State Shirt, also known as Ethan Tufts, an American songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist from
Easthampton, Massachusetts
Easthampton is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The city is on the southeastern edge of the Pioneer Valley near the five colleges in the college towns of Northampton and Amherst. The population was 16,211 at the 2020 c ...
. He is known for his hand-crafted, diverse and often unpredictable indietronic style, integrating
live looping
Live looping is the recording and playback of a piece of music in real-time using either dedicated hardware devices, called loopers or phrase samplers, or software running on a computer with an audio interface. Musicians can loop with either loop ...
in both his recordings and live performances. All of his songs are open source and licensed via
Creative Commons
Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...
, providing raw materials for the hundreds of remix artists that have created new works based on his source tracks. Tufts currently resides in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
He released his debut EP ''Don't Die'' in 2004, and his second album ''This Is Old'' in 2008. The first single from ''This is Old'' i
"Fell Out of the Sky,"a song inspired by the black box data recordings recovered from the crash of Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182, September 25, 1978.
[official website] His most recent album, ''Lost Hills'' was released in August 2015.
Discography
Albums
*''
Lost Hills
The Lost Hills are a low mountain range in the Transverse Ranges, near Lost Hills, California and Interstate 5 in western Kern County, California.
They contain the Lost Hills Oil Field, the largest oil field in Kern County, and are located in t ...
'' (Aug, 2015)
*''
Life is Easy
''Life Is Easy'' is a compilation album by Birmingham-based industrial metal group Fall of Because, compiling songs recorded in 1986 and 1987 before the band became Godflesh. Released on 24 August 1999 through Alleysweeper and distributed by Mart ...
'' (Jan, 2015)
*''
Let's Get Bloody'' (Dec, 2011)
*''
This Is Old'' (Nov, 2008)
*''
Don't Die'' (Jun, 2004)
*''
New Planet'' (Jun, 2002)
Interviews
*Charles Wood
"State Shirt embraces digital world – you can steal his tunes but you’ll probably pay up" ''Music Missionary'', February 29, 2012
*Andrew Shaw
"Speed Date: Talking Tacos, Heroes & Spending Unhealthy Amounts of Time in the Studio" ''Buzzine'', December 20, 2011
*Heather Rush
"An Interview with State Shirt - Ethan Tufts" ''HiddenTrack'' (Blog), masslive.com, February 16, 2009
"The Guitar Hero Series: State Shirt" Interview, ''JemSite'', jemsite.com
Reviews
*Jay Gary
"State Shirt goes beyond stereotype" Central Michigan Life, January 24, 2012
*Andrew Shaw
"Something For The Weekend: A Free Album of Indie-Pop Drive & Dreamlike Ambition" Buzzine, December 16, 2011
*Paul Zimmerman
"This Is An Old State Shirt" ''FirstCoastNews'', firstcoastnews.com, November 19, 2008
"State Shirt - Don't Die'''Whisperin' And Hollerin', Review
Review, indieville.com,
"Editor's Pick" Review, Smother.net
"State Shirt - Don't Die" Review, Plug-In Music.com
References
External links
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:State Shirt
1976 births
American multi-instrumentalists
Living people
People from Northampton, Massachusetts
Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts
21st-century American singers