OCTOBER MAN BURNS A NAME FOR THEMSELVES ON DEBUT “MATCHSTICK”
Getting started in the music industry is difficult. Staying motivated and staying together also comes with its challenges. Good thing October Man has been doing it for the last eight years.
For the better half of the last decade the band has been composed of Anthony Abboud (piano/drums), Ethan Bodner (guitar) and JD Leidersdorff (lead vocals, guitar) with a recent addition of Ian Neill (bass). Now, they’re finally ready to do the one thing they haven’t done yet as a band: release original music.
Primarily written by Leidersdorff, the upcoming string of songs have been a huge life project for the boys over the past year. Tackling topics they face in everyday life, Leidersdorff jokes that the “lyrics are predicated on me getting rejected by a girl, or a girl not texting me back or something.”
“Now that we've been writing for over two years, all the other guys are starting to come in with their own songs, which are super cool,” Leidersdorff adds, with Bodner noting that he shared a song with the group for the first time just a few weeks ago.
Photo by Evie Seetoo
“Matchstick,” the first single from the project came out July 26, and they’ve been basking in the feeling of having their work out in the world ever since.
“We had almost a dream of going in the studio, recording our songs, and now, this thing I've been, every little kid band at Lakehouse,” the music recording facility in Asbury Park, owned by John Leidersdorff, that brought the group together in the first place, “thinks about, releasing a song and all that. Finally hit that goal,” says Abboud.
Their goal for the song was to take the musical knowledge they already have, shoot for the stars, and see how close they could land to their favorite bands. Drawing inspiration from a variety of bands of different shapes and sizes ranging from local stars Joe P and Sonic Blume, to indie legends Modern Baseball, as well as up and coming rockers Arcy Drive and Black Country, New Road. The story of “Matchstick” finds itself laid over a diluted kickbeat, low driving bass line, isolated vocal with a dry sound that perfectly resembles their hopes, relationship and finally, matchstick burning away.
Photo by Evie Seetoo
What’s next for the group? First, senior year. Three of the eight years October Man has managed to stay together have been through high school, but now they face a year full of their biggest life challenges yet. Luckily they’re not worried about managing music, applying to schools and maintaining a social life.
“You kind of just have to be able to flow, and If you're not gonna be able to hit those goals you might have to just take it down like a notch of the goal,” Neill comments on the way he’s seen his bandmates adapt since joining them. “So if it seems impossible to achieve, maybe find something that's still hard, but you could still achieve it.”
As they reflected on the last year in which they changed, grew and traveled together, the boys decided to not focus on the uncertainty that lies ahead of them. Instead they reminisce on the time they’ve spent together since they saw each other in diapers, and soak in the time they have until they see each other in graduation caps.
“Honestly, I couldn't really imagine my life without this so it's not really like I'm balancing my outside life with this band stuff, it's just like this is my life, and I love it,” Bodner says he doesn’t feel like the band adds extra stress or pressure to his life – it’s just time built into the week to spend time with his friends sharing their common interest. “We try to post as much as we can on social media, make funny videos, and record the songs that we like to play. Other than that, we just kind of play music together.”