Blue October FFTLT CD Video

heres the link to the video content

http://blueoctober.com/foiledcontent/main/tour.asp

Blue October Interview

Blue October
Justin Furstenfeld Interview
Cincinnati, Ohio
Live Photos

Blue October is riding the wave of success from their hit single, “Hate Me” from their 2006 release, “Foiled.” Unfortunately, their spring tour was briefly interrupted due to a baseball accident that sidelined Justin Furstenfeld for a couple of months as “Hate Me” was breaking. Blue October has been waiting for this moment for a long time as the band formed in Texas in 1998. Blue October was dropped by Universal Records and then picked up again due to the band’s undying passion for making music…and good music it is. See MusicPix’s Blue October show review:

After a few months off, Justin’s back on tour with the support of crutches. MusicPix had the opportunity to talk with Justin backstage at Bogart’s, Cincinnati, Ohio prior to his performance and he is as delightful to speak with as his music is to listen to. Justin is one of those performers whose stage persona just doesn’t match what’s underneath the skin. We found a sincere, humorous man whose eyes light up when he speaks of the love he has for his wife… he’s an honest guy who has struggled with life’s challenges inside and outside of his head. Justin speaks genuinely from his heart and he’s one of those guys that you’d like to hang out with after the show. Here’s our conversation:

MusicPix: I’d like to let you know that we’ve been waiting to talk to you for a long time as this interview was scheduled before your accident back in May.

Justin: Yeah, I was in a baseball stadium and I said I’ve got to run the bases! I wear a suit and dress shoes on stage, so I didn’t change into my tennies. I ran around the bases and hit home plate…and you know how the sand builds up on home plate? Well, I slid and heard my leg go ‘pop-pop-pop-pop’- I broke my fibula and tore my PTL, LZL, MZL and I’ve had to sit on my butt…I’ve gained all this weight cause I’ve had to be at home and I can’t work out.

MusicPix: We’re just glad that you’re vertical and performing…but we’re wondering if something positive resulted from having to take a time-out as your new album started blowing up?

Justin: I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with my wife and I did a lot of physical therapy of course…and actually I got to sit and watch it (meaning “Foiled”) bloom and blossom and didn’t have to do anything…it was the first song that I’ve written that actually did anything. I’d always heard about it. It wasn’t like we were busting into cities saying “hey, we’ve got a new album and go buy it.” It was me, just sitting at home, watching it and it was like WOW, look at it take off. I got to watch it on Fuse and on VH1 and I said, ‘honey, this is pretty amazing. I’ve got to get back out there.’

MusicPix: Did you write during your recovery?

Justin: No, I did not write at all. I played the piano because it just calms me down. While my wife made dinner, I would just jam on the piano…it was awesome. I came up with a few ideas. I’ve been asked to write a song for this movie called “Trade”…a film for Lion’s Gate Films. At first, I was really excited but then they told me that Bob Dylan, Tom York from Radiohead, Billy Jo Armstrong from Green Day are actually writing also…so all of a sudden it was ‘Oh God!” So I’ve been working on that specifically.

Blue October Live Photos

MusicPix: I want to talk about “Hate Me” as an apology and we assume your mother was one of the recipients of that apology. What was it like to have her on the set and included in the video after you purged all of those feelings?

Justin: It was a great release. My whole life, I’ve always been the guy who writes songs about as bluntly honest as I can. Having my Mom in the video was just so true to the fact. To me as an artist, I couldn’t have had anyone else do it. It was just so brilliant. There were so many issues that I had to go through, like drug addition, that my Mom had to go through with me and all that stuff…there were really some awful times. Awful things that I did to her and in other relationships by simply not caring. It gets to a point where you forget. And finally you come up above water one day and no one is really there anymore…I was 28 years old at the time, and it was time to get my stuff together and start proving myself. In a 12 Step Program, one of the steps is admit, apologize, and confront the people that you hurt. So this was me skipping a bunch of steps and going right to the core because I’d already been through so much hell. That was my main reason for making the video that way. I didn’t want a video that was ‘boy does too many drugs, girl leaves him, end of story. No, I wanted to show that your Mother could die while you’re in an alley and you’d never even know. The director was an amazing man and I was honored to work with a director like that. I didn’t have to say anything, I just sat back and boom… He got the treatment, he got the vision…normally I would be like ‘ddddd…this has to be changed or that has to be changed.’

MusicPix: It’s really a beautiful visual representation of your feelings. I’ve got a six year old son and he’s really into the song-he’s sings it all the time. But I’m not crazy about the word hate. I work hard to explain the seriousness of the word. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s one of the most over-used words in the world…’I hate this, I hate that,’ without recognizing how many times people unconsciously say the word.

Justin: That’s one of the reasons why I put it in the song. It’s funny, my nephew right now can’t say it either cause his mother has told him to sing “Love Me Today-Love Me Tomorrow.” So whenever I call, he’s like ‘Love Me Today, Love Me Tomorrow” and it’s like whew..

MusicPix: What do you truly hate?

Justin: Myself…I could never hate another human being, but I’ve hated myself for the things that I’ve done…I’m getting over that now because I’m clean and I’m trying to work out.

MusicPix: You’ve hated the things you’ve done, not yourself…that’s different.

Justin: Yeah, it was the things that I was doing. The only way to present that is to use that strong of word. Your parents said ‘never hate anyone’…and you learn that at a very young age in school and in church. But instead of saying F-U-C-K (spells the word instead of saying it) or use all these curse words…instead, take an English word that isn’t a curse word, because it has more impact. But it really sucks when my little nephew can’t sing it.

MusicPix: Fans and artists are so different when it comes to the show experience. It may be the greatest show or night of a fan’s life. For you or any other artist, it’s on the road touring and we know it’s tough, we know it’s hard. How do you motivate yourself to give that fan a true and memorable concert experience?

