an octopus’s garden…

~ Erin Dillon

You know that image of a musician or rockstar with an incredibly humongous ego? Well let me bust that myth: they’re not all like Russell from Stillwater. In fact, they can be so genuinely kind and accepting that they make you stop and think I should be more like that. Well, that’s The Octopus Project. So kind, in fact, that when my tape recorder crapped out at the first interview, they were willing to redo it over the phone. When I sat down with this Austin-based foursome before their show at the Troubadour two weeks ago, I could tell these folks weren’t merely demonstrating typical Texan courtesy; they were truly delightful. They answered questions with ease and poise. I was stunned. Not only do they kick infinite amounts of ass on stage (swapping instruments mid-song), they’re jolly good people. Josh Lambert, Yvonne Lambert, Toto Miranda and Ryan Figg have been together since the late ‘90s and they’re still generating originality. They experiment with the theremin, glockenspiel, samplers and the standards. Together it all sounds like a loopy, electronic noise party where you can wiggle and dance the night away. Their most current release- an EP called Golden Beds- is some of their only music featuring vocals. It’s a subtle and lovely change. The Octopus Project also kills it at festivals like Coachella, SXSW and All Tomorrow’s Parties. What can’t they do? Okay, enough chatter. Here’s the interview:

The Octopus Project – Moon Boil

Black Moth Super Rainbow + The Octopus Project – Marshmallow Window

How’s the tour going so far?

Josh Lambert: It’s going very well. All the shows have been super awesome and really fun. It’s exciting.

Will you be working on a new album when you get back home?

JL: We have a lot of ideas and we’re going back to some stuff we worked on before the tour. As soon as we get back we’re planning on diving into all that. That’s what we’re gonna focus on… That’ll be a big goal as soon as we get home.

Do you guys record mostly in Austin?

JL: We’ve recorded differently everything we’ve done. Some stuff we did at home and other things we’ve done in studios. Our last full record we recorded in a different city and the EP we recorded just on our own and half in the studio. We haven’t quite decided what we’re going to do for the next album, but I’m sure it will be an adventure nonetheless.

Absolutely. You’ve mentioned that when you collaborated with Black Moth Super Rainbow it was pretty much done over the internet.

JL: Yeah, pretty much. We both sent each other unfinished songs and half ideas. We’d send an mp3 and someone would add keyboards to one thing or drums to one thing and send it back and forth until we were all happy with it. Yeah, Internet!

How do you know when a song is finished? How do you feel that out?

JL: Um, it really just depends. I mean, we all try to get our hands on it at some point or try new things with it, and I think it’s not really finished until we’re all happy with it. And we all feel like we’ve done everything we want to do to it and tried all the things we’ve wanted and it feels right. It just has to feel right to all of us, basically.

What is the visual music show, for people who haven’t seen it?

JL: There’s a theater in Austin called the Alamo Drafthouse and sometimes they’ll bring in bands to do the live score or the right music for a movie. So we were asked to do that and we were really excited about writing songs for short films, and we just threw ourselves into a couple months of writing and practicing. We performed at the theater playing totally new music in front of a live audience while these films were being projected. It was really fun and hopefully sometime we can take it out on the road. Logistically it’s a lot more involved than a regular show.

Depeche Mode or the The Cure?

JL: (conflicted) Hmmm. I don’t know. That’s tough. We grew up with both of them. Ryan says The Cure.

Who else do you guys listen to? Who’s making music that inspires you?

JL: I feel like there were a lot of awesome releases this year with Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, Dan Deacon, The Dirty Projectors, stuff like that. I mean, it’s pretty awesome. It’s all in the rotation. But we’ve been digging into some older stuff. Like obscure French music from the 20’s and 30’s. Think stuff that sounds like it could be on a Wes Anderson soundtrack.

How’d you guys meet?

JL: Yvonne and Toto met when they were about twelve years old, pretty young. They went to Sunday school together, so they’ve known each other for a long time. And Yvonne and I met on my eighteenth birthday. And let’s see, we’ve known Ryan for 3000 years.

That’s quite a friendship you’ve got going.

Yeah we like him.

So I read on your website you guys had a song on CSI?

JL: Yeah, it was awesome to be on there and super weird because it’s a huge, high-budget TV show. I don’t really watch it so I didn’t know what to expect. They used it in a scene where they were, I don’t know, zooming in and looking at microscopic things and proteins they had found and scientists doing sciency things in a montage.

Well that’s exciting. That’s everything. Thank you so much for doing the interview and giving time to theFmly.

JL: Of course, our pleasure.