Samuel Petersson launched The State of Samuel to express his dissatisfaction with the local music environment in his hometown of Varberg, Sweden. He started composing and capturing tracks on a four-track recorder in 1996 before settling on his performing moniker. Several of those early cuts later appeared on his first full-length release, A 141 Points Average, which was tracked primarily inside his parents’ garage. After relocating to Stockholm in 1999, Petersson issued his follow-up album, The State of Samuel at the Movies, and began playing shows at neighborhood venues. While he simultaneously formed the group Goblin Universe, The State of Samuel’s audience kept expanding. Both endeavors gained momentum in 2001, as Goblin Universe scored a minor hit single and The State of Samuel issued its debut EP, Santa Barbara EP, through Modesto Records.
Larger halls, festival appearances, favorable reviews, and an international listenership soon followed. This wider reach prompted Japanese imprint Escalator to reach out to Petersson in 2002 and propose a career-spanning compilation. The project materialized as Swedish Metal Aid, which arrived that July. The same period proved double-edged: The State of Samuel continued to flourish while Goblin Universe disbanded. The State of Samuel delivered its first proper studio album, Mutiny on Mercury, in 2003. An acoustic trek across North America took Petersson through Canada and the United States; that September he recruited a backing ensemble. Now operating as a full band, The State of Samuel undertook a short U.S. run in 2004 and resumed work on the next record, Here Come the Floods, which surfaced in October 2007.
