Buzznet Exclusive: Another October Talks About Their Break From Music & “Remember”

Let’s get back into the habit of sharing tunes, shall we? Another October is a four-piece pop band from Grand Rapids, MI, taking a new approach to their music. After some time off, the band is back with the premiere of their new song, “Remember”.

Gabbie: You Guys took some time off to re-think who, Another October was, and what y’all wanted to bring into your music.

Chen: I would have to say that ‘time off’ is an extreme understatement. The band all but broke up and all of the members of the “Storage Stories” era moved on to other projects. The making of “Prefix” started the same as “Storage Stories” in that I had almost all of the music written before any other members joined. ‘Remember’ and ‘Reattach’ are are the only songs that were written around the same time as the EP. I had a year off to really think what direction the music should go. I wanted to focus on a wider audience and get out of the cookie-cutter pop punk we started with. I began studying different types of music and branched into genres that I’ve explored. You would not believe some of the demos I pitched to our producer. It The biggest change in the writing approach was really how the songs were structured. I focused less on how we would play them live and more on the finished product. We can always add parts live to change it up, but there are lot of “busy” parts on “Storage Stories” that overcomplicate a song, simply to give everyone something to do live. I had almost half of the album recorded before Zach joined the band. We reworked the music to fit his vocal style and he had input on a lot of the lyrics towards the end of the record. We had a couple of hired musicians track drums and bass on a couple of songs. By the time Nick and Kaleb joined the band, the rest of the album was pretty much completed. Shake It Off is the only track that was written and recorded with the current lineup.

Gabbie: Is this something you would recommend to other musicians?

Chen: It is imperative to take a step back and look in the mirror every once in awhile. I began noticing drastic changes in the bands that influenced “Storage Stories”, most notably Fall Out Boy and Paramore. It is important to have faith in yourself and that your audience will agree with the musical shifts. You have to be able to roll with the punches and take risks.

Gabbie: We’re premiering your new single, “Remember” on Buzznet today. I would say the video is relatable to anyone who has been in relationship. A lot of songs or videos only show one side, and you’ve manage to capture all sides to a relationship. Did you feel this was important to fully tell the story?

Chen: Our director really had a strong vision for the single. He didn’t want to miss any detail. We didn’t even make changes to his script. Music videos can make or break songs. It’s important to capture the essence of the song in the video. A lot of songs are up to interpretation and the video really gave us me a chance to act out what I was thinking when I wrote the song.

Gabbie: Would you guys say this sound is a great representation of what’s to come from your new album?

Chen: Kind of. We have a couple of curve balls on the new album that fans will not expect. “Remember” is definitely one of the most familiar sounding songs on the new album, but I would not say that it captures the overall theme. There is a lot more of an “electronic” vibe on the record. I wanted a couple of songs that would fit nicely into a club. “Remember” was written almost two years before some of the songs on the album. I believe the diversity will surprise our audience.

Gabbie: What song do you think the fans are going to gravitate the most to from your new record?

Chen: I think the club songs will go over well. Everyone likes a song they can dance along with. They will fit more occasions and reach a wider audience in general.

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xx

Gabbie