Delhi-based band October was formed when a few school friends decided to fuse their individual music into a combined effort. They tell C Varghese that the audience has started accepting different music genres
How did you pin down the name of your band to OctoberIJ I mean is there any particular story or reason behind itIJ
The funny thing is no one really knows why we call ourselves October. The funniest question people ask is “is it Oktober with a kIJ” Sorry to disappoint but unfortunately, we aren’t big Karan Johar fans.
How did October come togetherIJ
The band essentially started as a group of friends from Sri Ram School of which Shashvat is the last remaining member. After this, all the members have been friends who we’ve made through the music scene. The connection that has allowed us to constantly replace members and keep the band together is the idea of fusing our original inspirations of grunge and alternative rock with our newer influences of progressive rock and post rock.
From 2007 till now, how’s the journey been so farIJ
The journey has really been a heck of a journey. I remember 2009 and 2010 being years when we were fresh and enthusiastic and we played a lot of shows as part of Pubrockfest. Opening for Meshuggah at GIR, 2010 in Pragati Maidan was definitely a huge moment for us because it was a big big break for us. Post that we’ve played in many college and pub shows, and some of the best experiences have been in venues we’ve least expected it like NIFT in Kangra.
We were anyway at a stage where after the two year hiatus we had come back with a new direction in mind for our compositions. Sherry and Suyash have boosted this forward because they’ve brought a certain degree of freshness to us. We’re really excited about busting these new tunes out and we’ll even be debuting one of them at our gig at Hauz Khas Social.
What do you have in mind for your listeners in the futureIJ
With our EP titled ‘Reckon’ we’ve got three songs which I think display the full sonic rainbow within our sound. We’ve already started writing new songs with the new lineup which have a much more spacey, post-rock feel to them. Personally, the electronica sound has been a major influence on me for the past few years which is finding its way in October’s music. We’re really excited about playing at Hauz Khas Social because of the great vibe the place has. Playing live gives us a live laboratory to test out new sounds and tunes and we get to know what the listeners feel about our music and if they are enjoying it or not.
Is music a passion or a profession for youIJ
Music is a not just the air we breathe but our livelihood as well; whether it is playing sessions for other bands or working as event organizers in the music scene or even teaching music. Despite our busy schedules, it’s the love for the music that we’re trying to create together that keeps us jamming and writing more music.
The description says that October is ‘a completely secular musical orgy’, beyond the implications of the phrase, what do you meanIJ
Essentially we need to be fusing multiple genres into our songs because all the band members have very different musical styles and tastes. Without this we would probably not be able to co-exist as a band. Every band member has a role to play in song writing therefore unintentionally our music becomes fused with influences from multiple genres and comes together to form the musical orgy called October.
What is the scenario of independent artistes/bands in IndiaIJ
The quality of independent artists has definitely gone up a couple of notches in the last five years. There a lot of artists who are exploring really interesting sounds and genres as compared to earlier when the genres were largely limited to grunge, classic rock and metal within rock music.
Is there any specific musical group that you look up toIJ
Given our diverse musical inspirations there are so many! The ones that inspire us as a band are Karnivool, Tool, Alice in Chains, Oceansize and Radiohead.