Placid State is a genre defying group from Cleveland, Ohio who I saw play at The Winchester a few months back. I was genuinely so inspired by their set, I knew I had to set up a conversation with them to get a better understanding of their creative process.
Gavin: I had seen you guys at the Winchester with my buddy RC, and RC also is with Voltage Live. He's our audio director, and I think his friend's friend is what was with the headliner group, Khandria, Amazing. I mean that was such a good show that night. But on a completely different note, I like to kind of throw a curveball question to start things out with. So if you guys were an appliance, what appliance would you be and why?
Jeff: Oh wow, that's a really good question.
Omar: Appliance as in like, could you define appliance for me again? Sorry.
Gavin: Oh yeah, no, you're good. Just like, I don't know, like a washing machine, a toaster, like, you know, that kind of thing.
Omar: I'd be a spork.
Gavin: Interesting, why spork?
Omar: I think I'd be a spork because, you know, you can, the spork is kind of this renowned utensil. You can scoop things up, you can also take a stab at a lot of stuff, and I feel like that as a musician, I think being a spork or being a jack of multiple trades of sorts is very beneficial for in the long run.
Gavin: That's a really great answer. Yeah, I mean, like, just the more versatile you are, the more opportunities you can get. And like, not just in music, but in life, man. Like, any kind of flexibility that you can offer is gonna, like, take you to the next level. So that's a good answer. Yeah, I love that.
Gavin: What about you, Josh?
Josh: I would use chopsticks in more ways than one. But low-key, if you think about it, chopsticks are really hard to learn, like, when you're first using them. But if you know how to use them, they're the best utensil. You can pick up anything. I low-key relate to that. Like, whenever I start learning something new, I'm always really bad at it. But you give me enough time, and I'll be really good at it.
Gavin: That's also a good answer, because that just shows commitment and willingness to get committed to something, which is pretty far and few between these days. So yeah, those are some good answers. I appreciate just the ingenuity there. So kind of moving on from just the silly questions I ask everyone, I saw your concert at the Winchester. I loved it. I loved every second of it. I thought the songs were cool. I thought the delivery, the stage presence, I really thought you guys put on a great show. I've been listening to Bleeder a lot on streaming platforms and stuff, because that's just a cool song. So start, I don't know a whole lot about your group aside from what I've seen so far. So I'd love to kind of get the story about like, you know, how did Plastic State start? Like, what's the lore? What's the backstory?
Jeff: So me and Omar, actually, when we were in like, seventh grade in like middle school, we had a class together and we both related a lot on like our love for heavy metal, grunge and alternative rock music. So we were like, “yo, let's learn guitar and start a band”. And that was almost eight years ago now. But we consistently practiced for like so long, just the two of us. But it was really hard to, you know, find a drummer and a bass player. For a brief period of time, Omar actually hopped on bass. And then we met Josh, who was a grade above us at school, and we would jam with him. But it went a little south for a bit, especially during COVID when there was just nothing to do until about last summer., I was going through a lot. I was going through some of the worst anxiety I had in my life. And it was hard for me to go out. And Omar was like, “yo, dude, let me take you to the show in the Cleveland area.” And I was like, you know, let's do it. And kind of there. We were just like, yo, let's get the band back together. And then that same show, Omar introduced me to Evan which was really cool. And, you know, I was like, “yo, I'll play bass.” And then ever since like, about like a year and a half ago now, we just kind of locked in started jamming consistently and working and reworking on
old songs and trying to just, you know, play, get out there and play. It's been a lot of fun.
Gavin: Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, like, just kind of just brief, like tangent, you mentioned reworking song from like a while ago, you know, the band Junco in Columbus?
Jeff: I am not familiar.
Gavin: Gotcha. I used to live in Columbus before I moved up here. But I was one of the founding members of that group. And like, just I don't know, kind of a funny story - I had this song I wrote when I was like, in ninth grade. And, you know, they were just constantly asking me like, “yo, like, Gavin, you need to write a song like, you haven't written any songs.” So I just brought that one to them. And yeah, they loved it. But no, anyway, I like just reworking stuff from the past, I think it’s just fun and sentimental. But it's been a long time.
Jeff: Yeah, I actually wanted to ask you, you said the name of the band was Junco - Is that a reference? A Nana reference? The name?
