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State Line Empire are definitely going to be a band for you to watch out for in 2016! With the upcoming release of their new EP, Tres Leches they are bringing back the raw honest way rock should be made, through analog and letting the music speak for itself. We are excited for what is in store for them We recently had the chance to chat with guitarist, Cat and are pleased to bring that interview to you here:

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Music Junkie Press: Thank you Cat for taking the time out to talk with us here at Music Junkie Press. We are excited about your upcoming release of your new EP. Tres Leches. Can you tell us about how the title came about?

Cat: You know it was an idea that Tyson had come up with that just kind of stuck. There will be three tracks on the EP plus kind of like a hidden track, that we have reworked. Just with the three songs and when you see the artwork too, it kind of all goes together to make a cool package.

Artwork for Tres Leches:

Music Junkie Press: Yes, we actually wanted to ask you about the neat artwork that you guys have been putting up. Who does your design work?

Cat: You know I do a lot of the design myself. So I would say some of it is from me and then I also work with another designer, Carin out from Las Angeles, who has been with us from the beginning. So you have seen some of her work on the very first release that we did, Octane, that we did with Slash. She did the art for that and she has helped us out throughout all these different releases and everything. For me, I am also a painter and designer and everything else, and everyone I think in the band like Jay, Tyson and even Pete, we all kind of come from this very visual type world. So that is definitely a super important element that we like to incorporate into the music. Just that sense of visual. It is something that we like to kind of play with and just try to come up with stuff that we like, and we hope that other people dig it too.

Music Junkie Press: That is so true. I think it is great that you guys bring a whole experience to it. I know a lot of people don’t do that and it is great to see that you do it, and it embodies the music. People capture it and I like that you guys put the time to do that. Now on the EP, you guys have always been this hard working band who literally do it yourself and you have full control over what you do. How is that for you guys to have full control over your creative process?

Cat: You know it is really cool, but it is really hard, because one of the things that you have to do is, you have to wear two hats. You have to wear the hat of the artist, right. Which means that you want to create as much work as you can, and you want it to have all this stuff in it musically, and you want to keep going and going and going. But what you also have to do is wear the producer’s hat as well. What that means is you have to say to yourself, “Okay we are running out of time and I know that we really want to put even more stuff into it, but if we don’t stop, it won’t ever come out.”

Music Junkie Press: That is so true. You don’t have that person saying, “Okay, we are done.” Of course you area always going to look back at what you wanted to add, different ideas, but doing it yourself, you don’t have that cut-off.

Cat:Yes, it really is challenging and is really challenging when it is just yourself as a a solo artist, but it is even harder when you are working with a group of people. Four people in the band, right, everybody wants to do more, do more, and at a certain point, you have to get everyone on the same page and say, “Hey Guys, it is just not going to make it. We are going to have to do it for the next one.” A perfect example of this is that we had two other tracks that we were originally going to put on this EP but we just ran out of time with it. We could have put them on there, but I don’t, not just me, but the whole band thought that if we were to put the other two songs on there, they wouldn’t have been done as good as they could have been done.

Music Junkie Press: Which is great that you guys didn’t just rush to put them on there. You wanted to make them the right way and of course it also gives us more to look forward to.

Cat: Exactly, but it is hard, it is hard because as an artist, you don’t want to set those limitations on yourself. It is almost like you are schizophrenic. You are just like, “No I want More”, then this other voice comes in like, “No You can’t have it. You have to stop.” It is tough, it’s tough and it takes some practice finding that balance for sure.

Music Junkie Press: Now is there a certain song on the EP that really is more personal for you?

Cat: Ya, I think so. All the songs are great. The one that I think, and I think this is unanimous, the one that really holds the most weight for us, is this new song called We All Float.

Check out the new song, We All Float:

Music Junkie Press: and why is that so special? Did you guys work on that song collaboratively.

Cat: Ya, We did. And the band itself and it’s sound, has been evolving a lot over the last year. And I think that song really represents a turning point for us, musically. It is just a lot more raw and contains a lot more of the different influences that we all have. It comes out in that song. I think it really just represents the new direction of things that are going to be coming from us in the future.