Justin: When I get up in the morning, when I’m not with my wife, I get really angry. Or when I talk to my parents or my friends, and I have to say, ‘Oh God, relax they love you. They have a life too. As much as they might be frustrated with you, they love you.’ So take it back to “Hate Me” when all you thought of was yourself and use those skills you’ve learned about listening. So about an hour before I go on stage, I look at pictures of my wife and my family and use my anger of ‘man I wish I didn’t have to be out here.” But when I get on stage, I’m mad for myself and I look out at all these people and it fuels me even more. The only reason I get mad before I go on stage because it’s a tool. You don’t want to be sad because it would be boring. You don’t want to be happy because it wouldn’t be truthful. It’s a place where I can start from because we usually start with a pretty energetic song. There’s a lot going on.

MusicPix: And the audience is circulating energy back to you too so I guess you’re feeling a tremendous amount of stuff?

Justin: Yeah, just the other night there were these two girls standing up front crying their eyes out. One of them lifted her sleeve to show me razor marks all over her arm…and I was like (SFX:explosions…ahh) I don’t make it a point to sign autographs since my leg got broken, but I made it a point to go out there and meet that girl. She was just crying and I kept thinking, ‘all of my crap that I’ve gone through is nothing compared to hers.’ I was there. I know what she’s going through. This was a 15 year old little girl going through that gothic dark period in her life where everything sucks…her parents suck, and I just wanted to let her know that it gets better.

MusicPix: Which leads into my next question…Music is such a thing to hold onto in the best and worst times. What was your musical life preserver?

Justin: Peter Gabriel…all the way…he’s genius with his words. He’s been through divorces and things like that…just the way he pronounces the words. [Justin speaking/singing] Digging in the dirt…to find the places I got hurt…to open up the places I got hurt…It’s like Oh My God, that’s it-That’s it!!! And then he gets his anger out: Shut your mouth, just drive the car. Shut your mouth, I know who you are. Don’t say nothing, keep your hands on the wheel. Don’t turn around… cuz this is for real. He sounds like he’s taking someone out to kill them somewhere. And then he turns around…with Digging in the Dirt….For me, I hold onto that. If there’s another man out there thinking the same things I am and can put it into song, then I think, “hang in there man.” You wish that you could have this iPod on all the time because when it gone, it’s you again. Where are you Peter? I need you baby! I can’t tell you how many times the guys in the bus say please stop playing Dig in the Dirt…will you please stop playing the Us album, or Don’t Give Up…Oh My God!! I love that song.

MusicPix: You’ve talked about the importance of family…you’re fortunate because your brother Jeremy is your drummer and travels with you. We’ve followed a handful of family bands and it just seems like the music is deeper…there’s something more. Could you talk about what it’s like to work with your brother?

Justin: I can’t tell you how many times my brother has been there for me. I wish I could say that I’ve been there for him. He’s not like me because I talk about everything under the sun…it’s gets annoying to my wife sometimes…and having my brother out there everyday is huge because I’m always ‘Emergency Justin’ and he understands. My brother is the only thing I’ve got out here. I’ve got my band but I mean when it’s that dark spot-he’s there 24/7. I wish I could wrap up the moon for him and give it to him as a present. He’s just the guy who is very strong and I never know if something is wrong.

MusicPix: Since your life is an open book, is there anything you won’t talk about musically?

Justin: I used to use relationships like an open book in albums but now that I’m married, I would never speak about the bad times in our marriage, I would never go there. If we had a baby, I would talk about how beautiful it is, or I could write about when I go to sleep, (his wife) is the only thing that makes me sleep well. I could write about the good things but never the dirt… only beautiful times.

MusicPix: I respect that because there are things in a marriage that are private.

Justin: Yeah because if I write a poem to my wife, the Universe would pick it up so I have to be careful. I would only write about my wife in beautiful terms. She’s a wonderful lady.

MusicPix: Talking about relationships…your relationship with Universal is similar to a re-marriage… in your case it looks like it’s really working out. Is there any trepidation?

Justin: No, I’m a businessman first. This is business to me. I’ve said this in many interviews: If I owned a shoe company and I hire you to build the best shoe and I gave you a boat load of money to build that best shoe and it didn’t sell, I’d have to come to you and say I’m sorry, your shoe didn’t sell. That’s just business. But in the music business, when you do that after the fact like we did…we kept pumping and pumping it and touring and growing this fan base and we were like, ‘what’s goin’ on?” Then a little radio station out of Dallas called The Edge started playing one of our songs and it just blew up and then all these labels started calling. I knew Universal already and they were honest with me. They talked to me and didn’t send me a letter… or talk to my manager. They sat me face to face and said you’re just not selling. I understand that. So, I didn’t want to go and re-explain myself to a brand new label. It would be just like, put them on the shelf with the other art bands. If doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But these guys have a commitment. I really know that they will take care of our band as long as I keep writing songs.

MusicPix: I want to go back to the “Hate Me” video… your appearance, your phrasing, your body language, is strikingly similar to Mike Ness of Social Distortion. Although your musical styles are very different, you have similar pasts as we’ve interviewed Mr. Ness…

Justin: [Appears somewhat amazed at our comment/compliment] Oh, wow…oh, wow…that’s an awesome compliment. No, nobody has ever said that to me.

MusicPix: I can also tell by the look in your eyes when you talked about your fans that they are like family. Can you talk about the ‘Blue Meanies?’

Justin: When we started, we had this core of fans that we could talk to and really created a bond with and it’s grown from there… we’d have coffee with, so when we see them, we hug them, have lunch with them. Things are bigger now and it’s different. They’ve taken it upon themselves to run the open book board by themselves in a very respectful cool way. I hope that they know that we’ve not forgotten about them because we can’t just jump off and go off and have coffee with them and things like that. They are just really cool people. You’ll always have those people on the Internet though that will just bite ya, but they tend to just rip them a new one. A big tight knit family.

MusicPix: With the physical injury, how has it affected you emotionally?

