The Octopus Project brings ‘crazy party noise music’ to B.R.

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By Kayla Falgoust

Self-described as an instrumental electronic rock band, The Octopus Project has been playing shows together for nearly ten years now, but their sound is still as exciting and youthful as ever.

“I think we’re always going for sonic maximization, trying to put as much stuff as we can into the songs,” said Toto Miranda, one of the four multi-instrumentalists of The Octopus Project.

“I’d call it layered and energetic and crazy party noise music.”

The Octopus Project was founded in Austin in 1999 by Miranda and band mates Yvonne Lambert, Ryan Figg, and Josh Lambert. The band recorded its debut album in 2002 and has been touring around the country ever since, playing everything from rundown bars to the open spaces of Grant Park in Chicago for Lollapalooza.

“I think [touring] is really exciting,” said Miranda. “I think it is something you either have a knack for or you don’t. It’s a weird way to live, and if you really didn’t love it, you’d probably go crazy.”

“We seem to have found our niche doing this because we all really like it,” he added. “It’s something that we find really satisfying. We try to stay on the road a lot because we really think it helps us develop what we are doing.”

As a touring band, The Octopus Project has developed its live show as one that is as exciting as their music. During live performances, the band often switches instruments and utilizes video projections and gigantic stage props to capture the audience’s full attention.

“We try to make [our live shows] as visual as we can because we’re all interested in making visual art as well as music, so we try to integrate the whole thing into the show,” said Miranda.

“We really want to make it something to watch besides just something to listen to,” he added. “I feel like we are able to put it together in a way that the sights really amplify the sounds and vice versa, and it all kind of feels like a whole. I feel like that really comes across as being more than just some people playing some songs and more of a complete experience.”

In addition to switching instruments on stage, the band members also play multiple instruments when recording music, and each member also contributes to the band’s songwriting.

“We kind of work by layering, whether individually or collectively, and everybody has a lot of instruments at their disposal,” said Miranda.

Moreover, the band is known to use some rather unique instruments. While band member Yvonne Lambert has become skilled in playing the Theremin, other members use unconventional electronic toys to create the band’s distinctive sound.

“We all kind of share the impulse to seek out different sounds,” said Miranda. “[The Theremin] is a really cool resource to have in terms of putting the songs together and having them feel just the way we want. It’s an amazing sound to be able to put in there.”

“Our song ‘Truck’ was written based around this tiny Casio [keyboard] that I bought at a thrift store for a dollar,” he added. “We like to keep as many little things around as we can because you never know when they are going to come in handy.”

Although The Octopus Project has long been an instrumental band, recently the group has experimented with adding lyrics to their music.

“I think we’re thinking of [lyrics] more as another resource that we have when we’re trying to complete a song,” said Miranda. “It’s something that we’re getting more comfortable with. Considering that it is not something we’re headed toward in a deliberate way, it’s definitely on the table as something we could add to the song.”

After releasing their first two albums, Identification Parade in 2002 and One Ten Hundred Thousand Million in 2005, in a do-it-yourself fashion, The Octopus Project went into the studio to record 2007’s Hello, Avalanche.

“We started going in the studio to do bits here and there [for the first two albums], but for the most part, the bulk of the process was done at home,” said Miranda. “For the last record, we decided to just have a different approach and tried going somewhere faraway from home where we could focus on what we were doing – to do the whole thing in the studio, which was something we had not done before.”

“Then we ended up also bringing it home and adding our own touches, kind of tweaking things around,” he added. “I think we ended up we a really cool mix of the glossy studio product that we gave our own little messed up twists and turns to.”

Currently, the Octopus Project is working to record some new songs for an upcoming EP. Thus far, the EP remains untitled without a release date, but the band hopes to have it out early next year.

The EP will feature the songs “Wet Gold” and “Moon Boil” from a limited edition UK release, a new version of the song “Rorol” from the band’s debut album, and a previously unreleased song that did not make it onto Hello, Avalanche.

The Octopus Project is playing the Spanish Moon on Friday, October 17. Tickets are $10 and available at the door or in advance through TicketWeb.

Originally Published: Issue 708 - October 15, 2008

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