Pitchfork: Mates Of State Lay Low, Plot Spring 2004 Tour

Mates Of State Lay Low, Plot Spring 2004 Tour
Crossing fingers for promotion to Masters or even Chief Engineers of state

[Posted Tuesday, December 9th, 2003 06:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

San Francisco's Mates of State do love the road, but everyone needs a break now and then. Well, sort of a break-- and not a very long one, actually. Pitchfork contacted the Mates' Jason Hammel by e-mail, and he filled us in on their winter plans: "We've recently returned home from an eight-week tour and are getting our minds straight again. We're almost there. We're gonna begin writing some music before we head out [again]." So give them most of December and January (minus a New Years Eve show with Versus-- you bring the Cinzano), and they'll be back out on the road to you. Here's the dates:

12-31 Brooklyn, NY - North 6 (w/ Versus)
01-23 Manoa, HI - University of Hawaii (w/ Thermals)
01-29 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
01-30 Portland, WA - Nocturnal
01-31 Vancouver, British Columbia - TBA
02-02 Bellingham, WA - Western Washington University
02-04 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
02-06 Los Gatos, CA - Outhouse
02-07 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
02-08 Sacramento, CA - TBA
02-10 San Diego, CA - Casbah
02-11 Riverside, CA - UC Riverside
02-12 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
02-13 Phoenix, AZ - Modified
02-14 El Paso, TX - TBA
02-16 Denton, TX - Hailey's
02-17 Austin, TX - Mercury
02-18 Houston, TX - Mary Jane's
02-20 Atlanta, GA - Echo Lounge
02-21 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
02-22 Washington, D.C. - TBA

Despite the fact that MTV apparently doesn't see Mates of State as the next Dashboard Confessional (it's all photogenics, people), they're making videos for songs off of this year's Team Boo like it ain't no thing. Following the MTV-rejected video for "Ha Ha," they recently posted a clip for "Fluke" on the official Mates of State website and reported that a video for "Gotta Get a Problem" is in progress. Can the exclusive DVD collection be far behind?

According to Hammel, the Mates plan to record and release something other than a full-length (read: EP) in 2004, then start work on the follow-up to Team Boo-- all of which will, presumably, be bookended by more touring. The benefits of having two people that live together in your band cannot be underestimated. "Hey, wanna record an album or something?" "Sure, just let me finish the laundry first." Or something like that.