By a landslide

>>The weird, wild, winning combinations
of Austin’s Octopus Project

CRAZY, PRETTY AND HOT: The Octopus Project

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

The moniker was chosen rather randomly, but with a fourth member now firmly inducted into the band, Austin, TX’s Octopus Project does indeed have eight arms. Good thing, too. Given the range of instruments and sounds they grab at (and routinely switch up on), and the umpteen elements, both aural and visual, that they drag into their performances, the Octopus Project—Josh and Yvonne Lambert, Toto Miranda and now Ryan Figg—need every appendage available. Touring long and hard on their latest effort, Hello, Avalanche, recorded in a converted barn in rural Washington, the band is only getting better, after almost a decade, at conjuring up coolness of the weird, wild and wondrous variety. The Mirror reached Miranda, primarily the drummer, by e-mail after he went and lost his damn cell phone.

Mirror: Tell me a bit about your new guitarist, Ryan Figg, and what he brings to the band.

Toto Miranda: We met Ryan through mutual friends in Austin—he’s a great musician all around, and way more skilled on guitar than any of us...he joined the band just before we left on this current tour, so we only had time to learn our existing songs, but we’re really excited to see what we can come up with together when we get home and start developing new material.

M: How do you think Hello, Avalanche differs from previous Octopus Project records?

TM: The biggest difference is probably the improved sound quality we were able to achieve in the studio. We’re very happy with our previous records, but excited about how big this one sounds. Despite the different recording environment, I think we’re still pursuing the same basic ideas, which are hard to sum up but are kinda based around our pursuit of crazy sounds, pretty sounds and hot beats in various combinations. Goals like these always seem to be taking us in different directions musically, and I feel like we’re always getting better at realizing the ideas we’re after.

M: I like how the Theremin has been integrated into the music as more than simply a wonky decoration.

TM: That’s probably the other major difference between our other records and Avalanche. For the first time, we were able to put together some tunes that put the Theremin to use as a major component. The more we play as a group and the more Yvonne develops what she’s doing with the instrument, the farther we’re able to take that aspect of the band. Certainly much more to come.

M: Props and décor are something that the Octopus Project is noted for. Do you guys still invest a lot of energy into that side of your art?

TM: Absolutely! We’re excited about making both music and visual art, and the band gives us an opportunity to combine a lot of our visual art into one big experience, via stage props, masks, projections etc. It makes for a lot of extra effort sometimes, but it’s a satisfying kind of busy. Putting so many visual elements on stage really helps bring the audience along with what we’re doing. I’d like to think that the same elements of ourselves that we put into the art are apparent in the music and vice versa, so hopefully they amplify each other.

With Enon at la Sala Rossa on
Sunday, Oct. 21, 9 p.m., $15