LITTLE ROCK — If Bill and Hillary Clinton changed careers and became musicians, their search for a catchy name might have led them to consider Mates of State but, alas, that name is already taken. The husband/ wife team of Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner has been calling themselves Mates of State since 1997, back during the Clinton administration.
That’s not to say that Mates of State is a political band or overly concerned with diplomacy and other matters of state. Rather, Hammel and Gardner have what is considered an alternative, or, alternately, an indie pop band. The couple, who met as students at the University of Kansas, have released seven albums of melodic music that’s big on their harmonious singing. Both play keyboards at times, and Hammel does some drumming, while Gardner plays some guitar. Song topics are about love and relationships and other aspects of life.
“We are a keyboard band, primarily, but we bring two other musicians when we’re onstage,” Hammel explains. “We have a guitarist and someone who plays trumpet and keyboards, so we usually have a twin keyboard thing going, even when I’m on drums.”
The Mates of State are touring to promote their newest album, Mountaintops, released Sept. 13. The couple have a couple of others on the road with them: their daughters, Magnolia, 7, and June Elizabeth, 3.
“Magnolia is in the second grade, and goes out with us for a week, then she’s back in school,” Hammel says. “She goes to a Montessori school, and they send a lot of work out on the road with her. Kori has a blog, Band on the Diaper Run, about the challenges of touring with kids.”
Home base for the Mates is Stratford, Conn., near Gardner’s family and close to New York, so the couple can do career-enhancing things like appear on the Late Show With David Letterman, which they did Oct. 10. They’ve also appeared on the children’s show Yo Gabba Gabba and toured with alternative bands Spoon, Death Cab for Cutie, Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday.
When Hammel and Gardner met as college students in Lawrence, both were in bands and other relationships but recognized that they had chemistry.
“Kori played a solo show I was at, and from the first time we talked, it was love at first sight,” Hammel recalls. “We got to know each other while we were dumping the other people we were involved with. Kori told me I needed to e-mail her, so I went out and got an e-mail account, back when that was not very common, so I could do just that. We were afraid to play music together at first, afraid it would diminish what we had, until we opened up our guitar cases and saw that our guitars were almost identical. One of us had a maroon and tan model, and the other one had a tan and maroon version.
“It just clicked immediately and we started singing together and writing and got married in 2001.”
Though Gardner had once been a teacher and Hammel had intended to go to medical school, they decided making music together was the future they would pursue, and Hammel says any couple who believe in what they are doing can also make a go of what some consider a hard row to hoe, or at least a challenging lifestyle.
“You can make anything work and balance it out properly if you want it bad enough, even with kids,” he says. “We go out on tour, primarily after we put out a new album, and then we’re home writing, working on the next one. And we still have time for other pursuits, like karate, movies and literature. I’ve been reading about Buddhism, and I also smoke cigars and drink whiskey. And we’re still determined to take the world by storm.”
Music
Mates of State
Opening act: The Generationals
8 p.m. Sunday, Revolution Room, 300 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock
Admission: $12 advance; $15 day of show
(501) 823-0090
revroom.com
Weekend, Pages 38 on 10/27/2011