Astoria State Opens Up About Their Newest Music, Their Tour with Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, the Power of Social Media and Much More!

Meet Astoria State! The members of the band include Danny Resnick (Lead vocals, Guitar), Jesse Carroll (Guitar) and Cameron Horst (Bass Guitar).

They recently released the hard-driving new track “Leave It To Me” as they continue their sold-out tour opening for The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus across the U.S. Astoria State will be on tour with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus through 2022.

The song is off to a fast start, with early adds to key streaming service playlists including Spotify New Noise, All New Rock and Loudwire Weekly Wire; Apple Music Breaking Hard Rock; and Pandora New Rock Now and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Radio.

The band’s Danny Resnick explains that “’Leave It To Me’ is just a good, old fashion rock song.  It has these light verses that are very friendly and seem chipper though they serve almost as more of a confessional, or at least the reflections of someone who is beaten but not broken.  This ‘confessional’ takes you through the roller coaster of emotions about defeat, self-doubt, criticism, apathy and hopelessness. However it winds right back up with this boost of confidence, self-assuredness, resolve, and an unbreakable mindset: We get knocked down, but we’re never out – We get up and try again.  I’m gonna brush the dust off, lick my wounds, leave it behind and try again”. 

The “Leave It To Me” video was shot in a desolate but beautiful area of Hemet, California by Sean Sweetman of Sweetman Media, on the same location as the “Nobody Knows” video shoot.  It’s actually a prequel to the “Nobody Knows” video, and will give the viewers a little more insight as to where the crate came from, and why it must be buried  There are more visuals in this series to come – and leaves questions whose answers will be found in the succeeding video storylines.   

Connect With Astoria State Here:

Smart URL:  https://linktr.ee/AstoriaState

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Youtube / TikTok / Bands In Town

Learn more about Astoria State in the following All Access interview:

Thanks for your time! So first things first, how did you all start this band? What made you all think that you could work together? How difficult was it to come up with a band name that you all agreed on?

No Problem – Happy to do it! The band really just came together out of happenstance, obviously the pandemic offered us the opportunity and time off from touring with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus to really write and record something.  Jesse and I have talked for years about doing a serious project together, and we have played in a handful of bands together over the years, but when the Covid-19 happened and I moved back from Hawaii it became a real possibility.  I relocated to Florida where Jesse and I wrote the EP.  The name actually just came right up and we immediately agreed on it.  The name holds some sentimental value to me especially, as it was the name of my 2 year old German Shepherd, Astoria, who passed away last year.

How are you all feeling at this point about the pandemic and the recent openings? Are things slowly getting back to normal life for you guys? Have you gotten vaccinated?

It feels great to be getting back into some normalcy, especially as we start getting back to touring.  The last couple of smaller tours we have been on have been so great and the crowds have been so responsive.  You can really feel it in the energy that everyone: bands, crowds, clubs, promoters, etc. have all really missed the experience that you can only really get at a rock show!  Tours are back and rolling now, so it’s great to be playing shows, and fortunately for me I get to play two shows a night while we are out with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, so I am extra grateful that I can start making up for all the shows we missed out on playing over the last year and a half.

Let’s talk about your newest single, “Leave It To Me.” What was the inspiration for it? How would you say that it compares to your other music? Have you been surprised by the fast positive reaction to the track?

Definitely! We continue to just be blown away and so humbled and grateful for the response we have been getting for “Leave It To Me”, as well as “Nobody Knows”.  The support and feedback is just tremendous and the press coverage has been so incredible.  It feels great to see people connecting with these songs. All the positive feedback to our music at shows has been really amazing to see – people singing along…  The songs just came out in the last couple months, so that’s kind of mind-blowing!  “Leave It To Me” is really a bit of a reflection.  The thought process of someone who is down but not out, beaten but not broken.  I’m down, but I’m gonna get back up and try again.  It’s a good old fashion rock song. 🤘

Can you talk about making the music video for “Leave It To Me”? How creatively involved were you all with the process? And it’s a prequel to your “Nobody Knows” video? Can you elaborate on that?

Yes – the video is a prequel to “Nobody Knows”, and as we complete the series with more videos – the story will continue to unravel.  The idea for these videos was primarily written by our guitarist Jesse Carroll, and then we all collaborated to round out the story and shots. The video was produced by myself, Jesse, and Sean Sweetman from Sweetman Media who also filmed, directed, and edited the videos.  We shot out in the desert in Hemet CA in the mountainous “hideout” location, as it ideally reflected the desolation and loneliness that is felt in the songs.  We are really excited for this series and think it will be a really fun way to watch our videos in succession one day when the series is complete.

