User:Scarlettrota/sandbox

Original State was a San Francisco Bay Area studio band formed in 2008 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Scarlett Rota and lead guitar player Brian Bers. The band’s run spanned from 2008 to 2013, in which time six albums were released.

Both Bers and Rota are working audio engineers and certified Pro Tools operators who hold Bachelor of Applied Science degrees in Sound Arts from Ex'pression College for Digital Arts in Emeryville, CA. The primary songwriter and copyright holder is Rota, with both Bers and Rota switching off as engineers during the recording process, and all albums being edited, mixed, and mastered by Rota. Though both Bers and Rota were accomplished performers on multiple instruments, several additional session musicians were brought in to add to the material. In early 2011 after much disagreement, Bers left the group during the recording of their third album, and Rota continued to release a fourth and fifth recording under the name.

2006-2007
Having written a handful of songs that would eventually appear throughout Original State’s releases, Scarlett Rota relocated to Berkeley, CA from her hometown of Lake Charles, LA in June 2006. Prior to Original State’s official inception, Rota wrote additional songs and made scratch recordings with lead guitar player Tommy Sullivan, with the intention of forming a group and releasing the material. After busking on the streets of San Francisco and playing many house parties however, Sullivan and Rota parted ways in 2007 when Sullivan returned to his hometown of St. Louis, MO.

In late 2007 and early 2008, Rota continued to write songs and record solo as a featured artist for Ex'pression College for Digital Art’s beginning recording production classes, during which time the initial material for Original State’s first album, Layers, was created. Brian Bers and Scarlett Rota met following one of Rota’s live solo performances at a student showcase held in the college's performance space. Bers being a lead guitar player and previously gigging five nights a week in the bands The Imperial Kevins and Merfolk, the two decided to create a collaborative musical project, choosing the title of Original State.

2008-2009
Original State’s first full-length studio album, Layers, was recorded from March to November 2008 and eventually released on March 3, 2010 on Rota’s independent label, kprock records. It featured Rota on vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, and midi production, Bers on piano, electric guitar, bass, and harmonies, Logan Grime of the San Francisco band Midi Matilda on drums, local musician Josh Biller on drums, and West Virginia’s John Basler on bass. The album’s feel and intention was slightly more rock and roll and aggressive, leaning towards anger, but with a sweet undertone. The comparatively faster tempo of the songs and Bers’s straight rock guitar solos all lend to the album’s distinct sound.

With the intention of recording three studio albums and three acoustic versions of said albums, the first live acoustic album Air, was recorded on October 25, 2009. The entire recording was created and performed by Bers and Rota in one eight-hour recording session, with both standing in a room together playing live. Air featured the same songs as the studio album Layers, and was released on kprock records on August 1, 2010. It subsequently went on to be the sole acoustic performance album Original State would release.

2010-2011
In order to bring the material on stage to a live audience, in January 2010 Bers and Rota began to search for members to join a performing and possibly touring version of Original State. After answering an ad posted on Craigslist, drummer Clint McCorkle of the San Francisco punk band The Nerv was added to the line-up, soon to be followed by Bers’s coworker at Kimo’s Penthouse Lounge, singer/songwriter Kenny Melone on bass. The group held rehearsals in the SoMa district of San Francisco from January until April 2010, at which time the members decided to dissolve the live version of the band citing reasons such as Rota’s escalating tinnitus and exhaustion, and Bers and Rota’s disagreement in regards to creative direction.

Following a six-month break, Bers and Rota returned to record Original State’s second full-length studio album, The Wait, which was recorded from September 2010 to March 2011 and released on kprock records on December 7, 2011. The Wait featured Bers on electric guitar, Rota on acoustic guitar, vocals, midi performances, and bass, and Aaron Barrett of the San Francisco metal band Floating Goat and rock band Williford on drums. The album’s tempo was slowed down to a crawl and the sound has a feeling of despair. Bers’s guitar playing featured more long held, single notes and a clean tone throughout, and the album featured Rota on an acoustic cover of the Jeff Buckley song Everybody Here Wants You. In January 2011 shortly after the completion of Bers's portion of the recording, Bers and Rota announced Bers’s decision to leave the group, and that Rota would carry on solo as the main performer in Original State.

After Bers's departure and with the intention of Original State’s third full studio album, City Worn, being the final release, Rota went back into the studio to record from June to December of 2011, and by late 2011 was seen working on the three later albums simultaneously. Released on February 12, 2012 on kprock records, City Worn’s contents include three cover songs: Heart of The Devil by Danzig, I Love You More Than Words Can Say by Otis Redding, and Blue Indian by Widespread Panic, and featured Greg Knudsen of the San Jose blues band, Melted Horses, on lead guitar. The album also saw the return of Floating Goat drummer Aaron Barrett, whose sparse and subtle playing added to the album’s stripped down feel. Rota is credited with acoustic guitar, vocals, bass, and midi performances, and Knudsen’s bluesy solos added the sound of nostalgia that was meant to complete the Original State project.

2012-2013
However, in what Rota described as a “manic channeling fit” during the seven days following November 25, 2011, Original State’s fourth full-length studio album was written. After a year of heartbreak and substance abuse, For Shame was created to display Rota’s experiences in chronological order and story form. The album saw Rota record, edit, mix, master, and perform all instruments save for drums, which were played by fellow Ex'pression College for Digital Arts graduate, Zach LeWinter. Recording began on March 1, 2012 and by May 20, 2012 all parts were in place. However, again citing exhaustion, Rota took a four month hiatus from the album and relocated to Portland, OR. After regaining her health Rota returned to the Bay Area to finish mixing the album, releasing For Shame on January 13, 2013 on kprock records. Rota continues to reside in Portland, OR and considers For Shame her “greatest work, the pinnacle and culmination of everything Original State was meant to convey”.

With all of the original material finally released, Rota began to see the project as a complete whole. In the two weeks following For Shame's release, the Best of OS album was compiled. 18 songs were chosen as Rota's favorites and the album was released on January 30, 2013. As of that date, the musical collaboration of Original State was considered complete, with no other work to follow. However, as the acoustic album, Air's full-length YouTube video continues to grow in views and has created a small following, Rota is "letting the discography breathe", enjoying the success, and allowing the future to unfold naturally as it will.

Discography
Studio Albums
 * Layers (2010)
 * The Wait (2011)
 * City Worn (2012)
 * For Shame (2013)
 * Best of OS (2013)

Live Album
 * Air (2010)