Justin: Well, I’m a showman so I’m the guy who’s running amuck on stage and I’ve never been this big physically because I’ve had to lay on my butt for a couple of months because I’ve got one of those body types. Its weird getting back on stage…are they thinking I’m fat? Are they thinking I’m fat? But the other night at the House of Blues, I finally put these down (the crutches) and I started walking the stage from left to right and I got that feeling back. I thought I lost it. I haven’t been writing …I haven’t been performing…I always have to be a showman, so it will come back to me I suppose. It’s like riding a bike. Last night, was my first night without training wheels. Tonight is my second night without training wheels so we’ll see how it goes.

MusicPix: What age did you really start getting into music?

Justin: I was in theater most of my life…I went to high school for performing and visual arts for theater and creative writing with voice and diction classes. I just found that the acting business was far too cut throat. So for me, the music is great. If you don’t like me, that OK, you can leave. I’ve always been singing. My mom used to say I used to sit on the curb and sing: One , Two, Three, Four Five (very theatrically.) People would say that I had this beautiful opera voice as a young boy.

MusicPix: What artist/performer influenced you the most?

Justin: Definitely Peter Gabriel and a band called Idaho.

MusicPix: If you weren’t in your current band, what band would you like to play in?

Justin: Idaho…no, because he’s already got a lead singer. No, I’d like to be the guitarist…that would be cool.

MusicPix: What are your 3 ‘desert island’ albums?

Justin: Idaho-Alas, Peter Gabriel-Us, and I’m going to trick you on the last one. A CD my wife made for me with all these different songs on it.

MusicPix: A special musical message from your significant other. I know the power of ‘selects’…that’s a very special CD…

MusicPix: Who do you think is the most over-rated in the music industry?

Justin: I can’t answer that…I respect anybody who gets in a bus and goes away from their family. How about Polka…never liked it, never will.

MusicPix: What’s your ‘perfect world?’

Justin: Oh man… my perfect world would be…I just won a Grammy, I just bought a ranch for my wife with two horses so we could ride together and had a baby.

The Band

Justin Furstenfeld — vocals, guitar
Ryan Delahoussaye— violin, viola, mandolin, keyboard, backup vocals
Jeremy Furstenfeld— drums
C.B. Hudson — guitar
Matt Noveskey — bass guitar

Discography

The Answers-1998
Consent to Treatment-2000
History for Sale -2003
Argue With a Tree Double Live CD –2004
Foiled-2006

Director of into the ocean interview

Blue October “Into The Ocean” Music Video - Interview With Director Zach Merck

For director Zach Merck, there is no school like the old school, which is why his music videos are driven by strong narrative elements. Merck strives to visually capture the musical essence of any band he directs, whether it’s the frenetic energy of the punk rock/metal band Converge in “Eagles Become Vultures,” or the rough-edged exuberance of the folk-influenced rock in the Dropkick Murphys’ “Sunshine Highway.”

Merck’s recent video is the lushly theatrical, Moby Dick-inspired “Into the Ocean” by Blue October, which draws upon the narrative videos that defined the first generation of music videos. Merck recently talked to MVWire about working with Blue October on their latest project.

Watch: Blue October “Into The Ocean”

MVWire: What type of music videos appeal to you the most?

Zach Merck: I like the older 90’s - 80’s style video where there is a story. A lot of times with budgets going down it’s become more of a visual thing. Sometimes you get lucky like Brian Barber telling some big crazy story with Christine Aguilera or something like that. But that doesn’t happen very often.

MVWire: Talk about filming the latest video by Blue October, “Into the Ocean.”

ZM: I wanted to do something that was really theatrical, crazy, cool costumes…you know what I mean, like bad weather … just go nuts and make it like painting a picture versus just shooting a band in another big room of marble staircase. Something just really kind of cool and elegant and beautiful and different and moody.

MVWire: What was the process in determing the overall look of the video?

ZM: Ketil Detrickson was the DP, he and I just sat down for days ahead of time and just had a ton of visual references; like the “Tonight, Tonight” video by Smashing Pumpkins, we pulled elements from all of our favorite …. All of those awesome big budget videos like when we were kids. Just wanted to do something that was throwback like that beautiful but still elegant like an old stage play from like the vaudeville era.

MVWire: The final scene with the rain seemed to tie the audience together with people on stage.

ZM: Like even going further into it …. I have been a fan of the band for a really long time and Justin the singer is one of the most beautiful people in the universe but he is also a very depressed individual and I knew there was something going on there where… you know the song is about suicide. And I really read into and I was thinking about Moby Dick and trying to overcome this whale and I got way into it mentally and I’m writing the idea and that’s what I loved about the rain in the end was that its Justin’s stage play like Justin is trying to tell this story this metaphor for how he is feeling and then it rains and everyone leaves… but no one is going to listen anyways. He just loved that.

MVWire: Was the lead singer, Justin Furstenfeld, involved with the making of the video?

ZM: He was after the fact…basically I wrote the concept knowing what I knew about him, they (it) solicited out to a bajillion directors. He ended up picking my treatment, which was great, and we got on the phone and sat down … you know, change some stuff. Some stuff that he loved and some stuff that he said my concept was a little too happy. He was like, “You know how you have the ballerinas? Let’s make them zombies make them look like they have been doing heroin all night,” that kind of shit. He definitely got involved with the concept he had chosen.

MVWire: What was the overall feel that you wanted to accomplish in post?

ZM: We went in and sat with Dave Hussey and just really dialed it in and tried different looks. We just wanted the feel to be timeless and old and different than just some oversaturated, colorful video or whatever. We really wanted to go in and just kind of almost make it like if you opened up and old trunk in your Grandmothers attic and found some reel of the stage play, like that kind of vibe.

The whole thing is supposed to be in the singer’s head, so he is sitting in the audience, watching the stage play unfold that’s a metaphor for what’s going on with him right now. There is a card sitting next to him where it says reserved for my wife… he is speaking out to his wife because in reality what the song is about he wanted to commit suicide and he was so scared of letting all these people down, his wife, his band.