We’ve been told you’ll be releasing an EP and focus track in the late summer – have you decided what your next single/video will be yet?

You’ve heard correctly!  The EP is coming out late summer, and yes we have picked the song.  It’s an explosive, high energy song, and the response we’ve seen live at shows for it has been a real confirmation for us that it has something special.  Stay tuned.  😉

What has it been like being on the road touring with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus? How excited are you all about getting back out there to perform?

Touring with TRJA has been really great.  It’s probably the best tour Astoria State could be on because I play keyboards and sing backup vocals in The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Jesse is the Tour Manager.  So because he and I are already on tour with them, it is an ideal situation for us. Our drummer Joel McDonald and bass player Cameron Horst round out the package and really add an extra punch to the live shows.  We can’t stress enough how grateful we are that Ron and the rest of the band have been so supportive in bringing us along for the year.  These shows have been amazing and you’re not going to want to miss it!

What do you think makes for an ideal show for this band? What have been some of your favorite shows and venues?

Any show we play is gonna be an ideal one because we love what we do and we are really excited to share our new songs with a live audience.  We’re just Rockers – If people want to watch, we want to play!  I always really enjoy the festival shows because the crowds are so excited and you get to see so many great bands in one place, but the real small intimate venues have their place too.  I like some of the older theatres: I always thought the Wilma theatre in Missoula, MT has a special charm to it.

How do you think your hometown has influenced the sound and how you all carry yourselves in this group? If not, why do you think that is?

Good question!  I think it definitely has shaped us to some extent as we were all parts of our local music scene, respectively.  Cameron and I are from Anchorage, Alaska, and Jesse and Joel are from Middleburg, FL.  So we definitely come from opposite ends of the spectrum geographically but the cool thing about music is that bands can be larger than an area. So certain influences we definitely found the same, Nirvana in particular. I think most musicians would say that their local scene has an impact on what shapes you as a musician, performer and writer – especially early in your career.

How would you say that this group has grown as musicians over the years? How has your sound matured and developed? What has remained the same?

As musicians over the years we have all definitely evolved, but together we have only been a band for about a year. It was July of 2020 that we decided to get serious and make it happen.  So we have only just begun to really explore the things we are capable of musically and we already have a ton of new material to work with as we move forward into the next stage of our evolution as a band.

Where do you think you are all happiest: In the studio recording new music, on stage performing?  With all the negativity out there today, what else in life truly makes you all happy?

Being on stage and performing is happiest for me because it’s the time when I am completely apart from all of the negativity the world cam throw at you.  We are existing just in the energy between us and the crowd.  I think having our family and friends that love us and support us definitely keeps us all going.

With all the different social media platforms out there, how do you balance it all? How do you think that social media has impacted this band? How often are you all on your different sites interacting with fans? How have you been able to utilize them through the years? Which of you handles them mostly?

Social media is its own animal, LOL.  I think everyone is still trying to find the balance.  There’s definitely such a thing as too much, and over-sharing.  For a long time I thought there was no such thing as too little, but that’s probably wrong too.  In the last year or so I have caved and started to be more adaptive – but it certainly is time consuming and can be a LOT of work. Personal pages, band pages, comments, messages… Finding balance is key for everyone – whether they are in a band or not.  It is important to stay aware of what is going on in the world around you too.  I handle a good portion of the Astoria State social pages, and I try to respond to everyone and everything that comes in….  But occasionally I do miss things I’m sure.  I do my best to keep up with the band Socials, and we each do our best with our personal pages as well.

What musicians have really been inspiring you all since you first started making music? Who would you all love to work with in the future?

So many – definitely Dave Grohl, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Audioslave, Thrice, AFI, Linkin Park.  The 90’s scene overall was influential and the Pop Punk scene through the 2000’s influenced us as well.  I think we’ve taken little pieces of everything along the way and kind of landed at our own brand of music now.  There are SO many artists I’d love to work with – but I think a Trent Reznor collab would be really cool.

What do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people continue to take away from your songs?

I think we touch on a lot of topics and dive into a lot of different feelings and emotions, but ultimately try to remain hopeful and optimistic – that’s the overall goal.  We do our best to write songs that people connect with and relate to.  If we can make someone feel like hey, I’m not the only one who feels this way, I’m not alone – that’s the ultimate end we strive for. I think music is a great source of hope for people and we definitely want to give people something to connect to and with through our music for sure.