Albuquerque’s the Great States—Morgan Ching, Eric Jecklin, Sean Leston and Ryan Rael—go big in their debut full-length Gatsby, released last January. The band formed in 2011, but it took three and a half years of hard work and perseverance to make their LP. The result is an expansive musical set, filled with dreamy textures, ambient harmonies and lyrics filled with literary allusions.

Ching, who says Great States’ members are all “first-generation musicians,” says its creation is also a testament to the band’s resourcefulness. “Throughout the recording process we just had to be creative with the gear that we had and the rooms that we could find. As a result, we ended up with what I think is a very raw and honest sounding record.” Great States debut the music video for “Daisy” on Myspace (watch above) and Ching also talks to us about his obvious love for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel and the wide open spaces of his hometown.

Hometown and Homebase: The Wild West, a.k.a. Albuquerque, New Mexico

Why are you called Great States?

The name Great States first came up during a brainstorming session back when were in the middle of transitioning from our previous band name. We joked around about it at first, but after sitting on the list for a few days, Great States ended up being the clear winner. A lot of our music revolves around the concepts of place and time and how they ultimately affect your state of being. It’s kind of like the questions: “Who are you?” and “Where do you come from?” And then we spend a lot of time trying to answer those questions in the music.

What’s the Great States’ history?

We formed Great States in 2011 while all of us were studying at the University of New Mexico. Eric and I met back in high school band and have basically been playing music together ever since. Sean was my first roommate in college – we were lucky and got randomly paired together our freshman year. Ryan initially made contact with me after seeing one of our “drummer needed” ads, and ended up introducing himself to Eric in their jazz band class the next day. We all ended up meshing really well together as musicians and people, so it was like “yeah, this is the band.” The rest is history.

Why is your album called Gatsby?

It pays homage to Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. Back when I first started writing songs for Great States, I had just finished my fourth read-through of the book and was heavily inspired by Fitzgerald’s perspectives on love, loss, friendship, superficiality, etc. It was like a lens that I would use to look over my own life experiences – these experiences and my thoughts on them formed the basis for a lot of the songs on the record.

Can you explain your emotional connection to F. Scott Fitzgerald?

I loved that Fitzgerald was an outsider. He wrote The Great Gatsby from that viewpoint, and consequently provided one of the greatest perspectives of all time on American culture – a perspective that in many ways still holds true today. He knew the importance of embracing your personal identity – even the parts that might place you on the outside. Our album is a reflection of this idea.

What about influences beyond the literary? Who are your inspirations musically?

Individually, our influences span the entire musical spectrum – there isn’t a single genre that hasn’t affected each of us in some way. As a band, I would say some of our biggest musical influences come from mid-90’s to mid-2000’s, which include artists like Radiohead, Death Cab for Cutie, Coldplay, As Tall As Lions, etc.

I read that moving around a lot as a kid inspired your song "Arcadia," but how does living in New Mexico color your music now?

New Mexico definitely influences our music. The isolation. The miles of open space. The big sky. I think we subconsciously emulated these qualities in our songs – there’s a ton of ambience, space, and different textures.

What do you do for fun in New Mexico?

Hang out. Go to shows. Read. Watch instructional Youtube videos. Talk about movies, TV shows, comics, etc. Memes. Nerd out over all the cool gear we can’t afford. We’re pretty much like everyone else in this regard, so let’s kick it.

Describe your best experience as a band so far.

Our most memorable performance so far was at a UNM festival event called Fiestas. Huge stage. Huge sound. Great energy from the crowd. We’re definitely looking forward to more experiences like that – Sasquatch anyone?

The "Daisy" video is one of those that seem simple but is probably complicated to make.What was the creative process behind it?

The “Daisy” music video was one of the three music videos we shot using a cyclorama wall at a local TV studio here in Albuquerque – we shot all three over two days.

How involved were you in the conceptualizing it?

We didn’t actually have an official concept for “Daisy” going into the shoot – the director and I ended up drafting one up after the band finished shooting for the other two videos, and then we pretty much winged it. While the other videos are more traditional in the sense that they suspend reality and place the band in this infinite space, “Daisy” is the exact opposite – the video is shot as a one-take from only one perspective, and gives the viewer spatial context by featuring the inside of the studio, as well as downtown Albuquerque.

What was the most memorable thing that happened to you while filming "Daisy?"

I definitely won’t forget the takes where we had to dodge the traffic downtown.