New Orleans based indie rock/emo unit More October have been blasting their brand of intense, high energy music for the last couple of years.
Their latest singles “Door” and “the Beatles if they were good” harness a blend of intricate guitars, passionate vocals and relentlessness making them two of my favorite tracks of the year.
I caught up with the band recently to talk about their early musical experiences, how they got together and their love of film director Wong Kar wai.
CMM-What was the first music that really made an impact on you all as kids and what artist or band did you all enjoy the most?
Luke( guitar vocals) – as a kid I loved all the music my older sister would show me. She would play lots of pop punk of the late 2000’s like fall out boy, Paramore and panic at the disco
Sam (vocals) – Linkin Park and Shania Twain!!! *now I only listen to 10 hour long ambient music comps and 90’s Jpop
Matthew (bass) – A few of my favorite artists growing up were The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Rush
Gabe (drums) – I’ve drawn a lot of early influence from listening to Led Zeppelin, Rush, and various other rock artists that my parents would listen to. I can’t pick a favorite out of all of them, but I have certainly adopted parts of their sounds and nuances when it comes to playing and writing drum parts.
CMM- How did the band form and start writing songs and developing your own sound?
More October- the band started after I (Luke) started playing in a punk band called donner party and started to meet lots of great people in the New Orleans punk scene and listening to the new wave of emo music which I guess is the 5th wave??? Idk. Too many waves. This lead to writing some songs inspired by the new wave and previous waves of emo and alt/ indie bands I was getting really in to at the time. Everyone in the band previously played in a band called the jinks and we are all close friends that hang out outside of music stuff so it naturally came back together to form more October. Gabe and Matt grew up playing percussion in the marching band together so their souls are intertwined in rhythm. Sam and I were born as a conjoined twin at the hip (surgically corrected in young adolescence) post surgery we grew up as a writing duo making shitty songs on acoustic guitar together.
CMM- The group recently released a pair of new songs called “Door” and “The Beatles If They Were Good”. What was the writing and recording process like for those and were there any particular pieces of gear you used to get the sound you were looking for?
More October- we recently recorded “Beatles” and “door” at my home studio! Instrumental inspo for Beatles harks on the sounds of bands like American football, mom jeans and Algernon Caldwaller. Lyrically the song rips the first verse phrase scheme from for no one by the Beatles (hence the name). For door instrumentally the song is inspired by 2nd wave emo like sunny day real estate and others. Lyrically the song is about the reality of a break up after a long term relationship and trying to see who gets the old couch you bought together. I have a very good relationship with my girlfriend and a happy life so when writing sad emo songs I find myself pulling from friends experiences and made up scenarios in my head and the strange feelings and events that could happen with them. 🙂
Recording process – we recorded those two songs at our humble home studio in Broadmore. Notably I use a bass amp for all the guitars (ampeg svt). It’s the best amp I’ve found for punchy clean with a little dirt break up and also it has all the detail you could ever want in the mids. for bass Matt has a cool short scale mustang bass that has flat wounds. Gabe has a really nice kit but on these songs we used my shitty jelly bean kit at my house plus Gabe’s nice snare and array of beautiful cymbals.
CMM-If the band could do a score for any film director, who would it be and what would the film be about?
More October– if we were able to do a score for a movie I would love to do it for a director like Wong Kar wai. I’m a huge fan of his movies and I think he uses contemporary music in such a compelling and tasteful way. Our music isn’t very cinematic so a director who knows how to use contemporary music like that would be cool. I love watching a good character driven movie with compelling relatable characters experiencing the strangeness of life. It would be cool to see our music in a subtle character driven drama/ comedy about a doomed relationship like that.
CMM-Anything Coming Up?
More October- we are currently working on new music right now and we are trying to set up some small tours in the late winter / early spring time! Keep an eye out 🙂
