For generations of great American songwriters, the music and the message have been inextricably linked. Word and deed are one in the same, and the only thing more moving than the rousing call to action is the evocative melody that transports the words like a shell casing. These are fire-breathing poets of justice who sing about ordinary people in extraordinary ways, and can turn the world inside out with three chords and the truth. These are the tenets by which STATE RADIO’s Chad Stokes Urmston, Chuck Fay, and Mike “Mad Dog” Najarian are driven, and they once again flex that strength and sense of purpose on their third album, LET IT GO. But this is no soapbox symposium.
“It’s the only way I know how to do it,” says singer/guitarist Stokes about the band’s impassioned social consciousness. “It’s the only way State Radio has done it. This has always been an organic, grassroots thing. It’s about trying to be true to what we do.”
Like Rage Against The Machine and System Of A Down before them, State Radio roll up their sleeves as they practice what they preach, whether it’s riding bikes to gigs to support Bikes Not Bombs, hosting food drives in conjunction with Rock For A Remedy, or playing shows to raise money for the Learning Center for the Deaf. How’s Your News?, a film project created by Stokes while working at a camp for adults with disabilities, where the campers are the reporters, was just a way for Stokes and company to flip the standard interview format on its head with a different viewpoint before it was picked up by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for a run on HBO and MTV.
Action is hardly a new concept for all the members of State Radio. Before the band, Mad Dog volunteered as mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters, while Fay was and continues to be a powerful voice for Instant Runoff Voting and comprehensive election reform across the country. On tour, State Radio has joined with Amnesty International to expose the injustices and improprieties of the legal system by protesting the death penalty for Georgia’s Troy Davis. They’ve worked to minimize wildfire danger by removing invasive plants from areas in California, and have partnered with Oxfam America to organize home run derbies and 5K road races to raise money and awareness to help protect women against violence in Sudan. Most bands have touring schedules. State Radio have an Action Calendar.
During their sold out, 25-city tour this past February, the band performed service projects in every town they visited, from serving lunch at a homeless shelter in Houston to building a community garden at an inner city elementary school in Washington, D.C. Calling All Crows (callingallcrows.org), the group’s platform for social action started by Stokes and State Radio tour manager Sybil Gallagher, is committed to continuing the group’s socio-political dialogue once the music ends and the lights come up. In less than a year, State Radio and their fans have amassed over 1,800 hours of community service through projects that have local, national, and global impact.
“There are times when there’s a service project every morning at 9am—and we’d had a late night the night before—where it’s like, ‘Are we a service group that plays music, or are we a band that does service projects?’” Stokes laughs. “There’s a balance between the two things because they feed each other. I want to experience the stuff I’m writing about.”
That same mindset held true for Stokes’ previous band, the roots rock outfit Dispatch, who formed while Stokes was a student at Middlebury College in Vermont. Though the group disbanded in 2002, they’ve reunited three times, the most notable being a three-night, sold out run at Madison Square Garden in 2007 to raise funds and awareness for poverty-stricken Zimbabwe. It marked the first time in history an unsigned band had headlined the Garden, let alone sold it out.
“It was a progression,” says Stokes’ of the shift from Dispatch to State Radio, who formed in 2002. “I think had Dispatch stayed together, all these State Radio songs would have been Dispatch songs.”
State Radio’s first album, Us Against The Crown, introduced listeners to the band’s raw, pop-punk sound. Tracks like “Mr. Larkin” and “Black Cab Motorcade” had all the boundless energy of a vigorous protest, while “Right Me Up,” a personal account of a friend with a disability, showcased Stokes’ reggae harmonies.
Their second album, Year Of The Crow, was recorded in the UK and produced by Tchad Blake (Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Soul Coughing). Featuring songs like “Sudan,” “Guantanamo,” and “Gang Of Thieves,” the album pushed the group’s socio-political motivations even further into the forefront. It also broadened their sonic palette with bigger guitars (“CIA”) and more diverse instrumentation (“The Story Of Benjamin Darling, Part 1”). But the bridge between both records has always been Stokes’ transcendental storytelling, which continues to mature and evolve on Let It Go.
