just know we’re gonna work our butts off until we have something were really proud of.
Interview with: Jonathan DiMitri statelinesny.tumblr.com Tiny Engines tinyengines.net Photo: Hingwa Moy hingwamoyphotography.tumblr.com