State Radio
by William Lush
This interview is from our December 2011 issue. The full issue is available for download.
State Radio, the hard rock/reggae trio from Sherborn, Massachusetts, came to Pittsburgh in November on their fall 2011 tour. The band consists of Chadwick Stokes of Dispatch (guitar, lead vocals), Mike “Mad Dog” Najaran (drums), and Chuck Fay (bass). The Cut had a chance to speak with Stokes earlier in the month when they road tripped through New England about the band’s passion for activism, their views on current events, and their unique experiences as a band.
The Cut: You have long spoken out against the death penalty, especially in reference to the Troy Davis case in Georgia. You even wrote the song “State of Georgia” about him. He was executed on September 21 of this year after spending 20 years on death row, despite shaky testimony and a petition for clemency signed by over 600,000 people, including Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and former president Jimmy Carter. What is your opinion on this?
Chad Stokes: So sad, about Troy. I almost can’t believe it really happened—it was a court system that didn’t seem to care that there was an innocent man on death row. The fact that they actually went through with the execution, I can’t even believe it. I think that more than anything I’m saddened by the situation. I just hope that cases like Troy’s raise so much awareness, grief, and frustration that eventually this country decides to not support the death penalty.
The Cut: State Radio is well-known for its social awareness. On your website, it says, “Most bands have touring schedules. State Radio has an action calendar.” What service projects are on tap for this tour?
CS: This tour, we tried to do a 5K in the snow in Northampton, but the police shut us down because people would have been running while the power was out, and there was a foot of snow on the ground. That was to raise awareness and money for shelters in Afghanistan for women. Just the other day we were in Burlington, at Occupy Burlington, and we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the occupiers. We are also meeting up with OXFAM to do some letter writing campaigns because a bunch of programs in the Federal budget that are usually in charge of taking care of poverty and hunger, are in danger of being cut. So we’re concerned about those and we’re writing letters to our congressman. We go into a lot of cities and team up with this organization called Dress for Success, which helps women get dressed up for job interviews, and we’ll probably be doing that as well.
The Cut: What is your opinion of the Occupy Wall Street protests happening across the country?
CS: I’m so inspired by it. Times have gotten so tough that people are actually sacrificing their daily lives to make a stand in the center of our cities all over the country, and even globally. I’m really excited. If this movement can keep getting traction, then hopefully the one percent, Wall Street and Washington, will take notice.
The Cut: You began your career with the band Dispatch, who just released their first EP since 2000, and toured in support of Amplify Education over the summer. You also have a solo career, and are releasing a live album, along with a studio album, Simmerkane II. How does this other work fit in with State Radio?
CS: I had a bunch of songs that were more personal songs about growing up on a small farm in Massachusetts, and they didn’t really feel like they fit the whole State Radio thing. So I got a band together with my brother and a couple of friends, and we just went out on the road for the first time about a month ago. It’s hard to squeeze everything in, because we’re trying to finish a new State Radio record and we’re also working on a Dispatch record. A lot is going on, but it’s all been really fun. It keeps each project really fresh, just because they’re all so different.
The Cut: Crows are a theme in much of your music, such as in the album Year of the Crow, and in the song “Calling All Crows,” as well as in your charitable group the Calling All Crows foundation. What is the significance of crows in your music?
CS: I think crows are, not to bring another animal into it, the underdogs of the world. They’re very smart and very family-oriented. I think that maybe crows and elephants are two of the few species out there that mourn their dead, so they have this spirituality and brainpower to them that’s inspiring. Crows to me seem like the regular people—we’re rising up against the eagles.
The Cut: You talked a little about State Radio’s upcoming album. Would you like to tell us more about it?
CS: Yeah, actually we’ve been working on it for a while; we’re almost done. We might release a song this week just to get some new music out there. I think it’s the most rocking and heaviest album we’ve ever done. We’ve got a lot of classics going on that I thought Mad Dog and Chuck would really dig. Those guys just play so well on this album, with their energy and the way that they play—the sound is really heavy and cool.
The Cut: You guys are playing in Pittsburgh at Mr. Smalls and I’m excited for the show. Have you ever played there before?
CS: We love playing Pittsburgh. Mr. Smalls—it’s so creepy there. They used to have us sleep there, but they don’t let bands stay there anymore. It’s an old church and upstairs where the band quarters are, there are old confessional booths and crosses everywhere. You’re basically staying where the priests used to sleep. It’s got an interesting vibe, definitely haunted. It’s cool though.
The Cut: It also says on your website that your dream is to hop freights to gigs around the country. Are you planning on going through with this at some point?
CS: Well, I hop freights in this country quite a bit. I’ve talked to people, a guy who’s done it in France a bunch, but it was like 15 years ago. I’m not sure what it’s like over there. Something about breaking the law in other countries is a little bit more intimidating than doing it here. We did jump trains when we toured with Rage Against the Machine out in Colorado a couple of years ago, which pretty much was my dream. Just the other day we jumped off of a train into a river, which was another little dream of mine. I guess the thing with jumping trains is that you can’t really have a schedule because sometimes you’re in the train yard for like 30 hours just sitting in the woods waiting for your train to come. If people were cool with waiting 30 hours at certain venues that would be cool, either that or they just come to the train yards and we play for them there—as long as they’re okay with me taking off mid-song.