Music Junkie Press: Did you use all of your guitars on the EP or did you find yourself going to that one guitar for it?

Cat: You know, I brought a bunch into the studio. We recorded out in San Rafael, with Davy Vain, which is really cool because he has done a lot of the stuff with Orchid and a long time ago he worked with Death Angel and he just really brought a lot ot the table. So I brought in a bunch of different guitars, the Gibson loaded with EMG 81s and I have also been trying out the new EMG 57/66 set that EMG has been putting out. So we tried a bunch of different guitars and I really just settled in, on the one that I have been playing the most this past year, the Gibson with the racing stripe. That actually is an 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck. And then for amps, it was really simple, that is what was really cool. It was just the guitar right into the amp.

Music Junkie Press: I am really looking forward to it. You guys really went in there to create this raw sound that is coming out and of course refined with your own musical elements.

Cat: Yes, here is what is exciting. This is really, really cool working this way. It was something that we have been working towards and I think this is the first EP for us where it is that first benchmark where we really, I think, have started to get to where we wanted to go. And that is, we went into the studio and we just kept it raw. A lot of the takes are one take, one take drums, we didn’t do any crazy overdubs, or anything like that. We played it like we play it live. So, if there is a guitar line that is going on, like a little lead part. For example in We All Float, there is this little breakdown, and this lead part comes in, it is like this haunting little melodic thing that is happening and you know, we could have, I could have just put in tons of different guitar parts underneath it to support it. But rather than do that, we said you know, let’s just have the bass and drums support it and just have the guitar part, just be there. Kind of like how we do it live. So, we tried and that just set the tone for the EP and we tried to just really do it that way, with just one take, getting the best performance, getting the best tone, and really trying to create this vibe and this groove with this EP. So everything was recorded to tape and there were no fancy plug-ins, it was just what you are hearing, what you are going to hear is what was recorded. It was literally guitar, into an amp, with a microphone set up in front of the cabinets.

Music Junkie Press: That is incredible. That is exactly what we love because when you do it that way, your music brings the emotion with it. Your music speaks on its own and I am excited to hear it. It is just like when you guys play live, you leave it to the music. You guys play and the energy comes out of your music, you don’t need all the other stuff. You guys have everything you need. Exciting.

Cat:Ya, it was a little scary you know at first, but I think once we started doing it, it just started to feel really natural. You know what I mean? It felt like that is how it was supposed to be done.

Music Junkie Press: Yes! You guys are doing it your way and that is great. It seems that so many people are adding so much to their music these days and with all they add, they eventually lose something along the way; the real music. I think it is great to see you guys bring in this raw organic nature to your recording and with it, you bring out more emotion to your music. And when you guys play live, that is where you guys really shine when you capture that emotion on stage.

Cat:Well, thank you.

Music Junkie Press: And everyone can get ready to see you guys live as you have your show coming up on January 9th at Slim’s. That will be the release date for the EP?

Cat: Yes, that will be the release date for the EP, Tres Leches. So we are going to do a limited hard copy run and we will have some hard copies there for sale and then we will have some more for sale at the show we will be doing with Saving Abel in Los Angeles on January 28th at Whisky A GoGo. After that it will be just for digital, on iTunes and other digital retail outlets.

Music Junkie Press: That sounds great. We also saw a teaser that you will be doing a show with Adler. Tell us about that?

Cat: Ya, we are talking with Adler right now. We don’t know if it will be a show, or multiple shows but we are working with them right now and see what will work scheduling. We are planning on doing shows in January and February, and then we are going to take a little break again, and we are actually going to go back into the studio and record the other songs that didn’t make it onto this release. We are going to go in, track those and get those out. Then afte that we will continue doing shows probably through Spring and Summer.

Music Junkie Press: Is there anything else you would like to share with everyone about the EP

Cat: You know, we are really excited for people to hear it. It really is the next benchmark for us and we are really excited and we just hope people dig it.

Music Junkie Press: Thank you Cat and we can’t wait for everyone to check it out!

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We hope to see everyone at Slim’s! Let’s all show our support to these great bands and make it a year of rock! Visit their social media sites and stay up to date so you won’t miss any State Line Empire news.

~ Marisol

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