with Mates of State

By Mike Hume

It’s not just a clever name.

In fact, Mates of State, the husband and wife, organ and drums duo that visits the State Theatre Sunday, March 25 is creative on a lot of levels. It rhymes, which is always a plus, but it also signals that they are both of like mind.

A handful of reviews will vet that last part. On stage they’ve been known to finish the other’s sentences, while casting longing glances at one another. Their familiarity also allows them to perfectly compliment the other’s musical tendencies as well, not to mention mix some masterful harmonies. What some great bands have worked decades to achieve comes naturally to Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel.

“We wouldn’t do it, [performing together] if it wasn’t easy and natural,” Hammel says. “Music is just a part of our life together.”

That life together started when they first met in 1997 while attending Kansas University. The two played in a variety of bands together, with Jason playing bass in mostly punk and rock acts and Kori preferring the guitar and the folk/acoustic route.

“At the time we were both learning where we wanted to land musically,” Hammel said.

They met through their friends and began dating before they ever started playing together. In fact, they were nervous to attempt it.

“Our relationship was the important thing,” Hammel says. “We never even played together until about three weeks in. We were nervous about trying it. We were worried that if our music sucked then our relationship would fizzle.”

That’s when they both pulled out their guitars — one was maroon and tan, the other tan and maroon — a musical yin yang of sorts. As the story and the saying goes, they went on to make beautiful music together.

After their individual bands fizzled out, the two decided to start their own duo. They went back to their first instruments, piano in the form of the organ for Kori, and the drums for Jason, and formed Mates of State.

Their 2001 marriage didn’t stop them from performing or recording, and neither has the birth of their daughter, Magnolia. And while she has had an impact on both processes (the tour tends to weigh anchor each day around the time of Magnolia’s afternoon naps, thus avoiding cranky car travels), Hammel believes it has certainly been negotiable. In the instance of writing their latest album Bring It Back, due out March 21, it has even been beneficial.

“We’ve really become more focused,” Hammel says. “Before we would write when we felt like it. We were lazy. Now our time to work is more guidelined. We can’t play a lot of rock when she’s in the house.”

About four times a week, Hammel and Gardner line up play dates for their daughter so they can write together for just a few hours.

“I’m sort of excited to make the record under pressure,” Hammel says. “I feel it’s made us more creative.”

The indie-pop-rock effort Bring It Back on Barsuk Records certainly is that. The blend of keys, beats and dueling harmonies is a fairly large departure from even the indie mainstream and is refreshing in its simplicity.

Many of the duo’s lyrics both on this and past records have detailed the personal side of the Mates’ life together. Couple that with the regular performances and a good portion of their private life is on display almost every night. While that openness is part of the bands’ appeal to some extent, and they do cater to it in part with a tour diary, sometimes Hammel says he wants to be more guarded.

“Sometimes I feel really strange and I want to pull back a little,” he says. “People will always tell us that we should post pictures of Magnolia online. I’m like ‘No, that’s for us.’”

“But playing music is always personal,” he elaborates. “It’s part of the game. The best way to handle it is just to be up front and say ‘Alright, you can have this part of me.’”

With their popular live act and an intriguing upcoming release like Bring It Back, fans are surely going to want all they can get their hands on.

• If you can’t make it out to the State on Saturday, March 25, you might be interested in hitting up a Mates of State listening party at the District’s DC9 and Black Cat on Friday. The parties will preview Bring It Back and both begin at 8 p.m.