The album kicks off with “Mansin Humanity,” a gripping song about the Armenian genocide, then slides into “Calling All Crows,” a one-drop groove that calls the band’s legion of fans to attention as Stokes beckons, “It’s gonna be a showdown, said the rebel to the revolutionary, come with me!” Elsewhere, State Radio invoke the spirit of the Clash on “Doctor Ron The Actor” and “Knights Of Bostonia,” a raise-yer-pints anthem to the band’s hometown. (After all, Stokes did meet Mad Dog while he was drumming on a bucket outside of the home of the Red Sox Fenway Park.) Another track, “Held Up By The Wires,” mixes classic Boston references and Civil War tales with nods to Jack London’s “The Road,” sailing pioneer Irving Johnson, and Stokes’ own time spent in Zimbabwe. The track has been in the band’s repertoire since the early days, but it wasn’t until now that it found it’s way onto an album, a fact Stokes attributes to the way in which Let It Go was recorded.
While touring Year Of The Crow, State Radio enlisted Tchad Blake’s assistant, Dom Monks, as their front-of-house engineer; a critical position for a band with such a large live audience. When it came time to seek out producers for Let It Go, Monks threw his hat in the ring. He also suggested that the band record the songs in the same manner as they were performed: live off the floor, with all the instruments buzzing and howling at once.
“He has a great ear and he’s worked with the best guy,” says Stokes of his producer and friend. “He knew all our songs and he did an amazing job.”
Two-thirds of the album were recorded at Q-Division in Boston, while the remaining parts were tracked at the famous Long View Farm Studio, the preferred practice space of the Rolling Stones before all their US tours, and a location that houses just as much livestock as it does vintage pre-amps. The rustic setting provided the perfect atmosphere with which to coalesce the band’s trademark live energy, while recording straight to tape with limited tracks allowed them to be more succinct with the musical message they wanted to convey.
“We’ll take the long way around, we gather on the wall on the wrong side of town. We’ll surprise them all,” sings Stokes on “Evolution.” After years of social action and political awareness—not to mention playing in front of thousands upon thousands of fans with very little support by the mainstream—the 33-year-old Stokes knows a thing or two about how to serve up lighting in a bottle. Sometimes quiet persistence is the best way. Like when he and 15 other peers spent 28 days walking a headstone 433 miles from Sherborn, Massachusetts to Arlington National Cemetery to honor unknown civilians killed in war. (Alas, they were stopped at the bridge and not allowed to enter.) But after you’ve done the backstroke in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and shaken hands with the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, what do you do next?
“I think the dream would be to jump freights to each city,” says Stokes of their upcoming tour to support Let It Go. “Going out to the Democratic National Convention last year, my brother and I jumped freights from Massachusetts to Denver, then from Denver to California, opening up for Rage in the middle there.”
And have someone drive the gear?
“Or just get back line everywhere we go,” Stokes smiles, “and hit the rails that night.”
State Radio’s Let It Go is out September 29, 2009.
