Newcomers State of You proudly proclaim “This is British rock’n’roll” ahead of a raucous conclusion to their second single. And the band are an exciting new addition to the British scene, more than living up to the promise that if you like heavy, fast rock and your instinct is to run towards the moshpit, then they are the band for you.
The band is on a mission to write straight up rock’n’roll songs that expel their personal demons and tackle world problems with a sound they describe as “fire meets gasoline.” So expect plenty of sparks!
The quintet of Steve Sitkowski (vocals), Ollie Jeffs and Max O’Neil (guitars), Rick Keenan (bass) and Nick Jones (drums) comprises former members of Polar, Hildamay, Outcry Collective and Seasonal. They formed at the end of 2019 in unusual circumstances, as Steve describes: “I got caught speeding and a chance meeting at the awareness course led to a few of us jamming together. The universe forged us like a diamond and appears to have big plans for us – we aren’t standing in its way.”
Unfortunately, the pandemic hit just after they’d started practicing together, but they kept the momentum going by collaborating online and sharing ideas while playing Call of Duty. The result was more than 40 song ideas, which they took into the studio.
And on the sound they’ve honed since, Steve told us: “Imagine five guys that grew up being obsessed with alternative music and working on their individual crafts so that when they finally came together it’s a perfect storm of passion, pulsing rhythms and brute force that will leave you smiling, saying ‘fucking hell!’ under your breath before sharing us with your best mates.”
Our first taste of this was their debut single Run, which was released in May. It opens up with a rumbling bass that’s joined by the opening vocals “Wake up to a shit storm, There’s a fashion going round, I paid the price, Now I’m in the ground.” A smash of heavy guitars and driving drums kick in then more intense vocals supported by chugging guitar chords. That feeds into a big shoutalong chorus “There’s nowhere left to run, I spend my time throwing rocks at the sun, There’s nowhere left to run, Let’s slay the enemy until it’s done.”
It flows into another vicious verse intersected by a cool little riff before another chorus. The pace drops after the second chorus, with drawn out guitars under intense screams “I’ve had enough of everything, Like pulling teeth, or ripping skin, I’ve had enough of everything, They’ll walk on water as you sink right in.” Then a cry of “GO!” ushers in a heavy riff and a cool little repeating guitar note feeds into a huge final rendition of the chorus.
On the track, Steve tells us: “Run is the first song we recorded with Oz Craggs at Hidden Track Studios and it came out so well that we jumped at the opportunity to do an EP with him. All of us are blown away by the amount of views we’ve already had – I am convinced there’s some sorcery behind it all. It’s probably the fact that our friend, Aaran Mckenzie from While She Sleeps, directed the video. He’s an artist in every sense of the word. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive which is great because everyone involved puts in the work – there’s not a slacker amongst us.” Check it out in the video here:
Since then, they released second single The Perfect Storm last month, which brings the same level of intensity. It opens up with an edgy opening riff that drops into a lively verse led by vicious vocals and a fun bouncy riff. The pace drops a little with echoey vocals, before building up to a more melodic chorus featuring cleaner vocals “An avalanche is all I wanted today, The more I suffer and the less I pray, An avalanche is all I wanted today, You make me suffer, And I love it this way.”
Another powerful verse follows, drops into a light instrumental lull before a big chorus. That ends with a big bouncy riff supporting the vocals “I need constant stimulation Just to make me feel alive Without you I’m a walking dead man I’m a fucking dead man.” Then suddenly all the instruments drop out, leaving a huge cry of “This is British rock’n roll,” which gives way to a huge bouncing riff to tee up a massive outro that we already know will be a hit in moshpits across the country. This track is absolutely huge, and you can check it out here:
These two tracks come from the band’s debut EP, which is out next Friday (2 September). On the EP, Steve told us: “Ollie is an incredibly prolific song writer – I call him ‘the Kanye West of rock’. In lockdown I bought a Focus Scarlett box to record demo vocals on and we just amassed this huge mountain of ideas. If we stopped writing today and focused on what we have, then we already have three solid rock albums in the vault.
“The EP is 20 minutes of beautiful chaos that every band member had input on playing in the rehearsal room. If you like it heavy and fast and are the type to run towards the mosh pit – then I am confident that we are the band for you.”
Steve tells us his favourite bands, based on when he discovered them, are Rage Against the Machine, Oasis, Prodigy, The Strokes and Every Time I Die. In his words: “A band proves their worth playing live and those bands are amongst the best to ever step on stage.”
And on what influences them to write music, Steve adds: “I had a massive break through in my life a few years ago when I was diagnosed with ADHD. Now I’m medicated and have studied up on it, I’m not second guessing myself like I used to. There’s a darkness in me that I have to get out and singing is my therapy. Afterwards I feel like all of my demons fall back in line and I can breathe again. I think a lot of heavy vocalists would agree with me.
“I’m a script writer by occupation so I’m always exercising that writing muscle everyday. The guitars, drums and bass influence the topics of the songs. It’s normally a line or two that comes to me and then I write around them. I work with our drummer Nick until we are both happy the words are woven into the fabric of the song.”
State of You’s debut EP will be released next Friday (2 September) and they’ll be playing their first-ever live show to celebrate its release – and that promises to be some show! Steve says: “Obviously we have a lot of pressure on our heads considering we got signed before we’ve played a single note live so we are going to be rehearsing at every opportunity we get so that when it comes time to hit the stage, we will be like a five headed bull that’s been fucked with all summer. This band will tour and record an album when we are ready.”
And he added: “I just want to say thank you to GigRadar for allowing us the opportunity for a new band like us to get ourselves out there. Our band is either going to be your thing or not and we understand that fact. Give Run a listen and if it’s not your thing then no problem – thankyou for giving us a shot… but if it IS your thing? Then WELCOME TO THE PARTY MOTHER FUCKERS!”
You can follow State Of You on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud and YouTube.
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