For the uninitiated Statehood rose in 2005 from the ashes of the late and great Dismemberment Plan . (The band features Joe Easley and Eric Axelson on drums and bass). Since then, they've been playing steadily around DC (The Cat, Fort Reno...) and released their debut album Lies and Rethoric right before Thankgiving, and are headlining a show at Talking Head in Baltimore next week. To show respect where respect is due, our very own Matthew sat down with singer/guitarist Clark Sabine to discuss said album, future plans and the band's love for reggaeton?!?!?
Ready for this?

BYT: So how did you end up with this incredible rhythm section behind you?
Clark: I’ve known those guys since high school, we actually all grew up in this area together and I was around when the Dismemberment Plan first got together. I was (former Dismember Plan drummer) Joe Easley’s roommate for a while and sold merch for the band a few times. As far as coming around to actually playing with them, I started the project called Disconnect, recorded a few demos and started playing solo shows, bringing this MPC4000 up on stage as my backing band with drums and guitar and everything sequenced and I’d just rock out on the microphone ’cause I couldn’t find a single person to play with. I had lost contact with Joe for about a year and I sent out an email to everyone telling them that I was opening for Dan Deacon at the Warehouse Next Door (R.I.P.) and Joe came and saw the show and really enjoyed it. We kinda expressed mutual interest in playing together and so I muted the drum track on the MPC and he’d play drums to it. So then (former Dismemberment Plan bassist) Eric Axelson came back from his tour with Maritime and talked to Joe and it seemed like another right match so he started playing bass and I muted the bass track on the MPC. So the only things that were sequenced were guitar and keyboards, and Joe and Eric would play live. So we played Ft. Reno in the summer of 2006 and it became obvious that the sequenced guitar was kinda awkward, so I put the MPC aside and I started playing guitar and realized it was really difficult to play those guitar parts and sing at the same time. Leigh Thompson, the guitar player, moved back to the area so he could practice law. I’d talked to him a year before at a party at (former Dismemberment Plan guitarist) Jason Caddell’s house. I told him that I wanted to play music with him, and I’ve known Leigh since the Vehicle Birth days, when The Vehicle Birth and the Dismemberment Plan were touring together and were good friends. Leigh told me that he wouldn’t be back in the area for another year, but I was fine with waiting for him. Then I started doing all the solo stuff with Joe and Eric and then Leigh came back into town and bang! we put it all together. I had a bunch of songs already recorded, we hashed them out, edited them all down, wrote our own parts, pretty much stayed with the game plan and wrote four more songs and then recorded and kept playing shows.

BYT: So has it been primarily the music that you wrote that became the Statehood songs?
C: I pretty much planted the seed for the songs, but they’ve taken a significant turn because of the personalities and playing styles in the band, which is fantastic. The songs were great as far as what I could do on my own, but when it’s just me programming drums, bass, guitar, vocals and keyboards, it’s all going to take on one linear fashion. When you start collaborating with different guys, it’s like you start with a painting that’s 60% finished and then the other guys came in and added their own colors onto it. Four of the songs on the record, however, we wrote collaboratively and they just popped right out right before we went into the studio. A majority of the songs on the record are mine but the other guys had such an influence on everything that it’s pretty much a band effort. My songs were really just what got the ball rolling.

BYT: So I haven’t heard the whole album yet, only what’s on Myspace and what’s been posted on other various blogs, but how would you describe the sound?
C: Well, I’m a pretty uptight person, and I’ve got a lot of energy and a lot of anxiety, so I think there’s a lot of energy and anxiety in the music. I don’t think the sound was really planned, the personalities in the band took over and we wanted to do something that was naturally stuff we were into. Joe’s drumming style, for example, is very precise, very fast, very dancey, very intricate. Eric’s bass playing is fucking fantastic and it gives us this big, fat drum and bass sound. They’ll go off on five minute tangents and it’s what they do naturally and they enjoy. So we kinda tried to build off of that natural sound they have between them. Leigh is very experimental with his sounds and using different layers and tape loops and he’s really building up his rig and his toys to complement the sound. And I really like very angular kinda stuff. Our sound’s been described as being very caffeine-oriented. I think we just wanted to make a high-energy rocking album while trimming all the fat. I don’t think any of us wanted to go off on 12 minute solos, I don’t think any of us are really interested in picking up an acoustic guitar or a banjo. We play rock and roll. We all listen to punk rock and we all listened to punk rock and hardcore and indie rock and soul and R&B when we were growing up, and that’s what we feel good about doing. It comes naturally, ya know?