Gavin: Oh, no, I know what you're talking about. But no, it’s not. But circling back to the group’s history, were you all always in the Cleveland area? Or like in the Cleveland scene?
Omar: Yes, me, Josh and Jeff, we all went to school together. So we're all from Solon. Evan, correct me if I'm wrong, but you live in North Ridgeville, right?
Evan: Yep. I'm a Ridgebilly. I'm west of the west side of Cleveland. I have to drive far for practice, but it's worth it. I love those guys. I think the epicenter, if you would call it that for music around the area for all of us, is in Cleveland. That's where we see all the bands that we've become friends with that we play around with a ton. And, you know, it's only like, it's only a half hour away from where me, Jeff and Josh are at. I don't usually mind a half hour drive. But I consider ourselves a Cleveland band for that reason.
Gavin Going like the next question I had was about that. What kind of experiences have you had with, you know, just discovering places, venues, other groups? What's that been like?
Omar: I think it's been a lot of fun, especially like, you know, really getting to know the area just from playing around there a ton. I feel like the spot that we played the most, I would say is Brothers Lounge. We usually get one bar area. And the interesting thing about that is that I, um, I work over at the Rock Hall. And it's like, you know, that's kind of its own little music community of its own. And it's great, talking about music is my favorite thing ever. When I would talk to some of my co-workers who would come out to my shows, especially, you know, some of my co-workers are in their 30s. And so they remember when Brothers Lounge was exclusively like, a jazz bar or a blues bar, and they never had any punk or metal or hardcore shows. And, you know, like just today, my co-worker was telling me like, you know, his mind was blown, walking into our show and seeing people like moshing and crowd surfing and slam dancing. And because, you know, like, for forever, Brothers Lounge was not really like, consider a hardcore punk or metal venue, at least for the wine bar could be different for the main stage. I think that that's the first thing that pops in my head about like, you know, because I wouldn't have known the history of Brothers Lounge in that regard. If it wasn't for you know, what, like, these other experienced musicians were telling me just from coming to the show, and that they've known this area longer than I've ever had, because, you know, part of being in this band and playing in Cleveland a lot is like, what we were just talking about with this question, like, what have we learned about the city and whatnot? And that's the first thing that popped into my head.
Gavin: Yeah, definitely. I mean, that's cool. You mentioned Brothers Lounge. I've only been there once I saw Dogs Run Free if you know those guys.I would have never guessed that, you know, there was a time where it was more like just kind of jazz and blues dominated. I mean, I can definitely see that. It’s a very cozy venue. I think it's neat, just like, just things kind of change with the times and how, you know, places will adapt to like what people want, what kind of shows people want to put on. I think that's always just a very neat, naturally occurring thing.
Omar: Absolutely. Yeah. Dogs Run Free is a great band, too.
Gavin:I love their original songs. I love what they're doing. So that's a great segue. Actually, my next question was, what would you say your songwriting process is, and what makes you inspired collectively?
Jeff: So, um, definitely, there's a lot of circumstances where one of us will kind of have an idea musically. We just kind of bring it to the table. And it's kind of like, we have a really great chemistry as a band from jamming with many people, all of us have like, stated like, that there's just something special going on where it's like, with these guys, Josh, Omar and Evan, I know, at least with me, whenever I bring up like a guitar part, or a vocal part, it's like they put in exactly how like I imagined it, if not better. And it's like, perfect, like everyone just kind of brings what they have to the table and creates like it changes an idea into a song and produces a product. But songwriting specifically, like, we try to stay as original as possible. If anything sounds remotely close to anything we've ever heard before, and somebody points it out, it's like, okay, scrap that, move on to something else. Because we don't want to, you know, follow anything. We want to be different. We want to sound like Placid State. We don't want to be labeled as anything. And then I know, I can't speak for everybody else. But I write pretty much all the lyrics. And I know, like, music for me has always been like, a very great venting opportunity. And it's like, if I'm struggling with something, like, throughout time, I've just kind of, you know, wrote it down and try to use like poetry to convey that. And then these guys have helped turn that, like poem into something beautiful. And, you know, I, these guys, they're amazing. Those three are the best group of musicians, you know, in the world.
