Interview with Luke Williams of 'The October Game'

1. How did you come up with the name The October Game?

I was wandering around at Glastonbury a few years ago and stumbled across a sign which had 'The October Game' written on it, I immediately thought, "that’s a great name for a band!" so I wrote it down. At the time we were in a band called 'insomnia' and had no plans to change the name but when that band fell apart some strange things happened. In October 2005, Nick and I were at a 'Fourtet' gig in Cambridge and bumped into the support act 'Fuzzy Lights' who were nice people and a good band. After the gig, scrolling through their site, listening to their music and reading about them it turned out they had done a one-off gig on the band stand at Glastonbury under the name 'The October Game' hence how I saw the sign, from then on in I think it was sealed that it would be our new name.

2. What are you biggest influences?

We draw influences from all over the place; life experiences, films, books, music, photographs, art..anything really.

3. What bands (if any) do you compare yourselves to?

I think a lot of what we do and the way we go about things is a reflection of the respect we have for independent artists or rather, bands that have built slowly but surely over a number of years, honing their craft and building up a rich tapestry of work and a solid fan base. Bands like 'Death Cab For Cutie', 'Modest Mouse' & 'dEUS'.

4. What's one of the best gigs you have played?

I think one that really sticks out in our minds is one of our gigs from a little tour we did in Iceland. We supported a band called 'Benny Crespo's Gang' at an amazing little place called 'Dillon' in 101 Reykjavik. We'd been interviewed on the radio that day and seen ourselves in the national papers whilst having breakfast that morning and then the gig was absolutely brilliant in the evening so it was good day for TOG!

5. What's the name of your new album?

ooh, we have a tentative title for the album but I'm afraid it won’t be confirmed until the last note has been played, the final brush of paint!

6. What can we expect from it? And when is it out?

Whereas (our first album) 'Box Of A Billion Lights' was quite introverted in a way, coming from the ashes of our previous band no one really even knew we had a new band going. It was essentially 3 guys locked away in houses recording over the winter. Ollie joined on drums in 2007 and it really kind of turned the band inside out, it was like we could come out of our shells a bit, we had a permanent 4th member and a new and exciting live setup. The subsequent songs
reflected this new state of the band and that is what you can expect to hear from album No.2!  It will be out when we think it sounds kickass!

7. Where would you want to be in 5 years time?

Still alive, healthy, happy, making music together.

8. Any last words?
We Wish You A Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year! 'Concrete (When We Were Invincible) is available as a free download from
www.theoctobergame.com. Our next gig is at Bush Hall in London, Thursday 15th January. Tickets from www.wegottickets.com and www.ticketweb.co.uk

www.myspace.com/theoctobergame
www.theoctobergame.com
www.carmandierecords.com

I am really liking this band at the moment and think you should check them out. They are a amazing band and I do think you should check them out.   

Will