Credits:

Production Co.: @radical.media
Director: Zach Merck
DP: Ketil Dietrichson
Editor: David Baum
Colorist: Dave Hussey

Risky business for Blue October

The last time the Houston rockers played here, frontman Justin Furstenfeld ended up in a wheelchair. They boldly challenge that karma.

By JAY CRIDLIN
Published January 18, 2007

Blue October singer Justin Furstenfeld seems to harbor no grudge toward the Tampa Bay area - even though he has every right to be bitter.

Fueled by the hit Hate Me, the Houston rockers were poised for a breakout 2006 until April 29, when they played a concert at Bright House Networks Field in Clearwater. After the show, the band was goofing around running the bases when Furstenfeld slipped on home plate, smashing his leg and tearing ligaments in his knee. The injury put him in a wheelchair and sidelined Blue October just as its album, Foiled, was taking off.

Blue October was supposed to re- turn to Tampa in December for the 97X Next Big Thing 6, but Furstenfeld reinjured the leg weeks before the show, knocking them out again.

Furstenfeld is finally healthy, and he’s ready for another show in the bay area, Saturday at Jannus Landing in St. Petersburg.

This area hasn’t been very good to you, has it?

As far as you guys giving us a lot of support, it’s one of the best. But the karma there? I don’t know what’s going on. Every time I come to Tampa I hurt myself. Maybe this time I’ll be dressed up in a mummy suit so it’ll pad me if I fall. laughs

It wasn’t exactly the most rock ‘n’ roll injury. It wasn’t like Iggy Pop slashing his chest with a broken beer bottle or anything.

Yeah, it was basically stupidity - a child coming out of a grown 30-year-old, running around the bases in dress shoes and a suit, forgetting that home plate gathers sand.

Did you get any cool get-well cards from fans?

I basically got e-mails upon e-mails upon e-mails - people wanting to help me pay for the surgery, and things like that. I would never take money from anybody - it was just really nice to know that people were there, though. People wanted to put together benefit shows and stuff, and I was like, “Dude, it’s cool! I broke my leg, I’ll take care of it!”

How did the band react? You couldn’t pick a worse time for it to happen.

I’m going to have to throw a real big party for those guys for supporting me, because they’ve been the best friends and the most understanding people. It’s their job, and when they’re off work, they’re not getting paid.

Do you still have a limp?

My wife calls it my pimp walk. So I’ll go with that.

Did you guys freak out when you opened for the Rolling Stones in November?

You have no clue, dude. . . . I walked out and it was just boom, a crowd of 30,000 people. I freaked out when they actually clapped, and we got a minor standing ovation when we were done. I was just like, “What?” I would expect them to be like, “Get off the stage!”

Is meeting Mick and Keith like meeting the pope? Are there rites and rituals you have to observe?

Someone of Mick’s stature, you have to understand that he’s probably not going to shake your hand. He’s going to tap you on the wrist, because that’s how he shakes hands. He’s a smart guy; he doesn’t want to get germs. . . . Seeing Mick right next to me, and having Keith Richards’ arm around me while I’m sitting in a wheelchair taking a picture -I was just like, “What the hell did I do right?”

Is that the most star-struck you’ve ever been?

Honestly, I think meeting 50 Cent was. I got to sit down for about two hours and just hang with him.

What did you talk about?

Religion, love, parents,

Rotation

By Brad Tyer 

Published: August 11, 1994

Wazobia
Seeds of Democracy
Aim-West Records

The members of Houston’s Wazobia, coalescing at Texas Southern University, represent four countries — Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, America — and boast fluency in seven languages. So it’s not much of a surprise that their musical product is Afrocentric world beat, with nods to Jamaican dub and reggae and American rap. As represented on Seeds of Democracy, it’s a relatively unique sound in a melting-pot city that probably should have more of it, but Wazobia — which the band says means “come together” — fills the void nicely.

There’s a sampling of dancy party tunes here (including “Jammin’ Tonite,” “Nasty Boys,” “Rastamuffin” and the sole cover, Sir Victor Uwaifo’s “Five Days Lover”) but for the most part, Wazobia sends its shouts out in the political arena — without, however, abandoning the danceable vibe of its reggae foundations. South African democracy is a musical priority, and if sloganeering sentiments such as “We got to live together” and “Children of today are leaders of tomorrow” aren’t likely to surprise anybody who cares, they do fit more comfortably in the unstilted context of world beat rhythms than in the various political-rock bands that strain to make the same points. Nelson Mandela is name-dropped ceaselessly, alongside Marcus Garvey, Fela Kuti, Steve Biko, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, which, in the current party-band climate of beachwear endorsements, feels like more of a statement than it actually is.

Skip track one, “Boom bye bye (Apartheid),” a misguidedly minimalist attempt at fusing dancehall patois and Philip Glass squeaks that sounds like someone forgot to finish it, and jump straight into the rest of the disk, where solid rhythms, chiming upbeats and extraordinary gruff vocals combine for an authentic roots reggae sound, especially satisfying on “Tribute (Part 1).”

– Brad Tyer

Acacia
Acacia
Self-produced

If the trend in dance music is towards industrialization and dissonance, Acacians Kelly Michael Spoden (the stylish boy) and Rose Ann Neis (the blondish girl) are dance track traditionalists, sticking faithfully to the basics of programmed drumbeats, plonking synthesized bass lines and lighter-than-air melodies. Lyrically, the songs are about something, as songs must be, but subject matter is so ethereal in the glossy wash of sound that it hardly seems to matter here.

Spoden and Neis have packaged a professional sounding product, with a restrained instrumental sense that avoids most of the amateur pitfalls of sampled gimmickry, and their vocals, separately and combined, are polished and powerful beyond what one would expect from their minimal resumes. Problem is, what they do so well in the limited generic-dance field has been done well so often before that, without any distinguishing marks in the sound, this offering comes off as the aural equivalent of those model-family photographs that come as standard equipment with a new wallet. It’s not hard to imagine KRBE spinning a few of these tracks, but it’s difficult to conceive of any-one remembering who they’ve just heard.