Evolution
State Radio Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
People can you hear each other
They want to make us soldiers
They want us to unnerve each other
Yeah
′Cause we speak in different dialects
They want us to forsake our sister
They want us all to fear our brother
Oh the tie that binds must be stronger than what our differences allow
Seek the good in a passing wave, that is evolution, yeah
So people can you hear this
People can you hold each other
Can it be we're getting nearer
Don′t let the cynics be your only cover now
The tie that binds must be stronger than what our differences allow
See the good in a passing wave, that is evolution, yeah
Ay ay ay
We'll surprise them all
'Cause I got the oil can
You got the stove pipe
He got the key stone
She got the block
But with a bit of mortar
We′ll make a fine house
We wont look for the one shoe dropped
But here come the board man
He come to shut us down
We′ll take the long way
The long way around
And we'll gather our wood on the wrong side of town
And we′ll surprise them all, surprise them
We'll surprise them, we′ll surprise them all
So people can you hear this
People don't you hurt each other
They want to make us soldiers
The innocent to know the suffer now
The tie that binds must be strong, must be strong
See the good in the passing wave, that is evolution
Ay ay ay
We′ll surprise them
Ay ay ay
We'll surprise them all
We'll surprise them all
The song "Evolution" by State Radio calls for people to come together despite their differences and find strength in their unity. The lyrics acknowledge the attempts of those in power to divide and control us by emphasizing our differences, whether that be through language, culture, or any other means. The song speaks to the importance of seeing past those differences and recognizing the similarities and values that we share.
The lyrics also call for action, urging people to hold each other and not let cynicism and fear be the only forces guiding our actions. The line "we'll surprise them all" serves as a rallying cry for listeners to reject the division and control imposed upon them and instead work together to create positive change.
The use of metaphors, such as "oil can", "stove pipe", and "keystone", highlights the importance of different elements coming together and working in harmony to create something strong and enduring. The image of a "fine house" built with "a bit of mortar" emphasizes the idea that the ties that bind us are not insurmountable, and that with effort and unity, we can overcome the forces that seek to divide us.
Overall, "Evolution" is a powerful call to action that encourages unity and emphasizes the importance of finding common ground despite our differences.
Line by Line Meaning
People can you hear this
Are you all listening?
People can you hear each other
Are you actually communicating with one another?
They want to make us soldiers
They want us to conform and not think for ourselves.
They want us to unnerve each other
They want us to turn against each other and not work together.
′Cause we speak in different dialects
Our differences are what they're using to divide us.
They want us to forsake our sister
They want us to abandon those who are different than us.
Their fashionable language
They're trying to make it seem trendy to hate each other.
They want us all to fear our brother
They're trying to make us afraid of people who are different.
Oh the tie that binds must be stronger than what our differences allow
We need to stick together and value our similarities more than our differences.
Seek the good in a passing wave, that is evolution, yeah
We must look for and embrace positive change.
People can you hold each other
We must support and uplift one another.
Can it be we're getting nearer
Is there hope for us to come together?
Don't let the cynics be your only cover now
We can't let negativity shield us from optimism and progress.
Ay ay ay
A vocalization expressing energy and excitement.
We'll surprise them all
We'll exceed their expectations and come together in unity.
′Cause I got the oil can
I have what I need to contribute to the collective effort.
You got the stove pipe
You have what you need to contribute to the collective effort.
He got the key stone
He has what he needs to contribute to the collective effort.
She got the block
She has what she needs to contribute to the collective effort.
But with a bit of mortar
But if we work together and make an effort,
We'll make a fine house
We can achieve something great, something that works for everyone.
We wont look for the one shoe dropped
We won't dwell on what we lack or what's missing.
But here come the board man
But here comes the authority figure or oppressor.
He come to shut us down
He's trying to stop us from coming together and working towards progress.
We'll take the long way
We won't let them win easily.
The long way around
We'll take the difficult path to success.
And we'll gather our wood on the wrong side of town
We'll venture into unfamiliar territories to gather the resources we need.
We'll surprise them all, surprise them
We'll succeed in spite of the obstacles and challenges.
People don't you hurt each other
We must be careful not to harm one another in the process of coming together.
The innocent to know the suffer now
Those not involved in the more difficult parts of life will need to adapt to what's coming.
The tie that binds must be strong, must be strong
We must show true solidarity and support for one another.
We'll surprise them
We'll take them by surprise with our success.
We'll surprise them all
We'll succeed in ways that go beyond what they ever thought possible.
Writer(s): Grachan Iii Moncur
Contributed by Lila B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.