Hooray!!

We are in the midst of finishing up a new record! It will be titled, 'Hexadecagon,' and will feature the 8 songs that we played at the shows over SXSW. We just finished mixing the record (yesterday!) with John Congleton up in Dallas. It sounds totally insane and is easily the most intense thing we've ever done. We recorded the majority of things at home over the last couple of months, then re-recorded some stuff/mixed with John at the helm. Excited for folks to hear it!

No official release date yet, but it will be out in the fall.

In the meantime, we have a short run of shows in Texas in July and will be hitting the road super-hard in September/October.

That's it for now. We're totally giddy with excitement!

Love,
The Octopus Project

Hi everybody!

We're tremendously excited to announce the project we're knee-deep in creating right now...

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, it's called HEXADECAGON. That's the geometrical term for a sixteen-sided object, and we chose it because the show we're working on is being written for an eight-channel sound and eight-channel video system: a sixteen-sided audiovisual panorama!

The eight speakers will be set up in a circle surrounding the audience, who will in turn be surrounding us (the band), set up in the middle of the whole shebang with eight images projected overhead. With this setup in mind, we can send all or part of the music spinning around in a circle or jumping from point to point across the space, or put completely different elements in each speaker, putting you and us in the middle of a crazy array of sounds. Add to that the video, which can run in tight synchronization with the sounds (following them around the circle) or behave completely differently, and the possibilities are endless! We're having a blast inventing these songs, building the electronics (the Bend Matrix) / programming the software we need to make this happen, and shooting the video (our pal Wiley Wiggins is running the video department - thanks, Wiley!).

And maybe the best part is that the show will be FREE! We're doing two performances on Friday, March 19 in the front parking lot of Whole Foods at 6th & Lamar. This is during SXSW, but you won't need a badge or wristband or anything, and it will definitely be all ages. Capacity is very limited though, and admittance will be on a first-come, first-served basis, so we urge you to make plans accordingly. Take a look here for info on attending.

There aren't enough synonyms for 'excited' to describe how enthused, ecstatic and generally psyched we are to share this with you - hope it sounds like a good time to all y'all and that you can make plans to party with us!

Check out details here: HEXADECAGON

Love,
The Octopus Project

Man, it's been a long time since we updated our news! Sorry about that! We've been super-busy...

Currently hard at work on tunes for a new record/records. We can't divulge too much information at the moment, but we will definitely be incredibly active this year. Lots of crazy stuff coming up.

Last year, for Christmas, we recorded a Bee Gees cover as a gift for you guys. This year, we decided that we'd give you a New Year's present instead! We made up some ringtones and would like to give them to you as thanks for being so supportive and wonderful. We have "m4r" versions if you have the iPhone and "mp3" versions if you have a different kind of phone and know how to do that sort of thing. Not to discriminate on other kinds of phones, but the iPhone versions are the only kind we know how to make. We love all phones equally! Or, you can always just download the tracks and listen to a few 30 second songs over and over again. Exciting! Here ya go:

Ringtown

We hope you enjoy the tunes! Let's all have a wonderful year together!

Love,
The Octopus Project

Ok, so Lost just ended and won't be back on for 8 months. What are we going to do with our time now? A bunch of stuff, that's what!

1. The 'Golden Beds' EP is coming out on July 28th.

2. We have a bunch of shows coming up pre- and post-release. We'll be hitting the whole US, so keep yr. eyes peeled. At some of these shows we'll be performing the "Visual Music" show.

3. Re-releasing 'One Ten Hundred Thousand Million' and 'Identification Parade' on vinyl late-July.

4. Currently working on new songs and are planning on heading into the studio in the fall.

5. We're featured in the new All Tomorrow's Parties documentary! It's playing all over the world in the next few months. Check it out!

Love,
The Octopus Project

I don't know if you've heard about Facebook or Twitter, but they're a couple of new crazes sweeping the nation, and like giant eagles looking for prey, have swooped down an dug their talons deep into our flesh.

Join us in our exploration of the deepest recesses of the internet -- through its crust, into the mantle, past the outer core, plunging without abandon deep into the inner core!

Click below if you dare!

Love,
The Octopus Project

We are pleased to announce a couple of very special shows that we will be playing at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz theater in Austin on February 25th.

We have hand-picked a series of short films from the past and written brand new music to accompany the films which we will play live while the films are projected behind us. The films come from all eras of the past 70 years -- ranging from crazy, psychedelic color explosions to quiet, sublime black and white animation.