– Brad Tyer

The Last Wish
The First of February
Royal Blue Productions

The Last Wish has built an enviable local following in what seems like a mere moment (though the CD at hand is actually a follow-up to the band’s Rooftop Sessions tape) and it’s not hard to see why. Seven kids — boys and girls, mostly still in their teens — playing mellow music that even their parents must be proud to recommend to strangers makes for a unique cross-generational appeal in the local scene. And if the kids forego the tired youth-rock sounds of guitar, guitar and more guitar in favor of gently rolling R.E.M.-meets-10,000 Maniacs compositions featuring prominent violins and cello, all the better to set them apart from the crowd, my dear.

In large part it works, especially if you’re the sort of college student who thinks it’s a crime that your student fees are used to help finance KTRU, which, as everybody knows, is a rat’s nest of cliquish miscreants who only play ugly music that nobody likes. The First of February isn’t ugly. In fact, it’s downright pretty, with the lilting melodies of singers Justin Furstenfeld and Amy Immel wafting over strummed acoustic chord progressions, punctuated by feisty fiddle lines and laid out on a haunting bed of stringed ambiance.

What doesn’t work can be attributed to the flip side of one of the band’s strengths — youth. The Last Wish has a tendency to ride a simple chord progression too far, turning some of these songs into repetitive marathons. Likewise, when the group builds these jams into their crescendos, the groove can start to fall apart under the strain of so many elements fighting to keep up. And at 70-plus minutes and running, the music can’t fully support Furstenfeld’s overbearing melancholy, which reaches a whiny peak on the unfortunately titled “Down.”

But overindulgence isn’t a crime at this stage of the game, just a fault with plenty of time to be overcome, and with that in mind, The First of February sounds like fresh air.

– Brad Tyer

The Missiles
Last Album
HSR International

The Missiles, a band fond of quips, placed one at the tail end of the liner notes to this, their recorded swan song. “There’s good bands and there’s bad bands,” the line reads, “and we were one of them.” If only a larger audience had ever figured out which one they were, the ten-year rock institution might still be plugging away

Even with the benefit of hindsight, it’s difficult to figure out why the band never broke out of a respectable local following and into the larger national spotlight. As a no-gimmicks rock band, Charlie Sanders, Bill Myers, Ken Jones and Dave Randall possessed levels of talent and flexibility beyond your average three-chording schleps, and as a tireless touring unit with a decade’s worth of longevity, they had the requisite stamina. Maybe it was a string of mediocre recordings that torpedoed the band’s chances at the big time, or maybe they just never had the luck to be at the right place at the right time when the fashion curve peaked. Moot points all, now that The Missiles have called it quits, but the product at hand makes a strong case in parting that The Missiles were a better band than most of us ever gave them credit for.

Side one spotlights Missiles originals, starting with the retrospective “All I’ve Done,” which is as fine a local-interest rock-and-roll song as this town’s produced. “Start Drinkin’” takes another stab at the band’s ongoing beer theme, “Twist My Soul” holds its own in the respected I’m-about-to-have-another-ex-girlfriend field and “Already Missin’ Me” could be either a response to that very same ex, or to a local crowd that’s sure, like me, to afford the band more respect in retrospect than ever they did when it really mattered.

Side two is where the band’s flexibility really shines, though, and it comes on four covers. Frank Zappa’s “Broken Hearts Are for Assholes” gets an inspired reading, followed by The Del Lords’ bar classic “Mercenary,” locals Tab Jones’ heartbreaking “Ash Wednesday” and Tom Waits” “Blue Valentine,” on which Sanders has a surprisingly unstrained take.

It’s a hell of a collection, and even on the cassette that I have for review, the sound is fatter and fuller than the band’s Full Scale Mattress Fire offering of two years back. It sounds like nobody was trying too hard to do anything but generate that bang all veteran bands want to go out with. And this time, they got it.

– Brad Tyer

Blue October @ Kool Haus

Justin Furstenfeld has issues. But don’t we all? Unloved, unappreciated, misunderstood, the pang of a broken heart, lonely; we can all relate. Journaling our innermost thoughts with honesty and integrity is said to be therapy for the soul. These are meant to be private escapes for our minds and hearts to write without any inhibitions, however disturbing the content. There are few who would be willing to divulge these intimate expressions and then there’s Justin Furstenfeld.

It’s well documented that Justine has battled drugs and alcohol to cope with his bouts of depression, only to seem to add to it with them. Not documented in the sense that there’s a biography but in his ingenious gift and guts to release some of that written angst and merge it with multi-dimensional instrumentals; i.e. “Hate Me”. That is the essence of Blue October.

Army of Me, a four piece from Washington, played a forty minute set that was O.K. All their songs had a monotone sound with juvenile lyrics like “reach for the stars”. Some kids were singing along so I guess they weren’t awful, just a little boring.

After more than 30 minutes of stage fine-tuning, sound checking, and the scurrying of more security than needed (it was after all an all ages show and most of the kids were chaperoned), Blue October calmly walked on. In his tailored suit and opting for a little less black eyeliner, Justin’s semi- Goth look was subdued tonight.

Leading right into the first track off their latest CD Foiled, “You Make Me Smile” then hitting back with “High Risk Self Abuse”, Furstenfeld lured us into his schizophrenic world, which is anything but subdued. Gnash your teeth songs, like “Razorblade”, “Ugly Side” and “Drilled A Wire Through My Cheek” were delivered with vigor and bone chilling theatrics. In the midst of all the maddening lyrics like “sharpen the knife”; “I freak outÖ razorblade cut me”, a softer Justin materializes to sing one of his favourites. “It’s a song you probably don’t know but it’s one of my favourite songs to do live.” With that, Furstenfeld sweetly pipes out “I see your heart beat through the sheets; feel your pulse through the floor”, a beautiful love song.