Gavin: I think just the fact that you guys can all collaborate and almost read each other's minds, knowing exactly what everyone is wanting to create is incredible. And, you know, just bring that into reality. That's the best thing in the world. The thing is when I was with both of those bands I mentioned, I’m not much of a lyricist. I've always really struggled with that my entire life. I'll sit down and like, just try it. And I'm like, No, I don't like the way this sounds. But when I worked with people who did write awesome, amazing lyrics, and were great songwriters, you know, my role in the groups I was in, because I'm a guitar player, I just kind of, you know, just color in the lines and just kind of write stuff, whether it was a solo or a part, I felt reflected, you know, just the overall vibe and the meaning of the song. Well, and like, yeah, you know, just being able to consolidate everyone's skills and talents on the one thing where it just works, you know, it's a machine and everyone's happy with it. That's the best thing in the world.
Omar: I really, I absolutely agree with that feeling. I think, you know, to add on to all that, like, our influences, I feel like we really meet in the middle, like we have this perfect medium, where all our influences, whether it's punk, metal, hardcore, the various sub genres within those three mentioned genres, we all see eye to eye with a lot of the bands that we're into. And there's kind of crossover with, you know, the stuff that we're into, like I mentioned, but on my end, the lead guitar parts that I write for the band, I'm kind of obsessed with really good hooks. I love like, so much so where, you know, if Jeff brings in a guitar part, or Evan brings in a really cool bass part, or Josh brings a really awesome, like drum fill, or a drum pattern, like, all right, and you know, I can't speak for everybody, but at least on my end, you can kind of start to hear like, you know, just from the music that you've listened to the bands that you really favor, and all your favorite hooks throughout the years of listening to music, your pattern seeking brain starts to like, think of stuff that would go really well on top of it. And, you know, sometimes song ideas just kind of strike me out of nowhere. One of our songs, Poison Dress, I remember being in class. And, you know, I kind of tend to get distracted just by that just by thinking about song ideas, thinking about potential good hooks or catchy melodies and stuff like that. And one might kind of hit me out of nowhere. And, you know, I had the bass part, like in my head, and or what what, what I wanted to show to Evan, for him to play. And obviously, he built off of it amazingly. But it was like this, this guitar melody in this bass riff that immediately struck me in class one day, I had to go to the bathroom, just to hum it into my voice. And I'm like, there was nobody there. Thank God I had to double check, you know, like, okay, like, we're good. And I still have it on my phone. It's just this really, like, funny sounding voice memo of me like, trying to awkwardly quietly hum this. But in the long run, um, you know, I showed it to the guys. They really liked it. And we built this whole thing out of it. And it's just it just blows my mind how that works. I'm obsessed with great hooks, great melodies, great, great songs, right? I love all that. We share so much passion for this, the same kind of stuff. And a lot of overlap with a lot of the sub genres and stuff. And it's just like, it just works. It's awesome how that works, you know?
Josh: Yeah, I think Omar, really, you really nailed it on the head when you talked about like, whenever somebody else in the band starts playing something, then like, at least personally, for me, as a drummer, like, almost immediately, I can hear a drum part in my head that I think would go along to that part really well. Like whether that's Omar playing a lead line, or Jeff playing something sick on the rhythm guitar, or Evan playing a bass line. It's like, I always try to listen to a lot of different music. And the main thing I listen to is the drums. And so when I'm playing drums, I always have like, five or six different drummers in the back of my head. And I always try to pull influences from them. Whether it be like a fill from Abe Cunningham from Deftones. I saw Deftones with Omar the other day. It was awesome. But yeah, like, personally, the way I write my drum parts is like, the initial thing is that, you know, that instinctive part that comes to my head when I hear someone else playing something. But my parts tend to change a lot over time. Because I'm sort of a perfectionist when it comes to my own playing. And when I'm playing, I'm always, you know, really deep in thought about what I'm doing. And if I notice something that I could change, then I like, take a mental note of it. Next time we play it, I make that change. And when I make a mistake, I get really upset with myself. I hate doing that. And so like, I don't know, a combination of those leads to me trying to play really perfectly. And I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. But I feel like it's been working out pretty well so far.
