Hi, I’m State Shirt.
My real name is not State Shirt (it’s Ethan Tufts), but I do wear a lot of state shirts. I spend as much time as humanly possible writing, recording, and producing music. And creating music videos. And being a nerd.
I’ve been told my music is kinda like if The Postal Service, Radiohead, Beck, Elbow, and Folk Implosion all got in a bar fight then make up over frosty Newcastle Ales.
All of my music is open source and available for free. Download any or all of my songs, share them with friends, use them for youtube videos, grab the source files and create your own remixes or mash-ups.
I don’t have a marketing department or a publicity team. So if you like what you hear, please spread the word and consider buying a CD, MP3, or a t-shirt. It allows me to continue to make music. And I appreciate that so much.
Infrequently Asked Things
What music have you released?
I’ve released one EP, three albums, and a shit ton of songs created because of Songfight, the site that inspired me to start writing and recording music after a long-ass hiatus.
You can buy MP3s and good old-fashioned CDs right here on stateshirt.com. You can also find my music on iTunes, CDBaby and Amazon, as well as other giant corporate retailers, but it’s best for me if you buy stuff right here!
So, it looks like music is available for free on this site? How the hell does that help you?
I love to make music, and I like to share it. I’ve found that making my music available for free has helped get it out to people who would have never found out about it otherwise. And I’ve been lucky enough that many of you come back to the site and share your money in return (Speaking of artists that give away music for free, you really should check out Brad Sucks and Jonathan Coulton.)
Ok then, I can just grab music for free?
Yes, they’re here for free. Though obviously I’d be very grateful if you considered purchasing it or bought a t-shirt. Your support will help me continue to make music. Even if it’s only a small amount. You get stuff and I can continue to make music. Works out well, right?
How can I help spread the word?
Tell your friends about State Shirt. Tell them to subscribe to my youtube page. Put my songs on mix CDs and give them to your friends. Play State Shirt music on your podcast. Link to stateshirt.com from your blog. Sign up for the State Shirt mailing list!
Can I make remixes of State Shirt songs?
Absofuckinlutely! All of my original songs are available as MP3, FLAC and WAV source files, ready for your remixes, mash-ups and crazy ideas. This includes every separate instrument, loop and vocal part recorded for each song. Grab them and go crazy. Post your remixes on ccMixter and be sure to send me a link, and I’ll also post them here.
Can I use your song in my student film, youtube video, podcast?
Yes yes! And please show it to me when you’re done. All State Shirt songs are licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial Share Alike Creative Commons license. This means you can use my songs in a non-commercial use as long as you #1 – credit State Shirt and link back to stateshirt.com, and #2 – don’t use the music to make money. More about Creative Commons here.
Of course. Send them to your friends. Tell them to come to stateshirt.com and buy a t-shirt or a fancy sticker.
How do you do all of that live looping stuff?
I guess just a lot of practice. And two Echoplex Digital Pros. And luck.
Go to the Music page, click on any ‘info’ link which will take you to the song info page which includes lyrics.
Some of my faves: Sebadoh, Drive Like Jehu, Subtle, Hayden, Radiohead, Coltrane, The Postal Service, Crowded House, Beck, The Cure, Moby, Mogwai, The Folk Implosion, Elbow, Death Cab for Cutie, Duran Duran, Peter Murphy, DJ Shadow, Tiger Lou, Elliott Smith, Pinback, Swans, Jason Falkner, Low, Doves, Blur, Neil Young, Nick Drake, Toad the Wet Sprocket, John Fahey, Kool Keith, Igor Stravinsky, Edgard Varese, Godflesh, Neurosis, Fugazi. And here are a few friends you should check out: Matthew Larsen, Brad Sucks, c.layne, MC Frontalot, Scott Andrew, Parts & Labor.
What gear do you use in the studio and for live shows?
