A Quick Q&A With Children of the State
Introducing Children Of The State: Sheffield’s prodigal sons, who are rapidly gaining the attention of industry tastemakers alike. Setting up camp in Manchester, the band sit firmly within the company of comrades, The Blinders and The GOA Express.
Following the release of their latest EP, ‘Tragic Carpet and the Magical Wasp Gang from Notre Dame’, we caught up with the five-piece to chew the metaphorical fat.
Can you describe your music for our readers?
60s pop, 70s glam rock and all sorts of oddities thrown in here and there. Each song is like a musical portmanteau, tapping into different influences every time we head into the studio or play live.
2020 has been a very strange year. How have the various lockdowns proved for you? How have you kept sane?
The first lockdown was strange for us all being so far apart. We shared ideas digitally and worked on them via email; an approach we’d not taken to writing before. Since then a couple of us have moved in together and we’re now all a stone's throw away from one another so things are a lot easier in terms of the process of creating and sharing ideas.
Where did the name ‘Tragic Carpet and the Magical Wasp Gang from Notre Dame’ come from?
We were bouncing around ideas for what the 4th Godfather film would be called and came up with this.
What was the process of recording the EP like?
It was a different experience to what we’ve had before since we entered the studio with fully demoed versions of each of the songs. Of course, these were subject to a lot of change but many tracks which we recorded in our bedrooms in lockdown or in our practise room were kept in, so that was different and helped in a lot of ways having the tunes mapped out to a degree made the process somewhat easier. Ian and Chris at Parr Street were a pleasure to work with as always and never fail to amaze us with their talent.
Lead single ‘Hot Money’ has quite a cynical, hyper-capitalist outlook – do you think niceness is overrated?
Maybe, niceness is overrated, kindness is not.
What’s it like releasing new music into a pandemic?
It’s bizarre releasing new songs and not being able to play them live to see what sort of reception they receive. 3 of the 4 tracks from the EP we’ve never played outside of our practise room so it will be interesting releasing music that is completely new to those that are familiar with our material.
2020 has seen you relocate to Manchester. How’s the move been – and has the change impacted your music in any way?
It’s a strange time to move not being able to go to and play gigs, though it was sort of like a now or never moment for us. With a lot places being closed and restrictions being in place we haven’t yet been able to fully immerse ourselves in the city’s culture, though I’m sure a more evident impact will become clear once things start heading back to normal.
Your live shows are mega. What’s it been like this year, with those missing from life as a band?
It’s frustrating not being able to play live, though we understand everyone is in the same boat and are doing our best to use this time to our advantage - practising as often as we can and constantly working on new material.
I noticed that the ‘Kill Your Darlings’ EP has disappeared from Spotify. What made you make the decision to take it down?
Kill Your Darlings is still a piece of work that we’re proud of, though we created it when the band was in more of an embryonic stage; when we were only a quartet. Since releasing it we’ve spent copious amounts of time working on new material and trying to perfect our craft, so we didn’t want to distract any attention from newer material for new listeners. It’s still online through our YouTube and Soundcloud pages, though, for those who want to dig a little deeper.
Your music draws on a huge range of sounds. Who or what would you say are your biggest influences?
We’ve always been huge fans of psychedelic and garage music of the 60s, though working with Ian Skelly really rekindled that old flame. A lot of the sounds and techniques used in our recent recordings are heavily inspired by artists from that era. For example, the Sound City Echomaster, which we used for the space echo on the guitar solo in Big Sur, as well various points throughout the EP, was heavily used by Pink Floyd in crafting the sound of their ‘Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ album.
What do you think is next for Children of the State?
Who knows with the current situation? Hopefully playing live again before too long. You get the sense that there’s some real tension building up, the country is deprived - there’s gonna be an electric atmosphere when live music is back.
Tragic Carpet and the Magical Wasp Gang from Notre Dame is out now.
Image: Liv Kenny
