Check Out Chris Kuhn’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Kuhn. 

Chris, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I moved to Denver from Baltimore in the end of 2015. I got the itch to start a band (after swearing them off) a few weeks after moving here. 

There’s music everywhere in this city, I wanted to be a part of it. 

I posted a few ads on craigslist. It was like dating. I would meet up with a few interested parties and jam with them. 

Sometimes we clicked. Sometimes we didn’t. 

I got a sold line up together and we started playing any and every show we could to date. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I’ve learned nothing in life is a smooth road. As with everything, there’s always obstacles, bumps, and traffic. 

It’s been a fun challenge trying to figure out where we fit in the Denver music community. 

We aren’t necessarily a punk band nor a pop-punk band nor an indie band. 

I think straddling the border of multiple music genres has allowed us to play with many different types of bands/musicians. 

It’s cool. 

It’s also challenging to keep interested and invested in doing bands. 

A lot of music has already been done before and it’s hard to wade through the non-stop flood of music we get in 2022 via Spotify, apple, bandcamp, etc. So, it’s a challenge, albeit fun, to try to write songs that I find exciting but also appeal to other people. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As I said before, we are a weird band in that we write songs that are mildly genre-crossing. I started this band wanting to blend the gin blossoms with jawbreaker. That was 7 years ago. 

Our musical tastes and perspectives change with the times and at this point, I don’t want to keep churning out songs that sound like that. Our songs show that. We’re weird dudes, we make weird songs and that is exactly what I love about being in this band. 

I think I am most proud of our last LP we released at the start of 2021, “Live, Laugh, Love.” 

I feel like it encapsulated the sound I aimed for when starting this band as well as left the door open to go in varying directions for future songs. 

It also marked the first record our guitar player Tom contributed multiple songs he wrote separate from me. 

Everything came together so well with that release from the cover art, the songwriting, my band buds’ playing, etc. 

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
As it’s going now, State Drugs will be the band I’ve been in the longest of any I’ve been into date. If I can keep AJ, Matt, and Tom interested enough to still play music with me in 5 years, I’ll be stoked. 

I’d like to keep writing weird songs and pushing forward with writing the weirdest catchy pop songs the worlds ever heard. 

We have a few releases slated for 2022. 

We began recording 14 songs a month ago. We’ll continue working on them throughout the year. They’ll probably be our 2023 -2024 releases. 

Contact Info:

• Email: StateDrugs@gmail.com
• Website: StateDrugs.BandCamp.Com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/state_drugs/