Minus one organ and plus one new baby, the husband-and-wife musical team Mates of State return to Gainesville for the first time since March 2006. Known for their organ and drum arrangement and catchy, complex pop harmonies, the indie-rock duo shed their signature organ sound on the new album, "Re-Arrange Us." Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel will be toting the new keyboards and their daughters, Magnolia and new addition June, on the road with them Sept. 13 and 14 to the Real Big Deal Festival at the Alachua County Fairgrounds. Calling from a houseboat in the middle of a lake, Hammel discusses the band's rearrangements, what it's like touring with two young daughters and why America is ready for change.
AVE: "Re-arrange Us" just came out in May, and I think one of the big differences is you don't have the organ this time around. Is that part of the rearranging?
JH: Definitely. Usually the way we end up titling records is we make the album and see what happens, what the underlying themes are. Going into making a record was all about not using the organ. When we were writing songs, we were realizing we were having more fun writing songs without the organ for the first time in our band's history. By the end of it, we were like, "Yeah, we didn't even use that thing." Maybe big changes are in store.
AVE: And you brought in a bunch of other musicians to play as well?
JH: Yeah, we brought in a couple of string players and then some of our friends played various instruments, from guitars to horns to violin and cello. It was fun to add those elements
AVE: What do you mean it was fun without the organ? Is that just a pain?
JH: Well, that thing is heavy. Like 180 pounds and, physicality aside, it also kind of has one sound, you know what I mean? Even though there are a couple of different effects on it, it's pretty loud and sort of abrasive, and we were sort of stumped at writing songs. So we decided to ditch it.
AVE: That's a weight off your shoulders, I bet.
JH: Yeah, we still play it on tour and stuff because of the old songs, but maybe we're phasing it out. In about 10 years that thing won't even exist.
AVE: You guys have been all over the world. What are some of your favorite memories from being abroad?
JH: Man, there are so many good places ¾ that's what I've realized from all this traveling. Australia we loved ¾ maybe our favorite country in the world. Takes forever to get there, though ¾ maybe a 24-hour flight from New York. Australia ¾ loved. Scandinavia ¾ like Sweden, Norway. Japan is great. There are so many great places in the world, and that's one thing that being in this band has afforded us, being able to see those places.
AVE: How many times have you been to Australia?
JH: Just once, but we're going back in January/February.
AVE: What was one of your favorite things you saw while there?
JH: I got to surf, which was pretty fun. I started surfing around two or three years ago, so I'm a beginner, but I love it. And the guy that promoted our show took me out surfing ¾ he's been surfing 25 years ¾ but he took me out, and I realized quickly the waves were much too big for me in Australia.
AVE: Were your daughters with you on that trip?
JH: No. June wasn't born yet. Magnolia was one year old, two maybe. The flight was too long, and we were only gone a week, so she stayed at her grandma's house.
AVE: Do they usually come with you on your tours, if it's possible?
JH: Yeah, always they do, actually. Unless for some reason it's a crazy travel schedule, and it's better for them to be at home. June is still nursing, so she comes for always, no matter what. She's a baby still, so she travels a bit more compactly, you know? Magnolia is in school now, so depending on her school schedule, but 80 percent of the time she's been with us.
AVE: When you're on tour and you're bringing the girls with you, do you have a hard time keeping track of all of the baby paraphernalia?
JH: Yeah, we definitely have all that stuff, and it's kind of an ongoing joke that we do shed no matter where we go ¾ something is left behind in every hotel we're in. So that's true. I try to travel as light as possible, but it's impossible with two kids to travel light.
AVE: What did your parents do when you were growing up?
JH: My mom was a nurse, and my dad is a respiratory therapist. They both worked. I grew up in Minnesota, which has the Mayo Clinic there, which is like the biggest hospital in the world, so everybody in that town worked there. Both my parents as well. That's where I grew up.
AVE: That's a very different experience your girls will have growing up than you did. Do you kind of wish you were able to see and do some of the things they'll have the opportunity to?
JH: I don't know. It's hard to tell, to compare the two, you know? I think about it in terms of how my parents grew up. I think you sort of assume your kids should grow up the same way you did, but I think that's sort of impossible, you know? I wouldn't have wanted to grow up the way my parents did, and I'm sure they wouldn't have wanted to grow up the way I did. I think there are some underlying things as far as, well, you want to educate them as much as possible no matter what the circumstances are. You want to expose them to lots different things, and at same time, shelter them, so they're not insane when they're older ¾ sort of use discretion as to what they experience and give them lots of love. No matter what their upbringing is, if they get those two things, I think they'll be okay.
AVE: One of the other things you did ¾ I'm a big NPR fan ¾ is I heard you got to go on "This American Life". How was that?
JH: That was super fun. In our music career it feels like a real accomplishment. For the first time, we did just the piano and drums set. And also, just to be part of the show with the other writers and Ira (Glass) ¾ arguably the greatest storyteller in radio today ¾ it was really fun to be a part of it and feel like we contribute to it.
AVE: Yeah, they're great for the stories. When you're writing music, do you ever think of it that way? As storytelling and incorporating things from your life?
JH: Oh for sure. All of our songs are about things, experiences, or exploring ideas we've had. We can look back at a song we've written, sometimes you don't know it when you're writing it, but you can always look back retrospectively and be like, "Oh yeah, I remember that," or what we were going through at the time. Or, "I remember that guy that that song is about," and that was weird, or that was cool or whatever. But there are these little snippets of stories that kind of document our entire life.
AVE: Have you been following the electoral campaign?
JH: Yeah, a little bit.
AVE: Can I ask who you are voting for, or who you're supporting right now?
JH: I am voting for Obama. We do not want any more of what we've had in the last eight years, and that's what you'd get with McCain.
AVE: I don't think so much that your music is political, but just to be traveling around the country or around the world ¾ do you ever use that as kind of a soapbox?
JH: We do, but sort of covertly I think. We always try to talk to people wherever we go and just kind of get the general sense of their lives, specifically because that's what it really boils down to ¾ everyone's little, practical, daily life and how all of these policies and politicians are affecting their everyday activities. Just hanging out with people and getting to know how they live and what it's like for them and how they're getting health care and those things, it teaches you a lot. Then you try to get a broad stroke of what that means when you're electing an official.
AVE: Can you think of a specific story of someone you met on the road that's illuminated things for you?
JH: Um, let's see. I can't right now, actually. I'm laid out on the edge of this houseboat, and my mind is totally adrift.
AVE: Oh, I wanted to ask you. You had a contest for your fans to make the music video for "Goods." Do you think you guys will do that again in the future?
JH: I think we will, actually. That was such a fun thing. I think we ended up getting 13 completed videos from people, and it was kind of a really fun way to have other people contribute, you know? Their interpretation of our songs and our music. It was super fun. We got a lot of good ones, too, which was really surprising and impressive. You never know, because it's not easy to make a video. I mean, I guess it's getting easier by the day, but it was for the EP, which came out three or four years ago, so even then it wasn't as easy as it is now to shoot and complete a video. We had a good time doing that.