BYT: Based on what I’ve heard thus far, I get the sense that the music is at least somewhat influenced by the sound of DC’s past. It seems like it has a hint of the classic “DC Sound.” Would you say that’s the case?
C: Yeah, ya know, it just kinda crept in there. None of us, especially me, ever sat down and said, “I want to sound like a Dischord band” or “I want to sound like a Desoto band.” This is just where we live and it saturates us. We’re all DC musicians and played in DC bands and we came up playing DC music so it’s only natural for us to have a sound that’s DC-oriented. But we’re just getting going, we’ve already started to experiment with a lot of other sounds. We’re definitely influenced by DC bands, I suppose, ‘cause when first started listening to music it was Minor Threat and a majority of the Dischord catalogue. That’s what we were doing when we were 15 and 16 years old, we were hauling our ass into DC to watch these bands play. And they naturally influenced us. They completely changed your life, they completely blew you away and it gets ingrained in your mind. You see it and say, “That’s what I want to do. I’m not gonna fuck around because they don’t fuck around.” They put everything into it and when it comes your turn, you want to take it to the next level as well. You want to say, “Okay, you did that, now look what I can do.”

BYT: Well I definitely feel like you guys have put your own stamp on the sound.
C: Thanks. We never had any intentions of copying anyone. Joe hits the drums really hard, Eric plays incredible dubbed-out punk rock bass, Leigh is experimenting all over the place and I’m hyperactive and can barely sit still for more than five minutes. You put that together and you get Statehood. And if we have a particular DC sound, well maybe that’s a reflection on our environment. It’s a pretty crazy town. There’s a lot of tension in this town compared to most places.

BYT: So, changing gears, about the record, why did you guys decide to release it on your own?
C: It was definitely a conscious decision to release it on our own and pay for it entirely on our own. But, there were some factors that were in place that led us to that decision. At that particular time, we knew we wanted to make a record, but we weren’t sure about how much time we were going to be able to spend on getting out on the road and touring behind it. So I don’t think any of us felt comfortable with getting involved in any kind of binding contract that would require us to pay back funds loaned to us, or to go to someone who had expectations about what we were going to do with the record at that particular point. We were really just excited about recording, about taking the songs and getting them down on tape and getting them out to people and saying, “Hey look, we made this.” And we weren’t going to look too far down the road as far as what we were doing. And nobody really expressed that much interest in putting out the record, to tell you the truth. Except for the fact that Eric and Joe were from the Dismemberment Plan, nobody knew anything about us, nobody knew what we sounded like since we’d only played a handful of shows. But also, because of the internet right now and the ability to release the record ourselves, sell the record ourselves, promote the record ourselves, in the truest aspect of DIY music, that’s about as pure as you can get right now. I think we found that pretty exciting. We found it to be a way where we can control our music and feel comfortable doing it, that we can control the aspect of how we want it sold and how much we want it to be sold for, and there’s no middleman. But we’ll see what happens from this point forward, we’re just getting started. It just came out today, so we’ll see what happens. Definitely not going to deny any possibilities in the future, but right now we just wanted to do what we felt was comfortable.

BYT: So what are the plans for the immediate future of Statehood? Will there be a full-blown tour in support of the album? Is that even a possibility?
C: It is very possible, I don’t know, at this particular point we’re just focusing on the shows we have planned right now, focusing on making them the best shows we can possibly make them. I think as far as any touring that will happen from that point forward, it all just really depends on the logistics. It’s not that we’re not committed to the record or not that we wouldn’t like to tour, but you really have to build up to that particular stage and a lot of it is out of your hands. The fact is that music isn’t quite what it used to be. People really have the ability to hear what you sound like and put you under a big giant microscope before they come out to see you play. I remember the days when we’d go out to see bands just because it was a band from out of town. Things are shifting quite a bit.

