There are at least eight artists who have used this name:
1. A drum and bass duo from New Zealand
2. A rock band from Denmark
3. A hardcore band from New York, United States
4. A rock band from Luxembourg
5. An EBM band from Sweden
6. A hip hop band from Oregon, United States
7. A rock band from Scotland
8. A garage rock band from Delaware, United States
1) New Zealand Drum n Bass legends!
- BIO -
Hailing from Auckland, New Zealand, State of Mind are the duo of Stu Maxwell and Patrick Hawkins.
Since 2005 State of Mind have been notoriously prolific producers releasing on a broad spectrum of drum and bass labels. Material can be found on the shelves via CIA Recordings, Subtitles Records, Shogun Audio, Viper Recordings, 31 Records, Uprising, Bad Company, BSE & Obsessions, Project 51, Samurai, Non-Vogue and more.
Not happy being mere producers and djs, SOM Music was launched in 2009 and is now regarded as a premier niche label in its own right. SOM Music is home to cutting edge artists like Nymfo, Black Sun Empire, Neonlight, Jade, Telekinesis, Mindscape, Dose, Borderline, Gridlok, Cern just to name a few.
State Of Mind are the former hosts of the hugely popular ‘Next Level” 95BFM drum n bass show. The show has now been relaunched in bi-monthly podcast format due to popular demand.
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2) State of Mind is the Nom de Guerre of Kim Bülow Bonfils, a Danish keyboard player and multi-instumentalist, with a long career as songwriter and musician on the Danish art rock scene.
Work on his solo project State Of Mind began in 2007 in Copenhagen, Denmark- merging the classic singer-songwriter tradition and minimalist electronica with a distinct retro flavour. Songs with an off-beat edge reminiscent of Serge Gainsbourg or Daniel Johnson are set in an unusual and synthetic soundscape - evoking Kraftwerk and Brian Eno.
Orginally a solo project, State of Mind's latest album Miserabilism features bass guitar by Morten Barnekov Johansen on several tracks.
Discography:
Myotonic - full length album 2010
Why Can't This Noise - one twenty minute song 2010
I Can't Help Myself - seven-track digital release 2011
Importance of the Work at Hand - full length album 2011
The Familiar Feeling - single 2012
Miserabilism - full length album 2012
See http://stateofmind.fm
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3)One of the leading dutch hardcore punk acts
The beginning of 2005 marks the beginning of State of Mind, when singer Emile joins the band to complete the line up. The groovy NY styled hardcore these guys were working on appealed to Emile, and quickly he came up with some lyrics that fitted the songs well. A glance at a film poster gave them a name, a 4-track in a rehearsal space gave them a demo, a friend gave them a show and the ball started rolling. Their now sold out demo consisted of 4 songs inspired by the likes of Burn, Breakdown, Maximum Penalty and Leeway. Since then a lot of gigs followed, including weekend trips and small tours with their friends in A Step Apart, No Turning Back, Solid Ground, For the Glory and True Colors. One of the demo songs was re-recorded and appeared on the Light the Fuse compilation 7"; other bands are Justice, A Step Apart, Nothing Done and Icepick.
New songs were created and recorded in late June 2005. The 7" on Bust! Records contains 4 of those songs, the cd version all 6 of them. With the distribution being handled by Crucial Attack, first reactions have been really good. The songs on these recordings have a faster touch, but without losing the groove of the demo.
In March 2006 the band hit the studio again and recorded new songs that were featured on the 'Bitter Times, Better Times' 7". This record really proves what this band is capable of.
August 2007 marks the release of 'Music for the Statefully Insane', their first full length. With a couple of new members in the line up, State of Mind continues to play and have as much fun as possible!
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4) Rock Band from Luxembourg, also known as "S.O.M."
1995 - "This side, that side" on the Maskenada compilation M.U.H. (Musicians Unplugged for Humanity)
1996 - Rock um Knuedler 96, vol. 6
1997 - Rock um Knuedler 97, vol. 7
1999 - Keepin' up with the Jones's - 13 Tracks - 52'11''
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5) EBM-band from Sweden
Keyboardists L Lindqvist and R Falk with lead singer Marko Runne (vocals) performed live under the name State of Mind in the early nineties and released atleast one demo tape.
Their style was Nitzer Ebb and Depeche Mode inspired.
