California hardcore-infused emo band Stateside have just released their debut EP It’s What We Do on New Morality Zine/Extinction Burst, following last year’s Bitter Spring demo. We included its lead single “Crash Course (Nosedive to Nowhere)” (ft. Rachael Braverman of Anklebiter) in our list of the best punk songs of May, and this EP has much more where that came from. Three of its other four songs are revved-up emo rippers with hardcore energy and backing screams, and the centerpiece is “Wharf St. Part Two,” an acoustic song that balances out all the fury with a genuinely pretty side. With engineering, mixing, and mastering by Zach Tuch (Initiate, Touché Amoré, Trash Talk), it also sounds fantastic and the production helps make this a clear leap from the demo. If you’re into anything from Can’t Slow Down-era Saves The Day to Kingston-era Title Fight to contemporary stuff like Anxious and Koyo, don’t miss out on Stateside.
We also caught up with the band over email for a short Q&A. Stream the EP right here and read on for what they had to say…
Can you tell us about how you first formed, and what some of your shared goals were at the start of the band?
Lemus and Erik were working the same warehouse job together at the time. Lemus had seen Erik listening to The Starting Line and they began to talk about common music interests and how they wanted to start a band like that. Stateside was really just formed to be a fun, nostalgic kind of side project. We didn’t know what was going to happen.
The new EP sounds like a pretty big step up from the demo you put out last year. What changed for the band since then / what was different going into this one?
I think we finally started to hit our stride in terms of working together creatively. That’s a hurdle for every band and it’s fortunate that it happened early on. There was also a lineup change; our old guitarist Daniel Powell left and Dan Porcho took over. New brains in the band always has an effect on the ideas that come out.
Also, working with Zach Tuch really took these songs to the next level. Instead of taking as long as we wanted with writing, we booked the studio time first and then got together like “ok, we need to have five songs ready by this date. let’s make it happen.” I believe the deadline helped keep the momentum going.
What were some of the major influences informing this EP?
A lot of Fall Out Boy, Saves The Day, Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Jimmy Eat World, among others. Stuff we collectively grew up listening to. 2000s emo that’s still firmly rooted in hardcore.
Can you tell us about some of the core lyrical themes on the EP?
There’s definitely a through-line of processing loss. Losing relationships with others, losing touch with yourself. A couple songs on here are about living through drug addiction. Some are tonally more self-deprecating, some are more outwardly aggressive. It all reflects those struggles.
How did having Rachael from Anklebiter on the lead single come about?
We wanted a guest spot from a friend and Rachael came up in the discussion. We thought it would be a cool collab and her voice would make for an interesting contrast in the track. Anklebiter are longtime friends of a couple of us so it was super casual. We just hit her up with the idea and she was down. It was all remote, she recorded the feature in NJ and sent us the files after. Super stoked on how it turned out!
I like that on the demo you went with the original title of what became Jimmy Eat World’s “Crush.” Why the decision to do it that way?
We wanted to make a hybrid version in a way – the parts from the final track, but performed in the spirit of the raw version. It was going to be on our demo, so we felt like it made some sort of sense that way.
What’s next for Stateside?
Pushing the EP as much as much as we can, touring hard, and keeping up with writing new songs. This is just the beginning.