Austin’s The Octopus Project just released their 3rd album, Hello, Avalanche, this fall and are in the process of wrapping up their summer tour. Ever since their fans spoke up in 2006 and got the band a spot at the Coachella Fest for that year, the number of converts has only continued to grow well outside of Texas. The band recently took time out to kndly answer a few questions for MOC.

What were the events that lead to the Octopus Project’s formation?

We were all in bands together in high school/college, and after being the back-up band in a friend’s band, we decided that we wanted to break out and do something on our own. That was around 1998-99. The Octopus Project formed out of the combination of ideas from a couple of other bands, Harry Bugus All Stars (me and Toto) and Invisible Robot Fish (collective of people). The former was a recording project where Toto and I just made up goofy songs, and covered other songs. It was mostly an excuse to mess around and record as much stuff as possible – seeing how far we could take things. The songs weren’t super-awesome, but it was a ton of fun. The latter was an improvisational band where we would go to a club in Houston once a week on open mic night, and just let loose for 20 minutes. There were no rules, and we never practiced or wrote any songs. It sounds like it could be boring, but we tried to make it as fun as possible. None of us were great musicians by any means, so we kinda rested more on our creativity/noise making abilities rather than actual skill.

What was the approach to recording your 3rd album ([b]Hello Avalanche )?

In the past, we’ve always recorded in Austin at home or at a friend’s studio, and it has always taken forever for us to get things finished. For Hello Avalanche , we decided that we wanted to get away from Austin, and seclude ourselves in the mountains outside of Seattle – pretty much as far away from home as we could be. The idea was that we’d record and mix the record in a month, and be done. We finished the recording in the studio, but felt like the mixing could use some more time, so we spent a month and a half working on it at home, then took it into a studio to do some final touches for a couple of days.

Why the decision to work with an outside producer for the album?

We’ve been recording ourselves forever, and know how to get most of the sounds we wanted with the limited equipment we have, but it’s never sounded exactly like what we want. For this record, we wanted things to sound a little more polished, but still have some dirty, nasty sounding stuff. We worked with Ryan Hadlock up at Bear Creek outside of Seattle. He has recorded some amazing sounding records (Blonde Redhead, Black Heart Procession), and we felt like it was a good fit. Since we knew how to get the crazy, lo-fi stuff, we left the more shiny sounding stuff to him.

Is it difficult to replicate the Octopus Project’s sound live with the variety of instruments used while recording?

Sometimes it’s difficult, sometimes not. The songs on the first couple of records were recorded mostly before we started playing them live, so figuring out how to actually play them together was a trick. We have some backing tracks on an iPod for things that are just impossible to recreate live (cut-up beats, extra keyboard parts). But, we’re trying to veer away from that avenue. The songs feel a lot fuller when we’re not relying on the iPod. The newer songs are about half and half. Now, we try and trigger samples off of a sampler, or use sequences that we’re actually controlling rather than just hitting “play.”

As far as instruments, there have been a few difficult things. For example, we have a song called, “I Saw the Bright Shinies” that has multi-tracked Theremins on the recording. Live, we had to change it up a bit. Yvonne plays one Theremin part, but the other two parts are played on guitar and keyboard. But, other songs like [/i]“Truck”[/i] are pretty much exactly the same live as they are on the record.

Even though all of your members seem to be fully capable of playing any instrument put in front of them, is there anything that is specifically reserved for only one member, live or on recordings?

The only instrument that only one of us can play is the Theremin. We let Yvonne have full reign of that one. She’s a fantastic player, and it really wouldn’t do the instrument justice to have any of the rest of us goof around on it. It’s her domain. Everything else is up for grabs though.

What is the main mode of transport for the Octopus Project on the road?

We have a big, white Chevy van. No trailer or extra people yet. It’s tight with 4 people in there, but we each get our own seat, so it all works out ok.

How do you guys do to pass the time?

We listen to an awful lot of music, read, work on music, look out the window, think, sleep… Even though we might drive for 10 hours, I never feel like I get really bored. There’s always something to do.

What are some of your favorite venues and cities to visit?

Besides Austin, we always have pretty stellar times in Chicago[b], [b]San Francisco, New York, Knoxville (it’s a great place, really!), etc… The Pilot Light in Knoxville is a tiny, but lovely place to play. We also really like Bimbo’s in SF, the Metro in Chicago, Irving Plaza in New York. There are way too many places to name. We’ve been lucky to play in some great towns at some amazing clubs.

Are there any bands that you have particularly enjoyed playing with?

We just toured with our friends from Austin called Diagonals, and it was great! We’ve also had the chance to tour with some super-cool folks, Trail of Dead, Enon, Stereo Total, Starlight Mints, and Aesop Rock. We’ve become good friends with them since touring together, so that’s really nice.

Are there any dream tour lineups that you would love to be apart of?

If time and money were no option….

1. The Beatles (of course, but c’mon!)
2. Led Zeppelin (see #1)
3. Deerhoof
4. Air
5. Alice Coltrane
6. The Tammys
7. The Zombies
8. Steve Reich
9. Fela Kuti
10. Francoise Hardy
11. Fugazi
12. Liars
13. MIA
14. Neutral Milk Hotel
15. Sonic Youth


How have your experiences been playing the big festivals like Coachella and Lollapalooza? Is there time to check out other bands? Have you noticed any of the other bands in your audience?

Both of those festivals were mind-blowingly amazing. It’s really hard to explain, but it’s kinda like Christmas morning for three days straight. I mean, it’s always been my dream to get to play next to the most amazing bands in the world. I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to fulfill that dream. We had an outstanding time playing the festivals, but it was also completely awesome to get to check out the other bands, and hang around behind the scenes. It makes you realize that everyone is way more normal than you would have thought. It doesn’t seem out of place at all to be eating lunch next to Perry Farrell or Karen O.

I haven’t noticed anyone in the audience from other bands, but who knows…

It looks as though your tour is wrapping up early fall after an appearance at ACL, what
are the Octopus Project’s plans for after that?

After ACL, we’re going to be heading out east for a couple of weeks of touring. Nothing super long. But, when we get back we’re going to hunker down and start focusing on making a new record. Exciting!!

THANKS FOR THE INTERVIEW OCTOPUS PROJECT!

Thanks for the interview Ryan and Make Out Club!!


The Octopus Project
www.theoctopusproject.com

Hello, Avalanche is out now

Aug 28 Lola’s Ft. Worth, Texas
Aug 29 Warehouse Live - ALL AGES! Houston, Texas
Sep 28 Austin City Limits Festival Austin, Texas

Photo Gina Gutierrez / Wiley Wiggins