Gavin: Yeah, I mean, that's the right approach for everything. I mean, like, you know, just perfectionism is normal and creative things. And I think that just shows a commitment to wanting to, you know, always be better, always make sure you're happy with what you're making. That's the way it should be, I think. So you know, you're totally in the right for that. And, you know, like, Omar, you mentioned humming, something that came to mind and like in your phone, I've done that also. There's been times where I'm like, going to sleep. And I'm like, seconds away from REM sleep. I'm like, wait, hang on, I have an idea. I need to like, you know, play it on my acoustic guitar to my phone ASAP or I'll never remember it again. And like, that's happened to me like, a million times. I just thought it was funny you mentioned that because like, that's such a specific thing that only a guitar or bass player will ever experience. So I feel very seen in that, in that regard.
Omar: I love it. It's, it's, um, yeah, no, it's, it's especially that thing, you know, just the urgency of, oh, my God, if I don't like immediately record this or write this down or something, it's gonna be gone forever. I view music as a spiritual thing. And it's almost like the heavens above of music, just kind of just like, plant a little thing in your head.
Gavin: It's totally divine intervention. You know for a fact when something hits differently. And, you know, like this, when this just appears in my mind. And I don't have any, like, any way to scrutinize. I don't have like, I don't have any notes, like I want to make this thing a reality and get it out of my mind. That's something special. I mean, that doesn't happen to me very often. And when it does, it's like, I need to, like, you know, make sure I have it saved. Yeah, no, that's something I've experienced many times. And there have been times to where I'm like, Oh, my God, no, I'm just so tired. Like, I don't feel like getting up. I'll just, well, I was like, I'll think of something like this. And then, you know, the next day to the next thing, like, I'm like, Wow, yeah. You know, I can never replicate this because I didn't. I forgot it. I simply forgot it.
Omar: You know, like, um, the other thing that like, that I just thought of in that regard about like, you know, just the magic of a song idea, like coming out of nowhere. And then like, you know, if you don't have, if you don't have data just goes away and stuff. But it's almost like, it's almost like seeing the future almost or like having some weird like, like, I don't know if telekinesis is the right word. But like, obviously, we've been, you know, the song that I had in mind that I was just talking about, like, you know, we played it in gigs is one of my favorite songs like to play in our set. And like, when I had that idea initially, like, and when we brought when we came together to finish writing the song and stuff, it was exactly like what Jeff was saying earlier, it was exactly how you picture it in your head. And it's almost like, you know, we're playing it live. We see like the audience reception, the audience bouncing off that energy that's coming through the music, like, with the moshing, the slam dancing, crowd surfing, all of that. And it's almost like, I don't know, it's almost like, like, there was a little whisper from the future. Like, if you don't write this right now, like, you're gonna miss this out like this. You know, miss it, you know, like, it's cool.
Gavin: That's all that I had now. So I think now's a good time to maybe wrap it up. But before I do, I just wanted to ask like, what's next for Placid State as far as gigs, you know, upcoming stuff, any projects or anything? And any other messages you want to tell the world?
Jeff: Show tomorrow at Brothers Lounge. Actually, we'll be opening but it's with a lot of great bands. And our next single Diary is dropping very soon. We just got the first mix back and we're gonna make like a couple just slight changes in that and pick a date. But we're looking good for October and the future is looking very bright right now. So that's awesome.
Gavin: I'm really happy for you guys. You know, I really enjoyed your set at Winchester, that's a dope venue. And, you know, like I said, every time I you know, I see a group live and interact with them. I always have a newfound respect for them. So you know, you definitely have a new fan now and you'll definitely be seeing me at your future shows. You know, really excited to see what's in store for you all.
Omar: Thank you so much. The fact that music is such a powerful thing, where when you bring it together and it all falls into the right place, when you meet the right people, and you get the right audience reception… it’s been magical that we’ve been able to have that effect on people. I never take it for granted. This is what it's all about. That’s part of my goal at least, I don’t want to speak for everyone else, but I just want to keep making people connect the way I’ve connected with my favorite music. We just did our full set with WRUW Live and Local, full 45 minute set of our original songs… as far as goals go, I’d love to get all those original songs out into the world for people to hear eventually.
We closed the meeting in agreement that music is all about inspiration, processing emotions, and bringing ideas into fruition. There’s no question that the work Placid State brings into reality accomplishes each of these. I was very impressed with their commitment to reach those goals - Placid State is truly a rising band to keep on your radar.
Placid State’s music can be streamed here.
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