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6) Golden Age inspired Hip-Hop group from Portland, Oregon. Featuring MC's Harry Mack and Mighty Misc, and DJ's J-Biz and Brady B. Released full length album "Lift Off" in 2008. Hear their songs at myspace.com/stateofmindcrew
video clip of State of Mind crew opening at the Crystal Ballroom for Blue Scholars:
http://www.vimeo.com/1108311?pg=embed&sec=1108311
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7) A rock band from Scotland
8) 60's Garage Rock from Wilmington, Delaware USA
The original band was formed in 1965 by Paul Murtagh (rhythm guitar, keyboards and vocals), Jim Booth (lead guitar and vocals), Bill Smallbrook (drums) and Al Borgnis (bass guitar). All of them were sophomores at William Penn High School in New Castle, Delaware. During that first year of their existence, they played only a few venues including the 1965 Talent show at Wm. Penn and a couple of dances.
In 1966, they replaced Al Borgnis with Bill Sayers on bass and Bill became the new lead singer as well. Al continued to support the group as a sort of manager, equipment support, etc for several years and remained always a good friend to the group. With the addition of Sayers, the band’s sound began to mature and we began to write their own songs. They also started playing other venues, school functions, local dances, Battle of the Bands, etc.
In the summer of 1966, the groups then business manager, Jim Booth’s mother, placed a call to a local Wilmington record company, Chavis Records and its president, James Chavis, agreed to audition the band based on a poor quality tape submitted to him. He called a few days later and asked if he could hear the band live so he was invited to one of their practices, held in the drummer’s basement. Chavis was impressed and several weeks later the State of Mind signed a contract to record 6 record sides over a 2 year period.
The band recorded its first single at Virtue Studios on Broad Street in Philadelphia. The A side, "Move", was credited as written by Jim Booth but it was truly a group effort with everyone contributing something to the song. The flip side, "If He Comes Back", was written by Paul Murtagh – his homage to the Byrds. The band’s key musical influences at the time were the Beatles, Stones, Kinks and other "British Invasion" groups. The Kinks and Beatles influence is very obvious on "Move".
The first week following the record’s release in Wilmington, the main local rock station, WAMS, picked "Move" as the "WAMS Wax to Watch". Over the next 10 weeks, the record slowly climbed the WAMS Top 40 charts topping out at number 10. In addition to WAMS, the record also got play on WIBG and WFIL in Philadelphia.
The success of the first record opened up numerous opportunities for the group. In addition to the WAMS promotional concerts held weekly at local Wilmington area fire halls (Elsmere, Prices Corner, Minquidale, etc.), the band also played larger venue concerts, one in particular where a number of national acts also played, Bunny Sigler, Tim Rose and others. This was also the era of large dance venues such as the weekly affair at the Wilmington Manor Lion’s Club where literally hundreds of kids attended – these venues also helped to get the band’s name around. In June of 1967, the band was the featured opening act at the new Brown Derby Night Club in Chadd’s Ford, PA, along with the Five Penny’s, a well-known local R&B group.
In the fall of 1967, the State of Mind returned to Virtue Studios to cut their second record. Both the A and B sides of this record were written by Jim Booth. For this record, the band added some more complex harmonies and a piano part, played by Murtagh. The band was very excited about the A side of this record, "Make You Cry", feeling that, musically, it was superior to "Move" and should prove to be an even bigger seller. Even the B side, "Goin’ Away", was a strong piece. Unfortunately, the band was destined not to see the success they hoped for on the release of this second record. WAMS continued to provide very strong support to the band and invited them to premiere the new song at the next concert at the Elsmere Fire Hall.
One of the band’s on-going struggles internally was how each member perceived their individual futures and the future of the group. Three of the four members planned to attend college upon graduation but Sayers was committed to remaining a professional musician and was concerned about his future once the band members graduated from Wm. Penn. About a week before the Elsmere concert, Sayers announce to the group that he was leaving to join the Phabulous Pharaohs, another local band on the rise. Without the band’s lead singer and bass player, a shuffling of personnel took place and another local musician Bob McCall was invited to join the band for the Elsmere gig. Unfortunately, the band was unable to reproduce the sound of their second record live for the concert so had to lip-synch the record. Following this concert, the band essentially broke up and, unable to play additional promotional events, record sales were not strong and so the second record did not get the attention that the band thought it should have gotten.
In 1968, Murtagh, Booth, Smallbrook and Borgnis all enrolled at the University of Delaware and, although they remained friends, the group never got together again. Other than Sayers, who, as of a number of years later, was still performing, the remaining members of the band went on to careers outside the music industry. Sadly, Jim Booth passed away several years ago – a huge talent, gone way too soon.
Paul R. Murtagh, October 2011
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…shrink me down again