Yorkshire Music Collective/I 'Heart' Indie with State of Error at Bingley Music Live

State of Error @ BML
Chris Larner Photography

Casting my mind back a few months I can remember a worried looking State of Error bemoaning the fact that they were drawn first at the heats for the BD1 Live competition to win a slot at BML and really didn't want to play first. They went on and played a very good set to the many fans who had come to see them as they always do. It was a particularly tough night as there was strong competition from The 27 Club, Remember The Hurricanes, You Had Me At Hello and Tiny Giants. Tiny Giants won the heat on the day and State of Error won on of the 3 best runner up places to go in to the final.


The final was held at St. Georges Hall, a good evening's entertainment with Kath and The Mighty Menace, King Headlock, Remember The Hurricanes, Ti Amo, Tiny Giants and State of Error. I was really pleased for State of Error who are are hard working young band and truly deserve a shot at the big stage. I chatted to them afterwards and they were more state of shock than State of Error, they were overwhelmed to have won a place at Bingley.

Mikey Green @ BML
Chris Larner Photography

I asked State of Error if Yorkshire Music Collective could do a little stalking on their big day and they were most obliging. I arrived early on and they agreed to come out and chat between setting up and going on and playing. They were the second band on the Saturday, playing after Bradford youngsters Thirteen 16.


I'm soon joined in the press area by Richard Hadley (vocals, guitar), Mikey Green (bass, backing vocals), Danny Moore (drums, backing vocals), Tom Partyka (lead guitar) and obviously the first question is if they are feeling prepared, Richard thinks that mentally they are but not physically, the rest of the band seem to think its the other way round. I ask them if this will be the biggest stage they have played on and jokingly the say they think its a bit bigger than the Piece Hall stage, Mikey says it was a tremendous feeling stood on the stage and feeling the sound of the drums, he said the whole stage was moving. I am wondering if they have chosen different songs for this set for a bigger stage and Richard says they have practised hard to fit as many songs into their 20 minute slot as possible. Some good natured banter starts among the band members who seem to think that Richard is not letting them get a word in edgeways and they let out a tiny secret that as much as they have tried their set is actually 21 minutes long. I ask Mikey if he thinks lead singers talk too much and he says yes they are basically prima donna's and reminds Richard he recently went home from a gig to straighten his hair. Richard defends himself saying he can't go on stage feeling his hair isn't right and the band start to tease him saying his hair is getting out of place in the wind. 

Richard Hadley @ BML
Chris Larner Photography

I ask if they think image is important to a band as well and strangely they all look at Tom who wants to know why they are looking at him as if he is a tramp, the band agree that image is important to 3 of them and before an argument starts I change the subject and ask what they are hoping to get out of today's gig. They say they want to pick up a few new fans and after the gig they will be handing out some promo CD's, they wanted people to not go from the gig thinking that second band was good what were they called, but that they could take something with them to remind them of the band. Conscious that time is moving on I let the band go backstage and I head off frontstage so I don't miss any of their set.


There's already a good crowd here considering its still quite early, I think its a lot busier than this time last year and there are a lot of young people at the front ready to watch State of Error. And here they are, they bounce on stage and their customary energetic performance begins. This band are so fun to watch and you can't help but bounce along with them. The photographers certainly have a difficult task, these lads are running around stage the whole 20 minutes, the guitarist and bassist swapping places continually.They are engaging the fans from the first note, encouraging them to wave or clap along and their catchy choruses soon have the crowd singing with them. They pull out all the stops and pack a great deal in their 20 minutes, personal favorites for me were Forever Waiting, Caught in the Rip, and Sunset Boulevard. I'm watching the crowd as well as the band and they are really getting into this band. After an amazingly fast 20 mins, the band remind everyone they will be giving out CD's and coming to greet people at the VIP entrance in a short while.

Later I head up the VIP entrance where the street team have been giving out CD's, I asked them how they were going and they told me they only and 1 left from the 100 they had brought with them, they said the feedback about the band was positive and I can tell that from the large number of people waiting for the band to come out and sign their CD's. The team is made up of family and friends, including talented young singer Sarah Carey who has featured on their album. I ask what they had thought of the bands performance and they all coincided that the band had deserved to have a shot at the big stage and had made the best of it. Next I talk to a group of young girls who have heard State of Error for the first time today and are clutching their CD's waiting for the band to come out.


When they do come out, they are literally swarmed by fans and well wishers and take time to talk to everyone and sign all the CD's, Mikey tells me that he thought they'd done the set in 20 mins because the nerves had made everything a shade faster.

Danny Moore @ BML
Chris Larner Photography

I asked the band if they had enjoyed themselves and they said it was awesome, the best gig ever with an amazing on stage sound which made a pleasant change, they had a buzz off the crowd's reaction but Tom admitted his legs were shaking with nerves at one point. I asked if they thought there might be more big stages for them now and they said they wanted to do Leeds next year, the dream would be to get on Leeds Festival without going through a battle of the bands competition, by reputation. 


I tell them I have been chatting to new fans and ask if that had been one of their objectives today, they said that had always been the plan, to make use of the opportunity they had been given and promote themselves as much as possible and one of the triumphs of the day had been to have a street team to assist with giving out new CD's.

Tom Partyka @ BML
Chris Larner Photography

I ask the band what the plans for the day are and they most coincide that they will be chilling and drinking a few beers, Richard says he will be staying sober and trying to sell a few t-shirts. They are unanimous that the band they are most looking forward to is Feeder as they have done a couple of covers in the past. Richard said so far for him the best band had been Skindred and was looking forward to the rest of the weekend. And as more fans appear I leave them to enjoy their day, though I do keep bumping into them throughout the day.


It's great that local bands are given a chance to shine at Bingley Music Live, its fantastic when they recognise that opportunity and make the most of it as State of Error did.


The interviews recorded with the bands were played on Yorkshire Music Collective show on BCB Radio on 8th September and is available on the listen again feature on www.bcbradio.co.uk

Michelle Dalgety for Yorkshire Music Collective/I 'Heart' Indie
Yorkshire Music Collective
I `Heart`Indie
State of Error website