Female fronted moody, volatile, dream-rock from Washington DC.
(for full bio please see 'text' section at: www.broadjam.com/wakingstate)

THE TALE OF WAKING STATE

Washington DC’s modern rock band Waking State is on everyone’s short list these days. Greg Roche (“DC’s Rock Station” DC101) claims “this is a band that cannot be ignored,” and Billy Zero (Program Director, XM Radio), insists “you must pay attention to this band.” But a year ago, Waking State was going nowhere with a bullet.

The band’s first full-length release, aptly entitled “Hang On” (2005), suffered numerous delays, effectively stalling the band’s momentum for over a year. The album’s producer Ted Comerford (Ebo, American Hi-Fi) affirms that “any other band [in that situation] would have quit.” The original bass player did just that, forcing the remaining members of Waking State to hire fill-ins in order to keep playing shows while they waited months for production to be completed.

The release of “Hang On,” however, was to be a turning point for Waking State. The album’s moody, volatile music, with its rare depth and focus (evoking shades of early U2, Coldplay and Pink Floyd), placed in the top ten on Entertainment DC’s poll of top albums and singles of 2005, and recently four songs were selected for an extreme sports video produced by O’Neill (release date: Fall, 2006). In addition, it attracted the attention of sonically divergent NYC bassist Nach Horn, who having stumbled across a couple songs from the album, made his way to DC to audition and ultimately join the band.

He found himself in good company. Goth-girl-next-door frontwoman Morrigan is a silken-voiced Janis Joplin, framed by the inventive riffs of guitarist and Detroit native Eric Anderson – the band’s muse and mad scientist - and the unhinged wallops of DC native drummer Brent Robbins. With the live show serving as the band’s only fix for nearly a year, Waking State infiltrated the DC music scene’s radar by building a reputation for incredibly passionate live performances, which have led to consistently sold-out shows - including their November, 2005 CD release party at the nationally renown IOTA Club and Café.

Waking State’s polished execution and stadium-sized sound have not only raised the bar locally; the band is now a regional presence outside of DC as well, with a swelling fan base in towns such as Detroit, Cleveland, Boston and Philadelphia. In addition, the band is just coming off a Spring tour that culminated in a showcase at SXSW 2006, sharing the stage with Sarah Bettens of K’s Choice. While there are no guarantees - as this battle-tested rock band knows all too well - devout followers and newbies alike can rest assured that no matter what happens, Waking State is here to stay.

“Hang On” was produced by Ted Comerford (Maverick Records, Ebo, Virginia Coalition), mixed by Paul David Hager (Avril Lavigne, The Donnas, Butch Walker), and mastered by Brent Lambert (Squirrel Nut Zippers, Carbon Leaf). Waking State music is nationally distributed by The Orchard.