Interview

Babble & Beat - You've been working on new music. I understand there are 5 new songs for an EP!

How's that coming along? When do you think it will be released?

Dustin - The EP is going to be 6 songs. A lot went into writing them this time around. I did several re-writes for each song to make them just right. I feel they are our best songs to date. We are looking at an August 10th release possibly.

Ryan - We actually just finished all the recording and mixing.

Aaron - We have spent a lot time trying to make this the best thing that we have ever recorded.

Michael - Yeah, no fat. We put out the best six songs that we wrote over the last few months.

Babble & Beat - What's a typical day of recording like for you? Where do you record, what do you to prepare for it, etc.?

Dustin - We do most of the recording at my friend Jon King's place in Nashville called Smoking Gun (perfect Nashville name right?). With his help we do all of the production and I do the mixing.

Ryan - A lot of ideas come from our imagination in the studio. We start with a rough idea of the song and rehearse it with the band. Start making changes and see where it goes. Then we record a demo of the song and debate some more. When we feel like it's really on the way to becoming a great song we take the idea to the studio and let the magic happen.

Michael - We demo the idea in our home studio first. That demo comes from ideas that we come up with in rehearsal. Then we take it to the studio and make it come alive. We've been really good about pouring it on when it comes time to put it to tape.

Babble & Beat - You are going to be playing Milwaukee's Summerfest on July 5th! I'm so bummed because although I am going there on that very night I absolutely cannot get there before 8PM (so I'm going to miss your show).

Anything special planned for that performance? Have you ever played Summerfest before?

Dustin - We're trying out our new songs all this month and next; I'm looking forward to showing them off. We also might perform with live animals on stage... or perform LIKE wild animals.

Aaron - It's a secret.

Ryan - We are really excited about playing our new music to a brand new audience. It will be the first time some of the new songs have been played before an audience. Nobody is going to want to follow us!!

Michael - I had no idea Summerfest was this big of a deal. I mean Bon Jovi, Roger Waters, INXS, The October... how cool is that? We play so much better when there are a lot of people for us to vibe off of too!

Babble & Beat - The stage you're playing is the U.S. Cellular Connection Stage with Leinenkugel and FM 102.1.

To your knowledge has Milwaukee's FM 102.1 radio played any of your music yet? How tough has it been getting radio play in general?

Dustin - We just did a college radio campaign and charted in the CMJ 200 for 5 weeks. Local stations are also starting to embrace what we are doing as well. I think the future is bright when we are using these new songs as our headlights.

Aaron - When more and more people heard and saw us it became a little easier. Once one station picks up on it, others follow.

Michael - College radio has been pretty good to us actually. I think if we could get some play in the top 40 stations we would blow this thing out of the water.

Babble & Beat - Michael, we totally agree!

What covers have you done live? Which ones would you like to do live but haven't yet?

Ryan - Always wanted to do 'Just What I Needed' by The Cars. We've played 'Roxanne' by The Police, 'Lips Like Sugar' by Echo and the Bunnymen, and 'American Girl' by Tom Petty.

Babble & Beat - I've always loved the song 'Lips Like Sugar' (anything by Echo and the Bunnymen pretty much)!

Ryan - 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' by Simple Minds, 'Hungry Like the Wolf' by Duran Duran, 'Dreams' by The Cranberries... I'd like to do something by Queen or 'Take My Breath Away' by Berlin. Haha. No, really. Top Gun makes me want to punch someone in the face.

Babble & Beat - So, besides the upcoming EP, what other plans or goals do you have for 2007?

Dustin - We just spent 3 days filming a video for 'Runaway', one of the songs on our new EP. The footage is really amazing. We shot all over the downtown and parks in Lexington, KY. Also, I've been thinking a lot about learning gymnastics and fire breathing... at the same time.

Babble & Beat - Don't hurt those fantastic vocal chords of yours with that fire breathing!

Aaron - Touring on this new EP and keep writing the best music we know how.

Ryan - Right now we are booking a CD release shows for August and September.

Michael - Hopefully buddying up with some good bands to play some kickass shows and make peoples' faces melt.

Babble & Beat - Out of all your songs, which one did you have the most influence on?

Dustin - None in particular.

Ryan - That's so hard to answer because truly I feel that everyone has so much effect on the character of our songs that without that person, the song wouldn't be at all the same.

Michael - The band as a whole really shapes the songs. That sounds really cliché but we're a perfect example of that. Without Aaron beating the shit out of his drums or Ryan's finesse we wouldn't be The October at all.

