Old State are an aggressive sadcore band from St. Louis, Missouri.

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Tyler Schejbal - Drums/Vocals
Tom "Skippy" Ryan - Guitar
Ben Johnson - Vocals
David Fernandez - Bass
Zach Christensen – Guitar

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Old State? How long has the band been around?

Ty and Ben were a part of a band called Witherton, David was in Home & Away, and Skippy was in a band called Conditional. This is Zach’s first band but he picked up all the band stuff really quickly. The band has only been around since mid July. We’re very surprised at the positive vibes we’ve been getting so far.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

It was named after a road that a few of us drive one from time to time. Ben’s cousin actually recorded the sample that starts off the EP. As soon as we decided on that name we locked in our bandcamp and facebook urls so no one could take them.

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

For the Leaving Home EP all the music and lyrics were written by David except the lyrics to “Go Home, Roger”, which Ben wrote. For our next release, though, David, Ty, and Skippy all get together and just pound away until something goes correctly, writing all the chord progressions in order on a poster board, since none of our parts repeat. We try and not say what our songs are about because we want everyone to have their own interpretation and be able to relate them to their own lives. Every song can mean something different to everyone.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

For Leaving Home, we were very influenced by bands like Title Fight, Basement, and older Turnover, but we’re beginning to take more influences from bands like Balance and Composure, newer Turnover, Have Mercy, and Head North

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

For me, (David), personally there wasn’t one particular band that wanted me to start a band. I’ve been playing since I was 11 and I’m almost 22, but when I saw The Story So Far back in 2011 play to like 30 people they played Ali and during the ending 6/8 section I knew I wanted to write music that people had the ability to connect to. There was a sense of intimacy with the band and the crowd because it was such a small show and somehow 30 people sounded like 300 in that tiny room.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

In terms of show preparation it’s not so much as physical it’s mental. First we have to make sure we know where Ben is. He runs away a lot, for some reason. We try and make our set ups and tear downs in under a few minutes. We’re never going to be “that band”. Being prepared is a huge deal for us.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

Our biggest highlight is actually coming up in a few weeks. We’ll be playing with Dads, Tiny Moving Parts, and Choir Vandals which is going to be such a great show for us being able to play with some of the best emo bands out right now. The day after we released our EP we did a weekend of shows in different cities. Sort of like a microtour, which was a great experience to get under our belts early.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

If we could tour with any band it would have to be Balance and Composure, even though Skippy would kill me that I’m not saying Periphery. They’re just the greatest live band and to be able to see what they do and learn from them on how they create these intimate and crazy live experiences would be some amazing knowledge to have.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Shout outs to our friend Josh at Waybridge Records and our friends from KC Airport Novels and our hometown bros in Small Talk. We can’t wait to do tours with both you dudes. Download our EP for free at oldstate.bandcamp.com