Mates of State
| Mates of State | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Lawrence, Kansas, United States |
| Genres | Indie pop |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | Barsuk, Polyvinyl |
| Associated acts | Vosotros |
| Website | www |
| Members | Kori Gardner Jason Hammel |
Mates of State are an American indie pop duo, active since 1997. The group consists of the husband-and-wife team of Kori Gardner (vocals, organ, synthesizer, piano, electric piano, and occasional guitar) and Jason Hammel (vocals, drums, percussion, and occasional synthesizer).
As of 2015, the duo has released four EPs and seven full-length, studio albums. Their most recent album, Mountaintops, was released on September 13, 2011.
Gardner and Hammel first met in Lawrence, Kansas, while both were involved in relationships with other people. Even though they exchanged e-mails regularly, they did not get together till three months later; by that time, they were both single again, and from there the two became inseparable. They originally played together in a four-piece rock band called Vosotros, in which they both sang and played guitar. Shortly after the couple moved to California in 1998, Gardner began teaching, and Hammel applied to medical school. They both opted later to devote their time to making music and touring together instead and got married in 2001. Gardner and Hammel originally lived together in San Francisco, and in 2004 they moved to East Haven, Connecticut. In February 2007, they sold their house in East Haven and relocated to Stratford, Connecticut.
Gardner and Hammel have two daughters, Magnolia, born in 2004, and June Elizabeth, born in 2008. For the band, touring became a family affair, with both daughters going on the road with their parents. Gardner kept a 'blog, Band on the Diaper Run, that appeared on Babble.com. In its entries, she recounted their experiences of life on the road and the unique circumstance of touring with two young children in tow.
The main instruments Mates of State used in their early recordings were drums and the electric organ. Both had started out playing the guitar, but they found that they were ending up fooling around with the organ and drums in their practice space more often than with more traditional instruments. On later recordings, the band moved away from the organ-dominated sound and incorporated additional instrumentation, beginning with the EP All Day and continued on Bring It Back, their fourth studio album. They abandoned the organ completely on their fifth album, "Re-Arrange Us."
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