As he belted out tunes with profound passion, the deeper we sank into the dark, disturbing yet artistically brilliant mind of Justin Furstenfeld. He confesses to “everybody having issues. I just decided to document them.” It’s like he’s singing for all of us, expressing all of our fears and helping us with songs like “Let It Go” and “Quiet Mind”.

The highlights were numerous but most impressive are Blue October’s symphonic sound. Sure, CB Hudson’s guitar riffs are awing, Matt Noveskey bass line in “Razorblade” is stunning and the riveting drum rhythms of Jeremy Furstenfeld bring it all together. But it’s Ryan Delahoussaye’s multifaceted musicianship that truly brings BO’s sound to a whole new plateau. Whether he’s strumming the mandolin, the guitar, hammering out at the keys or gracefully gliding the bow on the violin, Ryan adds texture to give this band that unique edge. Oh yeah, he also provides back up harmonies along with the rest of the guys but he’s usually got the violin gripped under his chin.

Toning everything down during the encore to perform the epic track “18th Floor Balcony” defines BO’s mastery of their craft. Justin’s introspective lyrics “I knew it from the start/ My arms are open wide/ I’m yours for the taking” sung so honestly emotional and accompanied with just the whisper of instrumentals. Gorgeous.

Of course they also played their two hit singles “Into The Ocean” and “Hate Me”, but those songs don’t come close to defining Blue October. It seems that a lot of other people share that sentiment as the band was presented with its first platinum album for Foiled that very night. Justin graciously accepted the honor with “this is what you guys have done for us. Thank you so much. You guys have given me such a lift; a reason to live.”

Let’s hope that lift can carry Justin over the evils that have taunted him so he can continue to share more of his beautiful inner spirit and help us all deal with our issues.

*If you or someone you know is going through any of these issues, here are some phone numbers that can help: Crossroads Prayer Line: (416) 929-1500,and Kids Help Phone (24 hours): 1-800-668-6868.

Well-Raised and Confused

Mood rockers Blue October struggle after life’s answers

By Hobart Rowland 

Published: February 19, 1998

For Justin Furstenfeld, getting away was the only solution. Plummeting into drug addiction and other varieties of self-destruction, the singer/guitarist had seen his options evaporate in the waning months of 1996.

Barely out of high school, Furstenfeld had abandoned Last Wish, the band he’d helped bring to local prominence, because of creative differences, and leaving the group seemed to set his personal life adrift as well. His coke habit grew serious.

For good reason, the Hill Country college hamlet of San Marcos seemed to hold, if not a solution to Furstenfeld’s problems, then at least a respite from them. His older brother, Jeremy, was there, as was the solitude and small-town simplicity Furstenfeld was craving. There, Justin could both stay close to the Austin music scene and hunker down in quiet to write music and sort out his post-teen neuroses.

“Everything that I write about is the truth,” says Furstenfeld. “I can’t write about anything that hasn’t happened to me.”

It was in San Marcos that Furstenfeld penned most of the tunes on The Answers, the debut release by his latest project, Blue October. No, the 13-track effort — which was released on the group’s own Ro-Dan label — does not presume to offer all the answers to life’s nagging questions. But it certainly raises disturbing issues, many regarding Furstenfeld’s own well-being.

“There’s Zoloft, Wellbutrine, there’s Paxil that’s proven, no side effects / But the rest left unnamed because they’d work like a charm on me,” Furstenfeld snarls on “The Answer,” his tone somewhere between a punch-drunk Peter Gabriel and Bryan Ferry on the verge of a breakdown.

The Answers is abrasively raw and riddled with religious undertones; Furstenfeld manages to be needy without seeming too desperate. That’s mainly because Furstenfeld demonstrates a sense of metaphor and understated poetics well beyond his 22 years. “If what you’re seeing is an open book / That’s great because I’m an open book / But I’m real shy,” he sings, confessing a little later, “I’m an automatic steeple for depressed and lonely people.”

The disc’s obvious thematic reference point, “The Answer” is also the most vivid encapsulation of the band’s sound — which is convenient, seeing as it’s The Answers’ leadoff track. The tune is quietly ushered in by Furstenfeld’s hollow, semi-amped guitar and echo-enhanced moans. As bass and drums kick in with a rudimentary rock rhythm, a maudlin violin suddenly cuts through the predictability with a bracing counter-melody, leading the song on an engrossing search-and-destroy mission through a wounded psyche. Indeed, throughout much of The Answers, the violin assumes the role normally reserved for lead guitar, dragging the rest of the instrumentation behind it.

Disturbing but thoroughly captivating, frighteningly vulnerable yet undoubtedly in control, The Answers is the first great Texas release of 1998. All the better that this gorgeous monster is of Houston origin.

Justin Furstenfeld founded Blue October with classically trained violinist Ryan Delahoussaye, a classmate at the Houston High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. In December ‘96, Delahoussaye opted to move to San Marcos with his friend.

“I’d done classical for most of my life,” says Delahoussaye. “Getting into other music just kind of happened from listening to Justin in [Last Wish].”

Evidently, Furstenfeld’s departure from Last Wish was not a pretty process. The band had grown quite successful in Houston, recording three releases — including the still-available full-length CD First of February — and playing for packed houses at Fitzgerald’s, McGonigel’s Mucky Duck and the Urban Art Bar. Back then, Furstenfeld (still at HSPVA) shared songwriting privileges with other members of Last Wish, a situation that increasingly frustrated him.

“It was going real serious, but I was having to collaborate writing ideas with other people,” he recalls. “I wanted to start clean and fresh. They got pretty pissed, because we were in the middle of making our next CD, so I had to take four songs off the CD that were important to me that I had written. They sent out a postcard dogging me for leaving the band. I think it said, ‘Justin has left the band to pursue his rock-star career.’ It made me look really bad.”