BYT: I’m sure that with everyone having other jobs, it can’t be easy to get away from those to tour.
C: The other thing is that DC is a very expensive city to live in. DC’s not cheap and we have to work in order to pay the bills, but if it becomes financially viable to do it, we’d love to do it, but we’ll see what happens.

BYT: Typically when the band has been written up, the first thing that comes up about you guys is that you have two former members of the Dismemberment Plan in your band. In your position, do you feel any pressure to live up any sort of expectations that may exist for you guys before anyone hears a note of your music?
C: Well, we’re not the Dismemberment Plan, we’re a completely separate entity from the Dismemberment Plan. Beside the fact that Joe and Eric were members of the Dismemberment Plan, that’s the only real comparison, other than that, the band is completely different. I did have thoughts about the fact that the Dismemberment Plan was an amazing band they were fantastic and made incredible music. But because I’m so close with those guys and I go back with them so long, it just feels very welcoming and it’s a wonderful feeling to be a part of the whole thing.

BYT: So how was that playing with Travis Morrison in Boston? Was it at all strange for you?
C: We’ve played with Travis before and it’s great. I know the guys in the band very well. That’s the great thing about DC bands is that we know each other and we’re all part of a community and we all support each other, we all share shows and it’s a great feeling. It’s not awkward at all.

BYT: I really had no idea what the relationships were with everyone, but when I saw you guys were sharing that bill, I thought it seemed a little odd.
C: No, the relationships are very good. The D Plan were a band for ten years, which is not normal for DC bands. DC bands are notorious for starting up, making a big bang, releasing a record or two and then disappearing. But the members of those bands get together with other members of other bands and start another band. There really isn’t any weirdness going on at all. Travis is doing his thing, he’s got his project set up, he’s doing very well. We’re doing our thing and there’s nothing but love there. We had a great time in Boston, and when we were up there, members of Leigh’s old band, The Vehicle Birth, put us up. It was a great opportunity to play some shows but it was also a great opportunity to see some friends that we haven’t seen in a while.

BYT: The album was finished about five months ago. Have you guys been writing new stuff since?
C: Yeah, we’ve got a bunch of new stuff, it pops up pretty frequently. We’ve been working on a reggaeton song, which I’m pretty stoked about. The great thing about this project is when you play with musicians like this, it’s not hard for good things to happen. There’s no effort involved. You drink some coffee and bang! We record all of our practices, we track all of our ideas, and then we upload them to a server and we all listen to it when we’re away. So we’re always working and thinking about what we could do. It’s a constant work flow, and it’s great to have the ability to record your ideas, walk away from it, listen to it the next day and see what you can pull out of it and what new ideas might form. But I’ve also written tons of crap. I’ve got tons of songs that are just waiting on the backburner so when the time comes, I’ll pull them out of the bowl, we’ll see if we can hash them out and see what the band can do with them. I do a bunch of writing, the band does a bunch of writing, the other guys write on their own, and we just crush it all together and see what sticks against the wall.

BYT: So you mentioned reggaeton. Are there any reggaeton artists that particularly inspire you?
C: Eric is really the reggaeton fan. He’s the one you want to ask about it. The funny thing is that I hear it walking through the streets of DC. I’ll hear that reggaeton beat and think, “that beat is fantastic, that is such an amazing rhythm.” And it just flows (beatboxes a reggaeton beat) and it makes you change the rhythm of how you’re walking. That’s how I base a lot of the stuff I really enjoy, like if it makes my butt move. I love drums and bass, and Joe and Eric are fantastic. They enjoy it and we have a mutual love for drum and bass. It really is the foundation of what great music is. When I was growing up listening to music my mom would just play Motown and R&B and Soul and stuff like that and it was all just incredibly rhythm-based. I’d actually like to see if we could do more R&B and much more Soul stuff, just ’cause it’s stuff that I’ve always enjoyed but never had a chance to try out, but we’ll see what happens.

BYT: I’d be interested to see your take on that kinda stuff.
C: Four white middle-aged guys playing reggaeton? Yeah, it’s gonna be interesting, but we’re gonna put our own tweak on it, we’re definitely not going to become a reggaeton band. Music is out there to be explored and to isolate yourself away from certain aspects of music is stupid. You’re limiting yourself.

want more:
http://www.myspace.com/statehood