Babble & Beat - I love the video for 'Gravity'! Who directed it? Was it fun or tedious to make?

Dustin - A friend of ours, Jon Gibson, did the filming. Mike and I did the editing and treatment.

Aaron - Yeah, we recorded in a day and through the night. It was a blast even though it was freezing and the ground was soaking wet.

Ryan - Yes, it was very fun but very cold. We stood on wet ground for nearly 7 hours filming.

Michael - It was shot when I first joined the band so I was still really new. A friend filmed it and then I edited and gave it to Dustin to add a few shots... it was cool. Prime example of a no budget success I would say because we spent like $5 on some cheese and crackers...

Babble & Beat - I know we've all seen million dollar music videos that leave you saying "next." So, you've really made quite an accomplishment here!

Earlier this year Jane Magazine featured you in a compilation CD that went out to all of their subscribers. That's pretty exciting! How did that come about? How much do you think it helped The October?

Dustin - A good friend of ours encouraged me to send in a song for it... actually, she pretty much made me do it. I'm glad we did, it worked out.

Aaron - Anything that puts us out in the public eye, such as magazines and radio, is a huge help for us.

Michael - We all got free make-up for a year so that's really cool... I kid, I kid.

Juicy Tidbits Section

This is where we ask personal questions for the fans. Yeah, they're often stupid questions. We like reading the answers though!

Babble & Beat - Please name a couple things you love about Kentucky (or the Midwest).

Ryan - Kentucky girls, horses, and Southern hospitality. There is a sense of home here that I haven't found anywhere else.

Michael - The people are sincerely interested in you here. No real agenda... just to feed you and make sure you're doing alright. My mom is a perfect example. She fed pretty much my entire neighborhood growing up, my football team, meanwhile holding down a full-time job and taking care of my grandparents... I love that about Kentucky.

When I graduated from college I moved to L.A. and it was the most lonely feeling ever. Sure, there's this big fashion thing and music scene but I felt like everyone was just copying each other. That's really what I like about the OCT... we do our own thing and if it's cool and people want to copy us that's cool. If not, that's cool too. I think Martin Scorsese put it best in his film The Departed when he said, "I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me," or something like that.

Aaron - Our grass is blue and you order sweet tea in a restaurant. It's really a pretty state overall.

Dustin - The slower life, it's great to come home to it.

Babble & Beat - Name a band you've been compared to, even if once, and your thoughts on it.

Dustin - Someone asked me if I would play a Hinder (the band) song one night. I stole his kidneys later that night... but that's not a comparison... let me stick to the questions. The Cure, early U2, and probably some silly stuff I don't remember.

Michael - One night in Memphis someone told me we were like a mix between the Mars Volta and The Killers... hahaha. Although he was wayyy off I could've kissed that guy.

Babble & Beat - Your favorite Halloween costume (as a child or adult) was...

Dustin - Max Headroom. I built a TV out of a box when I was in like the 4th grade.

Babble & Beat - That's awesome!

Aaron - Catholic school girl.

Babble & Beat - Nice.

Ryan - The Pirate!

Michael - I went as 50 Cent one year, which was cool. Oh, and a baked potato... that's a fun one because you just have to wrap yourself in aluminum foil.

Babble & Beat - Wow. I obviously lacked a lot of creativity in this department as a child. Although, my mother, who I swear really is fantastic, let me go dressed as a hooker in 5th grade. Otherwise, I always went as your standard witch, ghost, clown, ballerina, etc.

Your preferred Saturday night drink is (specifically)...

Aaron - Whiskey on the rocks.

Ryan - Jack and Cola or an ice cold Heineken.

Michael - The darkest beer you can give me... Guinness, Boddingtons, or something cool that I've never even heard about.

Babble & Beat - I love dark beer, especially Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout!

Do you have a side job? If so, doing what kind of work?

Dustin - I own my own company and I'm a Music Producer, Mix Engineer, Art / Print Designer. It's called Plume Media Group (funny that it's a "group" but I do about 99% of the work).

Babble & Beat - "We" at Babble and Beat is 98.5% of the time "me." So, I totally understand!

Aaron - Yeah, Carpenter.

Ryan - Sometimes an Electrician, sometimes I teach guitar.

Michael - My brother is an Electrical Contractor so he gives me work whenever I'm not doing music. I'm also trying to get a video editing thing off the ground.

In Closing

Thanks so much for talking with us! Have a fantastic rest of the summer!

Links:
Official website
MySpace - music clips!