Furstenfeld broke with Last Wish in 1995 and began laying the groundwork for Blue October, gathering up Delahoussaye and his 24-year-old brother, Jeremy, a novice drummer on hiatus from Southwest Texas State. Delahoussaye met bassist Liz Mullally at Auntie Pasto’s restaurant, where he was working. She came in for dinner one evening and struck up a conversation; the chat quickly turned into an offer to join the group. At 27, Mullally — who continues to live in Houston — is the oldest member of Blue October. An extra room in her 290-area house served as the band’s first practice space.

“I was living at home at the time, and I sat in on one of their rehearsals,” Jeremy says of the haphazard way in which he fell into his drum duties for Blue October. “I just got back there and started playing.”

Adds Justin, “We had a week until our first show, and we needed a drummer, so we made him play the drums.”

Just like that, Jeremy became the band’s largely unflappable timekeeper. Justin, on the other hand, was having trouble staying on course personally. A six-year relationship with his girlfriend was coming unwound, and his drug use wasn’t helping matters.

“The thing that was bringing me down was the coke,” he says bluntly. “I wanted to get out of the drug scene in Houston, because all my friends were kind of fading away from that stuff.”

Furstenfeld and Delahoussaye originally contemplated moving to Austin, but Jeremy’s bucolic existence in San Marcos convinced them to follow suit. Once there, Furstenfeld got down to the business of writing music for himself. He and Delahoussaye found day jobs and even played local gigs as a duo wherever they could. All three, meanwhile, were shuttling between San Marcos and Houston for Blue October rehearsals with Mullally, as well as the occasional live gig.

Last fall, Blue October came to Houston to record The Answers at Sound Arts with producer Brian Baker. Richly textured and immaculately recorded, the CD is hardly a low-budget, amateur-hour affair. To achieve such a professional first outing, the band enlisted the financial help of the Furstenfelds’ parents. Their father, Dan, is managing the band at this point and is working to get the band bookings in Dallas and other parts of Texas.

“My mom’s side of the family had always been kind of musical,” says Justin, who wrote The Answers’ track “Sweet and Somber Pigeon Wings” with his grandfather in mind. “He played guitar like B.B. King. So I guess that’s why I wound up picking up the guitar. But my dad taught me my first chords.”

Though Justin admits Blue October’s back-and-forth lifestyle can get a bit hectic, he likes to look at the band’s current situation in rather idealistic terms.

“We’re living a life on the river, writing beautiful songs and staying clean,” he says.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have parents with deep pockets to keep the wheels from falling off the dream.

Blue October performs Saturday, February 21, at Fitzgerald’s, 2706 White Oak. Doors open at 8 p.m. Cover is $8. Draper and Whipple open. For info, call 862-3838.

late ‘90s by lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld, his brother, drummer Jeremy, and devil-horned, multi-instrumentalist Ryan Delahoussaye, the group’s epic live shows and exploration of subjects like mental depression, drug use, love, betrayal, forgiveness and cathartic transcendence have helped them amass a strong, loyal following through four albums. Blue October will release their fourth studio album titled ‘Foiled’ on April 4th. Thanks to Justin for answering the following questions.

TuneLab Music: It’s been three years since ‘History for Sale‘ was released, what have you guys been up too since then?

Justin Furstenfeld: Writing and recording ‘Foiled‘.

TL: With your new album, ‘Foiled’, still a month away from being released and the first single “Hate Me” currently one of the most added song to Alternative Radio, does that give you guys an added sense of accomplishment?

JF: Yes, but younever should expect anything. We’re grateful for what we have ….we’re blessed …ya know.

TL: What sets ‘Foiled’ apart from your previous albums?

JF: There were specific rules given from the beginning that a vibe would not be disturbed, and if it was we were honest and upfront. Making a sound that we always were, just never been given the chance. It was like driving a 65 Lincoln top down on a highway.

TL: What went into writing the new album?

JF: Me going to LA and camping out at my dear friends pad for three months. He had an amazing studio and it was pure freedom and Imean pure freedom…beautiful….

TL: You originally signed to Universal in 2000 before getting dropped, then eventually getting re-signed. What’s it like to have been dropped and re-signed by the same label?

JF: Well we werent selling …I would have dropped us too…. then we were selling and they wanted us back. You know its a business. I’ve got nothing but respect for Universal Records.

TL: What made Universal stand apart from other labels that were interested in signing the band?

JF: Their attention to the right things. Their attendance at the showcase was a mindblowing 60 someodd people where everyone else it seemed like another three person meeting. It was family coming to break bread and get back in business.

TL: As a band, what do you hope to accomplish?

JF: I’ve accomplished all my musical goals. Everything else is a blessing and a miracle from God.

TL: In the past you’ve toured with Socialburn and Default. Are there any bands that you’d like to tour with?

JF: Peter Gabriel ….Morrisey… The Cure….. Elbow….Radiohead…Coldplay, U2… the list goes on and on…

TL: You’re scheduled to play at South by Southwest, how do the large festival shows compare to the small venue shows?

JF: Stress factor, all stage equipment is throw and go….no time for any sound check …its going into war blind.

TL: Are there any tour plans in the works for the coming months?

JF: Anything I can get a sound check at!

TL: That’s all I have. Anything you would like to add?

JF: Thank you for caring enough to ask me some questions

BLUE OCTOBER TOUR POSTPONED AS JUSTIN FURSTENFELD PREPARES
FOR SURGERY ON BROKEN LEG
“HATE ME” CONTINUES CLIMBING THE CHARTS

Universal/Motown Records recording artists, Blue October, whose third full-length studio album, “Foiled,” entered the Billboard charts at number 29, has announced the postponement of their current tour as a result of lead singer-songwriter Justin Furstenfeld’s recent leg injury.

The accident occurred immediately following a headline show in Tampa for more than 3000 97X Birthday Bash listeners at Brighthouse Field in Clearwater Florida. Furstenfeld and the other members of Blue October were running the bases on the minor league baseball field for the Philadelphia Phillies when he broke his leg. He was immediately rushed to the hospital in intense pain and was subsequently released early Sunday morning.

