Mates of State: Band on the Diaper Run

From Matt & Kim to She & Him, there are plenty of bands vying for the title of indie-pop's most adorable duo these days. If we really wanted to weigh all the candidates' credentials, though, none of those doe-eyed upstarts could hold a candle to the original gangsters of hipsterian cuteness—Mates of State.

More than 10 years and five albums into their career, it'd be reasonable to expect the husband-wife team of Kori Gardner (vocals/keyboards) and Jason Hammel (vocals/drums) to have lost a little of their button-nosed luster. But instead, the Mates have upped the ante of late—expanding their sound, their lineup, and perhaps most importantly, their family circle.

"When you have kids, you kind of have to approach songwriting more like it's a vacation," Gardner says, referring to the couple's two little girls, Magnolia and June. "When Jason and I get time to write, it's like the best feeling in the world, because we value that time so much. It used to be, we'd just empty out all our ideas, since we'd have all this time on our hands and we were forcing ourselves to write. And now it's like, if we get five minutes to write a song, we love it. That's probably the biggest change that's happened. Otherwise, you know, I'm sure it's influenced our songwriting in the details of the lyrics and melody. But for us, it's really hard to notice those things, because this is just what we are now."

As if being the king and queen of power-twee wasn't enough, Hammel and Gardner now tour the globe with their little tykes in tow, effectively establishing a new benchmark for adorability in the pop world. For evidence, fans can visit Gardner's cleverly titled blog, Band on the Diaper Run, which includes plenty of pictures of "Mags" and June, most of which are even cuter than a carefully strategized Zooey Deschanel photo shoot.

There is considerably less pictorial evidence of two other siblings who joined Mates of State in 2008—Anton and Lewis Patzner (violin and cello, respectively) from the string metal band Judgement Day. While they won't be making the trip to Nashville, the Patzner brothers have accompanied Gardner and Hammel for the majority of this year's touring schedule, all in support of the fifth Mates of State album, Re-Arrange Us. This marked the first time that the Mates' lineup included anyone besides the Mates themselves.

"We decided to do it because the new record has different instrumentation, and we wanted to get as close as we could to creating the studio sound live without having samples or artificial sounds," Gardner explains. "It was a little odd at first, because we're so used to being just focused on each other. But [the Patzners] are such incredible players that their additions to the music kind of inspired us and made it fresh again."

Re-energized and re-arranged, the Connecticut-based Mates have been trekking from gig to gig all year, including stops at Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits Festival, as well as a slate of opening dates for Santogold. Each show features a balance of the band's classic, high-energy, organ-heavy pop and the slightly mellower, piano-driven material from Re-Arrange Us—a transitional record that's received mixed reviews.

"With [Re-Arrange Us], we started out writing on the organ as usual, and we just weren't getting anywhere," Gardner says. "We felt like we were repeating ourselves. So we moved over to the piano, and all of the sudden, the ideas were coming and we were really inspired by it. In the studio, we were planning to throw the organ in more, but it just ended up being easier to build around the piano. It wasn't really a consciously planned decision. It just kind of happened. And afterwards, it was just like, 'Well, people are going to like it or hate it no matter what instruments are on it, you know?' [laughs]. But the reception's been great from the people who matter to me, like friends and family and fans that have been there, and new fans, too. So we feel good about it."

If anything, Mates of State's 2008 tour has provided a showcase to prove that—despite being responsible parents who swapped their Casios for "sophisticated" pianos—Gardner and Hammel can still turn any club into an instant dance party.

Gardner is in the midst of emphasizing that point when she's interrupted by a high-pitched shout: "Mom!" Apparently, 4-year-old Magnolia needs a hand with something. Gardner excuses herself for a moment, and when she returns, the topic turns to family life. More specifically, how might raising two children impact the Mates' ability to keep making albums and touring in the years ahead?

"I suppose we had more of those concerns when we were pregnant with the first baby," Gardner says. "And we just decided to adopt the motto, 'We'll figure it out.' As long as we're happy and healthy and the kids are happy and healthy, it's all good!"

In the weeks since our chat, Mates of State appeared on an episode of the children's show Yo Gabba Gabba, and the Band on the Diaper Run blog posted a new set of photos from a family trip to Disneyland. So, from the looks of things, everybody's still happy and healthy, and every other pop band looks a little less cute by comparison.