We'll be playing 2 shows (7pm & 9:30pm), but this is a One-Night-Only event. So, don't miss it! Seating is limited, so we urge you to buy tickets soon. Check out the Alamo website for tickets and more information.

Here's the lowdown!

The Octopus Project - performing all new music to short films
@ The Alamo Drafthouse Ritz
One Night Only!
Wednesday - February 25th
2 shows -- 7pm & 9:30pm
Tickets are $15

We hope to see you out there!

Love,
The Octopus Project

We just finished shooting a video for "Wet Gold" with our pals, the Zellner Bros., who previously made a video for our song, "Truck." We shot the video in the hurricane ravaged Galveston, so it looks pretty intense. We had to shoot things twice because our first raft sunk, and we cut our hands up on the barnacles. Intense!! Can't wait to show you guys!

In the meantime, check out the Zellner Bros' newest short, "Fiddlestixx." It'll blow yr mind!!

Love,
The Octopus Project

Hello folks!

Our first foray as a band began back in 1999 with a Christmas release of sorts, and we thought we'd continue that tradition with a special little release for all of you. As a Christmas gift to you fine folks, we would like to give you our cover of the Bee Gees song, "I.O.I.O." This version features Josh, Yvonne, and Toto (respectively) all taking vocal duties. We recorded it in our practice space and even snuck into a giant stairwell at the University of Texas to get some insane reverb. Needless-to-say it was a blast to make, and we hope you all enjoy it!

Much more importantly, have a fantastic holiday season!

Here ya go:
"I.O.I.O." mp3

IO IIIIIIO IO! IO IIIIIIO IO! IO IIIIIIO IO! IO IIIIIIO IO!

Love,
The Octopus Project

News!

a) We just finished an EP that we plan on releasing early-ish next year. The EP will have 5 hot jams...

      1. Wet Gold
      2. Moon Boil
      3. Rorol
      4. Wood Trumpet
      5. Half A Nice Day

The first two songs were featured on a 7" released earlier this year in the UK, but have not been available in the US thus far. "Rorol" is a song off of our first record, but the live version is drastically different from the album version, so we decided to completely re-record it. The last two songs were being worked on during our recording of 'Hello, Avalanche,' but were not finished until now. Yay! The EP will also contain all of our videos -- including a newly-finished video for "Exit Counselor," and (fingers crossed!) a video for "Wet Gold." These are all songs we've been eager to get out for a while, so we're pretty dern excited!

b) We currently have a couple of major things in the works...

      1. A new record -- shooting to release next fall.
      2. The soundtrack to a film called Spur. It was written by our long-time friend, Evan Dickson, and is currently in pre-production. We'll be writing the entire score for the film.

c) In addition to the EP, we're going to be releasing both 'One Ten Hundred Thousand Million,' and 'Identification Parade' on vinyl next year. We keep getting requests for LPs from super-star DJ's, so we had to oblige. Oh! It's also just kind of awesome!

d) Holiday merch sale! Woo hoo! We're trying to clean out all the back stock of shirts and stuffed animals to make way for all of the new goodies, so check out our Merch page for some sweet Xmas deals!

Yr. Pals,
The Octopus Project

We just wanted to say "Thanks!" to everyone for coming out to see us and Diagonals on our summer tour, as well as thank the Austin High School Band for playing with us at the Austin City Limits festival. We had an amazing time, and hope everyone else did as well!

We will soon be heading out on a tour of the east. We'll see you at the shows!!

Also, our friend, Divya Srinivasan, made a video for our song, "I Saw the Bright Shinies." It is incredibly adorable, and must be watched immediately. Check it out!

Yr. Pals,
The Octopus Project

We're pleased to announce that we'll be playing both the Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits festivals this year! Needless to say, we're unbelievably excited. Come have a blast with us!

Also, we'll be heading to Europe for the first time in May. Crazy!

Yr. Pals,
The Octopus Project

Fantastic!

We've got some totally awesome magazine features coming up in the very near future:

1. Resonance Magazine - We're on the cover! There's also a big, amazing article about us! Go to their website to download a free copy of the magazine.

2. Magnet Magazine - We're featured in their "Magnified" section. Totally sweet!! The issue is on stands now!

3. Austin Monthly - We're going to be featured as one of the top Austin bands to watch out for in 2008. Watch out! This issue will be on stands this week.

