People lie. We lie to friends, we lie to family, we lie to lovers, we lie to complete strangers. It’s natural to want to appear a certain way to anyone you meet, even if you never see them again. Ever lie to your blog or diary? Maybe you made light of a situation that impacted you deeply. Perhaps you claimed indifference or disinterest when the opposite was true because you feared ridicule and judgment. Sometimes facing the honest truth about ourselves is so embarrassing and shameful that we can’t even acknowledge it in our own minds, let alone put it in print. Imagine lacking that inhibition. Imagine not only delving into your darkest thoughts and deepest feelings, but telling everyone, even strangers. Imagine your only way of coping with your demons was to confess your sins and transgressions at the top of your lungs every night in front of thousands of people.

While that prospect is absolutely horrifying to the average person, this is the lot for Blue October. First appearing on the music scene in 1999, when rock was all about the Nookie, a band like Blue October had little chance of success, despite being on Universal Records. “The timing was off,” says CB Hudson, guitarist for the band. “Rap rock was at its hey day and there really wasn’t a place for what we were doing. We didn’t get any support from radio on the single, so we were dropped after a year. We just kept touring and released the next one on our manager’s label Brando Records.” The ‘next one’ was History For Sale, which featured the single ‘Calling You,’ a ballad documenting the passion and insecurity of physical separation from a loved one.

The song did much better at radio becoming a smash regional rock hit and garnering national pop attention by being included in the soundtrack for American Wedding. ‘Calling You’ may as well have been written about Universal, as the label quickly reconciled with the band and released their latest effort Foiled. Blue October’s first single from the album, ‘Hate Me,’ recounts the nasty but necessary way the ‘Calling You’ relationship ended, closing a chapter to prepare for a new beginning. This new beginning in love can be found throughout the album, but is epitomized in 18th Floor Balcony, a voyeuristic glimpse into the first meeting of soul mates. This new beginning for the band and label, is an artistic and creative understanding and respect.

But don’t think girls are the only place frontman Justin Furstenfeld turns to for lyrical inspiration. Consent to Treatment is first and foremost about his dealings with hospitalization after a mental breakdown, History For Sale tackles a range of subjects from priest molestation scandals to how people hear music has changed and Foiled is their most diversely inspired work to date, lyrically and musically. “Justin was on a cruise ship and as he was leaning over the balcony looking at the water, he thought to himself ‘what if I just jumped?’ In his mind, as soon as he hit the water, he was like ‘what have I done?’ and that’s how Into The Ocean came to be. His inspiration is very organic and you never know when it’s going to happen. He’s an artist.” The brilliance is that you didn’t need to hear that story to know exactly what the song is about. A talented wordsmith and a masterful poet, Justin Furstenfeld can cleverly turn a mundane statement into a profound revelation without forcing listeners to grab their dictionaries.

Although more than pleased with their recorded work, Blue October think the album is only a small fraction of what makes a great band. “These days recording equipment is very accessible. People have studios in their houses and can take pretty much anything and make it sound great. The problem is that you have all these great sounding CDs, but when you go to see the band live they’re really horrible. For us, it’s all about the live show. We do what we can to capture the same feelings on CD, but if you really want to feel what the music is about, you have to experience it live.” Having toured steadily for about 7 years now, Blue October have refined their live show and given the entire band an avenue to bare their souls, referring to live performances as ‘therapy.’

With influences spanning the entirety of musical history, Blue October focus on using music to tell a story, rather than just telling a story to music. “All music is powerful in its own way and we listen to everything. I’m like a sponge and I just absorb everything I hear and when it comes out, it comes out in my own style. We all listen to different things and have different musical backgrounds. Our drummer listens to mostly country, our violinist was trained classically and then became a competitive fiddler, our bass player is into funk, and I like a lot of guitar-driven rock. We don’t put any restrictions on ourselves regarding what we can make musically, its really just about finding the best way to get the point across.” This vast array of musical inspiration makes Blue October a difficult band to classify. With ‘Foiled’ the sonic range is expansive, tapping into everything from dark electronic/house on ‘X Amount of Words’ to the ethereally beautiful pop song ‘Congratulations’ featuring Imogen Heap.

This is not Blue October’s first trip around the block, however the sudden surge in popularity with the release of their new album forces the band to step back and take a look at how far they’ve come. “Everything is happening really fast and we’re all very excited. When Justin messed up his leg, we tried to carry on with the tour anyway, with him singing while in a wheelchair. That didn’t go very well because it’s hard to rock out in a wheelchair. It ended up being a big distraction from the music, so we took the time off and are about to go out again to make up those dates and play some more. We’re planning on playing Europe later this year, which will be great because none of us have ever been there. It’s a lot to take in, but we’re loving it.” Fortunately for those of us avidly following the musical diary of Justin Furstenfeld, what lies ahead will certainly spawn their best work yet, as each chapter surpasses the last.

www.altsounds.com/blueoctober