Albany’s State Champs spent their Thanksgiving in Las Vegas, holding a family dinner with their crew. The day off from their Fall Tour, one that took them from the East Coast, with an appearance in Brooklyn in November and all the way out west by late November, was a welcome respite from cross-country travel in post-pandemic America.
State Champs return home to Albany to close the tour out at Empire Live on Saturday, December 10, with a sold out show and support from Young Culture, Hunny, Save Face and Between You & Me opening up the night. Dubbed Frozen Fest, the pop-punk scene is alive and well with State Champs leading the way for the next wave.
Speaking with guitarist Tyler Szalkowski and drummer Evan Ambrosio via Zoom the night before Thanksgiving before the band’s show at The Union in Salt Lake City, Las Vegas was a jumping off point, given the group having a first hand experience at When We Were Young Festival, held a month prior at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. High winds forced the cancellation of Day 1 of the festival, leaving a sour taste in many fans mouths, despite safety of fans being paramount, especially in a city like Las Vegas.
The band was unloading at 10am when the found ou their se was cancelled. “It was a massive bummer, many thought it was too good to be true given the lineup, but the cancellation of Day 1 was needed due to high winds and fan safety,” said Szalkowski. “It’s the last thing you want to do as a promoter, let alone as a band. I can’t see anyone dying from the selfish desire to see music.” This passionate defense of a festival that was at first criticized for canceling the day is on point – this was no ‘emo Fyre Fest’ as Ambrosio best put it. In a town with hundreds of hotel options and nightlife around every corner, the band and fans made due.
They attempted to come up with a last minute show, but playing a show just to play a show wasn’t a worthwhile option, especially when all bands on the Friday lineup was looking to put on a show. With options limited and bands they were looking to pair up with for an impromptu show – one booked and announced mere hours before doors – State Champs came up with a better idea. Tweeting out a message to fans to meet them outside O’Shea’s – near The Linq, centrally located on the Vegas Strip – and this meetup turned into a large gathering for about an hour, much to the chagrin of security, despite fans being peaceful and there to hang with their idols in a setting that was a rare opportunity for all parties. Fans from around the world who were bummed about the cancellation were happy to meet a band they traveled far to see.
When Day 1 of When We Were Young fest got cancelled, we decided to do an impromptu fan meet up! Thanks to everyone who came and showed love 💛💛💛 pic.twitter.com/W7ShS4NZUw
— State Champs 👑 (@State_Champs) October 25, 2022
Still in town for the weekend, the band and crew were able to check out the festival and see bands from their formative years, with Evan noting “I was impressed with how it was, walking around saying ‘I know that song, and that song. It also made you feel safe, with more security and scanning an RFID chip to get through access points.”
Looking back on their Vans Warped Tour days with the experience of When We Were Young and other festival appearances for State Champs, Szalkowski reflected on the basicness for artists who were appearing at the many Warped side stages. “Warped was like a free for all with a mixed bag of folks and poppy artists nearby, the band playing Super Smash Brothers on a 55” screen TV in our 10×10 tent backstage.” For Evan, “Warped is still to this day my favorite tour,” with the band needing to be compact enough to set up, perform and break down quickly so you can get out to discover bands that were on the same footing.
Live performances these days for State Champs are all about keeping the sound, energy and performance steady for each night of the tour.
“There’s a lot of integrity in being a band, it has to be authentic and real, One day we said ‘fuck it, let’s be a professional band,’ and you want it to carry over live. At one point we dove into live rhythm tracks to have more control over our performance and the layers that helped us sound more professional. All the touring bands had a similar set up and we’re using tracks and a number of amps on stage. Why limit ourselves when we have all these assets at our disposal? We want it to sound like the biggest and best band, better than the studio.”
Tyler Szalkowski
By 2019, the full band had in-ear monitors, and lost the live cabinets from the stage, and ceded more control to FOH, keeping the rig fully self-contained so that none of our stuff changes from day to day. “We don’t show up with an experimental groove, we bring it all – gear, consoles, mics – to guarantee sonic consistency,” said Ambrosio.
Factoring in the setlist to the cohesive sound has the band looking steps ahead with each choice to determine ‘What does this song do, and how does the song before and after affect it,” according to Szalkowski. Keeping the setlist consistent this fall tour helps to keep the flow of the show going – although they had a rotating setlist in the summer.
“This tour is the favorite one we’ve ever done. We’ve extended some sections and added new arrangements and perform a medley of old songs that satisfies fans looking for earlier work. Having toured with pop acts that did cool things that we wanted to do, we brought in LED screens to make the show more of a live music experience.”
Evan Ambrosio
But as they push into their 30s, the angst they shared through their music once before has changed in inspiration, not in message. “We’re still pissed off about stuff. Not borderline teenage angst; bad stuff still happens to us, our hearts get broken by people (and events)” shared Szalkowski. “We always have a bit of an edge, we were the band of ‘something sucks, but it’ll get better, life is worth living.”
Avoiding being disingenuous or cringe and authentic in performance – as well as songwriting – allows the band to allow fans to create their own interpretation of a song. Ambrosio sums up where State Champs’ mindset is “We focus on life as we experience it, not an event we didn’t have a part in. We write about things that stay true to what we experience, and not try to jump on a trend of ultimate sadness or TikTok videos, so we can maintain authenticity and stay true to what the band has built up.”
State Champs’ sold out Frozen Fest at Empire Live takes place this Saturday, December 10.
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