Weekly > Interviews
Blue States
The more discerning music listener amongst you may have picked up on Blue States straight away when they released first album, ‘Nothing Changes Under The Sun’. At the time this was a one man project for Andy Dragazis but since then he has enlisted the help of Chris Carr and Jon Chandler to further strengthen the sound.
Second album ‘Man Mountain’ continued the ever growing success story, culminating in the song ‘Season Song’ being used on the Brit zombie flick ‘28 Days Later’. A series of triumphant live dates including an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival followed and cemented Blue States reputation.
We caught up with the band recently to talk about the past success they’ve had, Dragizis remix work, and of course the new album ‘The Soundings’ that hits the shops on the 14th June.
The first album ‘Nothing Changes Under The Sun’ was probably easier described as more of a cinematic chill out album would that be a fair description of it?
I never really knew what the first album was going to sound like so I’ll leave it for other people to categorise.
Were you surprised by the success of the first album being as it had a certain bedroom production about it?
I was very surprised as when you make an album in your bedroom it doesn’t really feel like you’re making an album, just recording somesongs to play for you’re mates.
The production is pretty raw on some tracks but if it had been recorded in a slick studio it might have lost its charm a little.
It led to some interesting remix work for you, which are you most proud of?
I’ve done a few which were good fun, Badly Drawn Boy and Future Sound of London are two that stick out. But my best one I think is my mix of Motoring Britain by Minatour Shock. It was one of the first and one I still go back and listen to.
Who would you really like to remix that is out there at the moment?
Beastie Boys would be a lot of fun.
And any particular track from the past that you’d like to have a chance to remix?
Zorba the Greek, or has that been done?
How do you set about remixing a track? Do you have a final version in mind when you start, or is it more organic than that?
I listen through and usually pick one element from the original that I’m going to base my version around. Then it’s a case of dropping in the vocals and building everything from that. I treat it the same way as writing an original track; it’s just easier as you have all the parts already.
As successful as you were with N.C.U.T.S., you must have been blown away by the success of Man Mountain and in particular ‘Season Song’.
Season Songs was always going to stand out from Man Mountain, the kid’s choir saw to that. I was happy how Man Mountain went and it broke new ground for Blue States.
How did Danny Boyle come to choose that track for the film 28 Days Later?
It was all done through XL, they were asked by Danny to do the
soundtrack and Season Song was offered as being used on the end credits.
What did you actually think to the film itself?
I’ve only seen it once but I enjoyed it. I half expected the Zombies to start dancing to Season Song at the end.
Obviously with the instrumental tracks that have played a key part in the Blue States story, do you see yourselves being involved in further soundtracks moving forward, or to put it another way would you like to be involved in scoring soundtracks?
Yeah I would love to have a crack at movie soundtracks, it’s something I like to try. I think I’ll be well suited for it as a lot of Blue States tracks, instrumental or vocal, all are heavily based around strong lead melodies. I think it comes from the fact I always try and get drama in anything I write, which lends itself well to soundtracks.
Enough talk of the previous albums though, you’ve got a new album ‘The Soundings’ out on June 14th, yet again the sound seems to have developed, this album seems slightly darker and more personal, is that a conscious development?
It was the idea from the start to reign in some of the sounds and ideas from Man Mountain and make an album that was slightly more personal. The darker sound comes from the idea that we wanted to concentrate on the guitar more and strip back some of the strings and
replace them with synths.
Obviously the group has expanded from the just been Andy in the band to Chris and Jon joining, how did this come about?
Chris and Jon have been playing with Blue States for four years so it kind of felt they were already a part of the band. We wanted to make Blue States a band and see what kind of album we would make. I’ve been in bands with Chris before so we had a good understanding of how each other writes and Jon played on Man Mountain so the whole recording process felt pretty natural.
The vocals on this album seem to add a real depth to it, are you pleased with how they’ve turned out?
Very happy, I think Chris’s vocals in some way shaped the overall sound and tone of the record. If you listen to the album without the vocals you realize how different all the tracks sound. Chris’s lyrics and vocal style tied all the music together and gave the album a vulnerable edge.
You’ve played Glastonbury in the past, are we going to see Blue States live in the coming months to promote the album, either at festivals or on your own dates?
Yes, the live band is nearly ready to go out live. We’re playing Glasto, Reading and Leeds Festival, Summer Sundae amongst others. We’ll be playing a few dates on our own and hopefully a UK tour late summer.
What are your aims when you take Blue States out on the road, it must be difficult competing with the more traditional rock bands as far as making it feel like the audience is as much a part of it as the band?
We’ve gone back to the drawing board this time and decided to scrap
the way we’ve been doing it. We’ve stripped it back to coincide with the albums sound, made it more guitar led and basically better than it was.
Do you ever listen to your own music at home, or do you like to distance yourself from it once it’s out there?
Not really, but I’m still listening to The Soundings but its only because its fresh in my thoughts.
Is there anybody else in the current music scene that you see as worthy contemparies? Any tips for people we should be looking out for?
A guy called Sketchy who is on Lumenessence in Brighton. A young lad, who sounds like DJ Shadow when he was good.
Thanks all of you for your time in answering these questions, we really appreciate it and good luck with the new album.
Thanks.
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