Biography
Blue States represents the enduring downtempo pop endeavor led by multi-instrumentalist Andy Dragazis. Although the relaxed vibe, breakbeat-style rhythms, and sporadic turntable scratches on the 2000 release Nothing Changes Under the Sun prompted trip-hop classification, later works shifted toward live instrumentation over sampling, spanning dreamy indie rock and cinematic ambient pop. Following nearly ten years away, the project resurfaced in 2016 via Restless Spheres, with the baroque pop-tinged World Contact Day following in 2022.
Andy Dragazis grew up with a Greek musician father who performed alongside Vangelis during the 1960s. While based in Sussex, England, he began composing in the late 1990s by blending film soundtrack samples with live playing. Friends assisted in launching Blue States during 1997, and after limited live shows, Memphis Industries signed him to issue singles and EPs. Five such releases appeared between 1998 and 1999, paving the way for the 2000 album Nothing Changes Under the Sun. Thievery Corporation picked up the LP for American distribution in 2001 through their Eighteenth Street Lounge Music label, which appended bonus tracks, while Dragazis handled remixes for Hefner and Badly Drawn Boy.
The sultry, cinematic second album Man Mountain arrived in fall 2002, issued jointly by Memphis Industries and XL in the U.K. and again licensed by ESL in the States. It featured the track “Season Song,” later included in the cult film 28 Days Later. Dragazis and the group adopted more conventional song forms on the 2004 album The Soundings. The 2007 follow-up First Steps Into... adopted a solo focus, reconnecting with electronic origins through broader, more open soundscapes. A 2009 compilation titled Sum of the Parts gathered B-sides from earlier singles and EPs.
During a Blue States pause, Dragazis pursued the playful surf- and garage rock-oriented Scantharies, whose self-titled album emerged in 2012. Blue States reappeared in 2016 with the EP Statues; its title track, performed by Mayasa El-Mahmadi, was included on Restless Spheres alongside contributions from Toby Jenkins (aka the Squire of Somerton) and singer/violinist Eos Counsell. Under his own name, Dragazis issued two ambient and neo-classical EPs plus the full-length Afterimages in 2019. Blue States’ sixth album, World Contact Day, followed in 2022, drawing inspiration from the Carpenters’ “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” along with British folk and baroque pop.
Andy Dragazis grew up with a Greek musician father who performed alongside Vangelis during the 1960s. While based in Sussex, England, he began composing in the late 1990s by blending film soundtrack samples with live playing. Friends assisted in launching Blue States during 1997, and after limited live shows, Memphis Industries signed him to issue singles and EPs. Five such releases appeared between 1998 and 1999, paving the way for the 2000 album Nothing Changes Under the Sun. Thievery Corporation picked up the LP for American distribution in 2001 through their Eighteenth Street Lounge Music label, which appended bonus tracks, while Dragazis handled remixes for Hefner and Badly Drawn Boy.
The sultry, cinematic second album Man Mountain arrived in fall 2002, issued jointly by Memphis Industries and XL in the U.K. and again licensed by ESL in the States. It featured the track “Season Song,” later included in the cult film 28 Days Later. Dragazis and the group adopted more conventional song forms on the 2004 album The Soundings. The 2007 follow-up First Steps Into... adopted a solo focus, reconnecting with electronic origins through broader, more open soundscapes. A 2009 compilation titled Sum of the Parts gathered B-sides from earlier singles and EPs.
During a Blue States pause, Dragazis pursued the playful surf- and garage rock-oriented Scantharies, whose self-titled album emerged in 2012. Blue States reappeared in 2016 with the EP Statues; its title track, performed by Mayasa El-Mahmadi, was included on Restless Spheres alongside contributions from Toby Jenkins (aka the Squire of Somerton) and singer/violinist Eos Counsell. Under his own name, Dragazis issued two ambient and neo-classical EPs plus the full-length Afterimages in 2019. Blue States’ sixth album, World Contact Day, followed in 2022, drawing inspiration from the Carpenters’ “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” along with British folk and baroque pop.
Albums
World Contact Day
2022
Trinity Tapes
2020
Restless Spheres
2016
Vision Trail
2016
Statues
2016
Sum of the Parts
2009
First Steps Into
2007
The Soundings
2004
Man Mountain
2002
Nothing Changes Under The Sun
2000
Singles