Lastly, we're doing an interview/discussion with the Austin Music Foundation tonight at Lambert's restaurant (no relation) in Austin. The interview will be at 7pm, and anyone is welcome to come. Hope to see ya there!

Hey!

We will be playing at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Minehead, UK this May! This festival is being curated by the fantastic band Explosions In the Sky. Some of the other folks playing will be Animal Collective, Trail of Dead, Broken Social Scene, Liars, Battles, and of course Explosions In the Sky themselves. Come out and have a blast with us and all the other amazing bands!

Not to worry, other European folks, we will also be doing a slew of shows across Europe, and should be posting the dates very soon.

For now, here are the details:

All Tomorrow's Parties
May 16-18
Minehead, UK

Hello everyone!

We're pleased as punch to announce (as previously mentioned here) that we will be releasing a 7" single in March as a part of the Too Pure singles club. Too Pure is a fantastic label in the UK that is home to such amazing bands as Stereolab, Electrelane and Scout Niblett.

Our single consists of the two brand new songs, "Wet Gold," and "Moon Boil." The former being a lovely jaunt through an arpeggiated land of goodness, and the latter being the most "total rock" song we've ever done. The only way to get the physical copy of the 7" is to subscribe to the club, but both songs will be available on iTunes as well.

In other news...

We'll be playing a few US shows in the near future, and will be mounting a full-scale assault on Europe in April. Stay tuned for the European dates, but the US dates are listed on the shows page.

Alright!

We're home from tour! Thanks to everyone who came out to the shows!

We have a few tidbits of news:

1. We got our first Rolling Stone review! By none other than the fantastic David Fricke! Check it out!

2. We're not playing any more shows this year, but will be heading to Europe in February, and then touring the US again in March. We'll post the dates as soon as they're confirmed.

3. The LP version of "Hello, Avalanche" is finally in and up for sale on our merch page. The LP comes with a free coupon to download MP3s of the entire record!

4. We're working on some new songs for an exciting release early next year. We can't divulge the info yet, but we'll let you know soon!

Love,
The Octopus Project

Here's a picture of the cover for our new record! It isn't officially released until October 9th, but we should have it back from the pressing plant in a few weeks. We'll be selling it at shows as soon as we get it!

The record is done!!

Well, the music part at least. We still have to finish the artwork, but we put the final touches on the music a few days ago. It's such a great feeling! The record is called, Hello, Avalanche, and it has 13 songs on it. We're more proud of this record than anything else we've ever done, and can't wait to share it with everyone. It won't be released until October 9th, but we'll be posting mp3's soon. Here's the tracklisting:

1. Snow Tip Cap Mountain
2. Truck
3. Bees Bein' Strugglin'
4. An Evening with Rthrtha
5. Black Blizzard/Red Umbrella
6. Upmann
7. Mmaj
8. I Saw the Bright Shinies
9. Vanishing Lessons
10. Ghost Moves
11. Exploding Snowhorse
12. Loud Murmuring
13. Queen

More news soon!

Love love love,
The Octopus Project

It's been a while since we last updated! Well, that's because we've been hard at work on our new record! We recorded it at Bear Creek Studio just outside of Seattle during February and March, and we're incredibly excited about it! We're just putting the finishing touches on it right now, and are going to be releasing it on Peek-a-Boo Records this fall. The record is chock full of goodies and surprises. In addition to the normal guitar/bass/drums/keyboards, this time out we've added an army of strings and trombones, some magical Theremin orchestra work by Yvonne, and tons and tons of crazy noises and beats. There are also some special surprises that we're not going to divulge until the record comes out! You'll just have to wait!

Needless to say, we're eager to play the new songs live. The record includes a few new tunes that folks might recognize from the shows (Truck, An Evening with Rthrtha), but mostly comprises of some songs that we just haven't tackled live yet (I've Seen the Bright Shinies, Hello Avalanche!, Queen, Bees Bein' Strugglin'). Which brings me to......

Our shows in the upcoming future! We're playing at Emo's in Austin on June 2nd with Peel and Palaxy Tracks! It's going to be a Peek-a-Boo Records bonanza! We'll also be playing some shows here and there for the rest of the summer before we head out on tour with Stereo Total for a few weeks in August. After that, a headlining tour of the entire US in October and November. Fantastic!! So, if you live in the US, we will definitely be playing somewhere near you this year.

Love love love,
The Octopus Project