Studio Setup
- Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Reason 4, Line 6 POD Farm
- Macbook Pro
- Digidesign Digi 002, Mackie Onyx 800R
- Yamaha T116 upright piano
- A crapload of effects pedals, Echoplex Digital Pro, Strymon El Capistan, Line 6 DL4, Strymon blueSky, Boss DF-2, etc
- Fender Toronado, Peavey Predator, P.O.S. Peavey bass, Gibson acoustic, Bogner Alchemist
- Pieced together 1980s Slingerland/Ludwig/Pearl/Zildjian/Sabian drum kit and cymbals. Though I have my eyes on a nice new Pork Pie kit.
- Kids toys, sound books, Casio SK8, Yamaha PSS140, Korg MicroKorg, what else am i forgetting… and yes, I did sell my Casio DG-10 digital guitar. When Flight of The Conchords became popular I figured I’d just let it be “their thing”
Live Setup
- Fender Toronado
- A couple beat up Gibson Echoplex Digital Pros for live looping
- Absolutely horrible and slightly broken Behringer FCB1010, soon to be replaced with a Roland
- Strymon El Capistan, Line 6 DL4, Bogner Alchemist, a bunch of wack effects
- Yamaha PSS140 digital wrecking machine
- beat up Tapco mixer, Shure SM58
- About 1000 cables, chewing gum, scotch tape and a prayer
Tell me some other useless facts.
- State Shirt isn’t really State Shirt’s name. It’s something other than State Shirt. But he does wear a lot of State Shirts.
- Bought a keyboard in 5th grade, brought it to school and got made fun of. Went back home and recorded 1000 goofy seven second long songs on portable cassette player.
- Forms a wack Phil Collins inspired light-rock band with friends from grade school. Plays the Easthampton, MA fall festival among other fine establishments.
- Buys a $200 drum set, breaks a lot of cymbals. As a drummer, bassist and guitarist, he plays in a death metal band, a light rock band, and an indie emocore band.
- Begs for and borrows music gear to record indie rock songs in his bedroom. Comes home from high school and records nearly every day. Records “The Ethan Album” and gives the cassette to friends. Goes to work at Caldor in the evenings.
- Gets a small scholarship and attends Hartt School of Music in Connecticut. Drops out of school and delivers pizza.
- Goes on tour with noise-punk band. They play clubs and dives all across the east coast. Band calls it quits, back to delivering pizza.
- Relocates to Los Angeles.
- Moves back to Massachusetts and works at a car wash. He doesn’t record anything for a year. Gets drunk.
- Relocates to Los Angeles.
- Gets sucked into a mind-numbing day job and isn’t heard from for a while.
- SongFight inspires State Shirt to start writing and recording songs again. Songs are received well and he keeps recording.
- Saves up some money, self-releases New Planet and Don’t Die and people actually buy them.
- Surprised by the shitload of radio airplay across the US, celebrates with a frosty Sam Adams.
- Disappears once again into obscurity.
- Wastes away at a droning, mind-numbing day job for years.
- Slowly finds spare moments to record This Is Old
- Wonders if leaving the pizza delivery industry was a bad idea
Is it true your songs have been on MTV’s Teen Mom?
Yes, this is true. No, I am not nor have I ever been a teen mom.
Is it true that “This is Old” was featured in My Super Psycho Sweet 16 Part 2?
Why yes, this is true as well. It’s actually a pretty good slasher film!
Do you have another bio that is written better than all of this FAQ garbage?
State Shirt is Ethan Tufts, a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist that writes and records all of his music in a tiny bedroom studio, filled with a myriad of worn instruments and cheap electronics.
He is known for his hand-crafted, diverse and often unpredictable indietronic style, imaginative songwriting and bedroom production, integrating live looping in both his recordings and live performances. All of his songs are open source, providing raw materials for hundreds of remix artists to create new works based on his source tracks. Creative Commons said “State is a master songwriter who writes and performs in an energetic and ridiculously catchy way”.
The SongFight website inspired him to begin recording as State Shirt in 2001. Since then he has released one EP and three albums. His latest album Let’s Get Bloody, released on December 6, 2011, deals with desperate stories of domestic violence and abuse.
“It started with a close friend who had been abused and beaten for years, tried to kill herself and failed.” State Shirt says. “I’m so glad she failed. But it made me realize that this cycle of violence gets passed down from those that hate where their lives have ended up.”
All of State Shirt’s music is available for free on his website, stateshirt.com.
