State Radio is a rock band formed by former Dispatch member Chad Urmston in 2002 after Dispatch announced their indefinite hiatus (after about two years on hiatus, the band announced a break-up and a final show).
The band had originally been called "Flag of the Shiners" after a group of peacekeeping 19th century pirates, before they changed their name to State Radio. Chad recorded and released one EP entitled "Flag of the Shiners", before solidifying the rest of the band's lineup and beginning to play shows. The band's first full-length album, Us Against the Crown, was released on February 7, 2006, although it had been available online for several months before. With producer Tchad Blake they recorded their third album, "Year of the Crow", which was released in September 2007. A CD single simply titled "Wicker Plane" was released on July 16. It contained the track "Wicker Plane" off the forthcoming album, and two b-sides: "Good Graces" and "Revolutionaries" .
State Radio's songs, written by Chad, are primarily a mixture of roots reggae and rock interspersed with more somber, low-key numbers. Of the forty-seven songs Chad has penned for State Radio, one can expect to hear any of forty-one (the number performed since Mike "Mad Dog" Najarian took over the drum kit) at a live show. In addition to these, Dispatch's "Time Served" has become a State Radio staple, and "Just Like Larry," more recently along with a cover of Rage Against the Machine's "Bullet in the Head," is often appended to "First One Shot." The Hermit Thrush (Urmston's pre-Dispatch band) song "Sister" has also been played three times. Some State Radio songs were written during the Dispatch era: verses from "Once and Future King" were included in the Dispatch improv song "Cut It Ya Match It," a song consisting entirely of random verses from songs Chad had written or was writing at the time. ("Cut It Ya Match It" also included a verse from "Revolutionaries", one of Chad's pre-Dispatch songs that has recently become a State Radio staple) "Riddle in Londontown" made its first appearance at Dispatch's farewell concerts in July 2004, then entitled simply "Riddle." State Radio is known for their outstanding stage presence, and encourage frequent audience participation. Another exciting aspect of live shows is that the band, instead of waiting to perfect songs before playing them live, starts playing new cuts soon after Chad comes up with them, and then improves them on the road. As such, the "Wicker Plane" played live back in 2002 is very different from the song's most recent renditions. It was close to seven minutes, whereas when it was released on Year of the Crow it is 4:05.
Their song entitled "Keepsake" was featured in the finale of "Weeds".