According to the band’s manager, Paul Nugent, further tests this morning revealed the extent of damage to Furstenfeld’s leg. Nugent said, “I’m disappointed to inform you that the MRI performed this morning at Johns Hopkins Hospital on Justin confirmed a complete tear of the LCL (ligament) in his right leg. He will require surgery as soon as possible, early to mid next week. As for the recovery period, we can speculate that Justin will be able to return to the stage on June 17th at Buzz-Fest in Houston; we will be moving our May dates back to late June and July.”

Blue October added Texas guitarist Julian Mandrake to the line-up to cover Furstenfeld’s guitar parts last night in Baltimore, where Furstenfeld performed in a wheelchair.

Nugent added, “We look forward to getting back on the road and building on this great start for “Foiled” as soon as possible.”

Ryan Delahoussaye, Blue October
May 5, 2006 - A DAY IN THE LIFE

We were in Baltimore, MD. This is 2 days after Justin hurts his leg. The day started off at the hotel. The band was waiting on if we were gonna play the show or not because of Justin’s leg. We were all hanging out and having some McDonalds. We hit downtown Baltimore and we couldn’t pull up to the venue because there were too many cars. The club we were playing at was next to a police station. Good thing because they called a police tow truck so we could park. No one was happy about that because we had to sit on the bus until that happened. We have a habit of splitting up once we get off the bus for a half hour or so. Justin left to go to the doct or to check out his leg. My camera flash ran out of batteries so I had to go searching for a camera shop. I took my time and ran into some interesting characters along the way.

By the time I got back load in was almost done. I always like to watch load in and hang out with the crew. I brought food back for everyone from my walk. Justin came back closer to the end of the day. We called our friend Julian Mandrake to cover Justin’s guitar parts since he couldn’t do that and sign with his leg hurt. Julian is from Austin and he is a fantastic musician.

Pre-show we always have a group handshake before we hit this stage, we throw our hands together in a circle and we say 1-2-3 US!

After the show we kinda just want to hang out and talk to our friends.

We woke up the next day and Justin was in a lot of pain. The tour was over. We got back on the bus and traveled 1100 miles from Baltimore back to Austin, TX.

Cockroaches, Porn, Voices Fill Blue October Singer’s Brain

 Apr 11 2006 6:00 AM EDT

 Justin Furstenfeld owns up to mistakes in band’s apologetic new single.

Justin Furstenfeld’s head is a crowded place.

There are the cockroaches that crawl around in there, excreting a trail of bug babies and miniature porn tapes as they crawl past images of people from his past. Then there are the incessant voices the Blue October singer hears. He relies on his younger brother, drummer Jeremy, to convince him they aren’t real.

Luckily for Furstenfeld, he’s also got his music to help him fight the demons — specifically the Houston rock band’s new single, “Hate Me.” The song is an emotional mea culpa in which Furstenfeld takes responsibility for his mistakes and apologizes to everyone he’s hurt.

“That song came from being on the road and letting the road get a hold of you and treating people at home like crap and being selfish,” said Furstenfeld, 30, a recovering addict. “Then you realize suddenly that no one else is around anymore because they’re sick of your crap and you’re standing there alone. I had to get it off my chest and apologize to the people in my family and in relationships to realize what I was doing to the people that surround me.”

The song begins with a real voicemail from Furstenfeld’s mother, who sounds worried that she hasn’t heard from her son in a while. The singer said the message was left while he was in seclusion for six months in Los Angeles writing the band’s new album, Foiled, which drops April 4. “I realized that you can’t just cut people out of your life, because it’s not about you all the time,” he said.

“I’m sober now for three whole months/ It’s one accomplishment that you helped me with,” he sings over the song’s spare beat and strummed acoustic guitars, which swell to Queen-like heights on the choruses. “The one thing that always tore us apart is the one thing I won’t touch again/ In a sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night/ While I was busy waging wars on myself, you were trying to stop the fight.”

The cockroaches and nonexistent voices come in part from Furstenfeld’s long battle with depression, he said, which he felt he had to address in order to make a clean break.

Elsewhere on the album, though, Furstenfeld got to indulge himself in other ways, acting as co-producer on songs that blend his love for everything from Pink Floyd’s psychedelic wanderings (”Everlasting Friend”); to baroque, violin-spiced prog rock (”Into the Ocean”); and electronica (”X Amount of Words”). But most of the vocals on the album might remind you of Peter Gabriel’s records from the 1980s, which is no coincidence.

“Because I got to produce the record this time, I played a lot of tricks with my voice using a trick I learned from Peter Gabriel, where he doubles his voice with one part an octave higher and one an octave lower when he needs to be intense,” Furstenfeld said. “It makes it sound more godlike. Some people were not sure about it, but I said, ‘This is what my voice is supposed to be like.’ I did it for a reason.”

The band — rounded out by guitarist CB Hudson, bassist Matt Noveskey, drummer Jeremy Furstenfeld and violinist Ryan Delahoussaye (who has retired the devil horns he used to wear onstage) — is joined by singer Imogen Heap on the ethereal ballad “Congratulations,” yet another move Furstenfeld said confused some people in the band’s camp.

“You know what, I’m a huge fan and she’s a great artist,” Justin Furstenfeld said. “I called and sent her the song, and she sent back the tapes with her parts already done. I’ve always been told to go for a ‘rockier’ edge to get on rock radio. Producers are always saying, ‘Put more distortion in there, you’re a rock band.’ But I grew up on Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, the Smiths and Pink Floyd.”

Lyrics like “I take the show, I bleed for this/ I’ve cut myself to shame/ To get to know this masochist/ Who’s stolen my first name,” from “Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek,” show that Furstenfeld sees his music as another form of therapy.

“God, the only things I have that make me feel OK are my family, my fiancee and my music,” he said. “When I’m alone out here, it gets crazy and weird. I wish you could sit in my head for five minutes. It’s not comfortable.”