’89 domande a October and The Eyes – Singer and Songwriter

ALL THE PICTURES ARE BY THE UNDERGROUND SUPERSTAR PHOTOGRAPHER @FRANCISDELACROIXSTUDIO

Name? October (@octob_r).

How old are you? Never ask a woman her age and a man his salary.

What’s your job? Wannabe Rockstar.

What did you study? I’m a music school dropout.

What do you think about cloning? Would you get cloned if you had the chance? No way, I’m one of one.

If you were a character of a movie which onewould you be? David Bowie’s Jareth in The Labrynth.

Do you think, for example, that killing an ant is the same thing as killing a dolphin? In other words, do you think that the lives of living beings are all on the same level, or do you evaluate them on the basis of their functionality in relation to human beings? Killing a Dolphin is definitely worse than killing an ant. In in saying that, I try not to kill any living creature on purpose. 

In your opinion, is it right that states exist? Or would you prefer a world and humanity united under one “flag“? States need to exist in order to protect a level of human autonomy. I don’t think the homogenisation of anything is ever a good thing. 

Is it right in your opinion to place limits on immigration, or should everyone be able to go anywhere? Immigration policy and laws are necessary, but in saying that asylum seekers are not illegal immigrants.

What is your position in the conflict between Israel and Palestine? From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

What’s your best gig in your opinion that we can find on Youtube? Unfortunately none exist but watch this space…

What is your top five of your songs?

1. All My Love
2. Spiral
3. Rubber Gloves
4. Who Upset You?
5. Jack Black Must Die

What is your song that you are most attached to? Why? Walk The Line because it’s one of the oldest songs I’ve written for OATE.

Can you tell us an anecdote behind one of your song? In 2018 I feel quite drastically ill and was sent to hospital under the suspicion I might have meningitis. I was supposed to be playing a show that night but instead underwent a spinal tap to determine whether I really did have meningitis or not. One of the most horrific procedures you can imagine: a jumbo 5inch needle is inserted into your lower back in between your spine. If they hit your spine or you move slightly in the wrong direction, you’re paralysed. It’s an extremely painful and long procedure. Horrific. Luckily I was meningitis free but it inspire a song that wrote immediately after the spinal tap about walking the line between life and death, joy and disappointment…. That song became Walk The Line. I then was discharged from the hospital, went home and recorded directly into my laptop speakers the next day, while still immensely ill. I didn’t bother to re-record the song and released it as is on my ‘Who Upset You’ EP as I liked how raw and emotive the original take was

The best song you wrote? Lyrically, I think Rubber Gloves might be up there along with The Unraveling.

The most appreciated one? All My Love seems to be the crowd favourite.

The craziest thing you’ve seen at one of your concerts? Somebody took their top off, flashed their tits and threw me their bra once. Felt like Elvis.

The most rock and roll thing? I drunkenly fell over in 6 inch platform boots and nearly impaled myself on the drum kit. I was stuck and couldn’t get up for a while during the set so just performed the rest of the song from my mangled position on top of the kit.

Can you tell us something about you that nobody knows or very few people know? I once opened for Yung Lean (lol).

Do you think Hegel was right to put music as art at an higher level, or do you think the figurative arts, especially at an emotional level, are on the same level? I might secretly agree with Hegel here – there’s something almost alchemical, inexplicably magic about the creation of music, but musicians should know about Hegel’s POV, we already have an inflated sense of self importance as is 

Can you give us a definition of art? The result of a creative pursuit to explore an idea????

Your favorite style icons? Lou Reed, Blixa Bargeld, Marianna Faithful in Girl on A Motorcycle.

What’s your best talent? Sniffing out assholes.

Do you know some Italian band? Well it’s not really a band but I’ve been loving Stefano Torossi at the moment.

And songs? ‘Being Friendly’ is a favourite.

If you could speak in world vision for 15 minutes what would you say? The state of the world would certainly be in a dark place if I ever had to.

What is your motto? “Just remember, nothing matters!”

Do you think exist an objective aesthetic value or you think aesthetic value is just subjective? Completely and utterly subjective.

If you could have a super power what would you choose? The power of total seduction.

When, in your opinion, can you define a person as an artist? When you’re pretentious enough to call yourself one. 

Do you think that the relationship between art and drugs is just a cliché? It makes a lot of sense – artists tend to be more liberal, experimental, daring. We yearn to see the world at every possible angle. It’s justified. 

What drugs have you done? All of the good ones. 

If so which one is your favorite? Love.

And which one do you use more often? What my mother would call “merry pajamas”.

Are you in favor of the liberalization of soft drugs? Of course.

And hard drugs? Yeah probably. 

Do you use drugs during concerts? Sometimes. 

If so, which ones in particular? Angel dust.

Do you have any political orientation? Fairly left wing. I tend to vote green. 

How many people have you slept with in your life? A girl never kisses and tells.

What is your favorite position in sex? As a rockabilly enthusiast, it’s gotta be cowgirl.

The most handsome guy you know? My ex.

What about the girl? Stella Tennant.

Who do you think is the best band right now? Bar Italia.

And the most overrated? Ha… I fear I can’t name names but there’s a lot of male fronted bands who clearly wanna sound like Mark E Smith and use Sprechgesang to convey their pseudo-intellectual, try-hard bullshit.

The most underestimated? Children of The Pope. 

Do you think that believing in God and not believing in God start from the same presumption about something that in itself we have no possibility of knowing, thus reducing even atheism to an act of faith toward the unknown? Sounds like you’re talking about Agnosticism of which I personally identify with. To say with certainly there is no god or spiritual element is the same as saying there is for certain. I don’t think we can prove either. I’m happy to admit I don’t know a thing. 

Can you tell us the craziest anecdote you have experienced or witnessed in the music industry? Well there is that time that some shitty FWF wannabes sucked each other off on stage at Paper Dress Vintage.

For how much money would you shoot porn?  What’s enough to retire on? 10mil?

And who would you choose as a partner? Jim Morrison.

And for charity would you do it? To exemplify, if you were told let’s build a school in a third world country in exchange for one of your porn videos would you accept? God no.

In your opinion is there such a thing as unnatural? In the case in point, if you consider man as part of nature, is everything that emanates from it to be considered natural? If not, why do you not consider man as part of nature? Yes I think so. But in saying that, nature has no moral compass. I mean of we’re talking semantics here, “unnatural” has become synonymous with “wrong/abnormal/unhealthy”. Not everything unnatural is bad for you, Man’s very much a part of nature he’s just learned to manipulate it to his advantage.

If you were not in your profession what work would you have wanted to do? I genuinely can’t imagine a life without music.  

If you could go back in time and kill a personwho would it be? David Cameron.

Do you think man’s life has meaning? No.

Can you tell us the most interesting anecdote with respect to your eventual experience with drugs? One of the first times I took acid I decided to drop it and walk to and art supply store with my friend to pick up supplies for our trip so we had something to do. The acid ended up hitting a lot quicker than expected and we got lost in the store for about 40 minutes trying to find our way out. It wasn’t helped by the fact that it was Halloween and they had decorations and customs everywhere, creating an even more disorientating and disconcerting experience. Scary. 

The time you did drugs the most what did you take and in what doses? I’m too sensible for my own good so the story isn’t as debaucherous as you probably had hoped for, but it was a concoction of molly, ketamine, coke and mushrooms at a music festival. I had nothing but a wonderful time. 

What do you think people say about you? That I’m genuine. 

Blur or Oasis? Neither.

Can you tell us when you think a person is cool and when they are not cool? A cool person never cares what people think.

What are your 5 favorite Oasis songs? Fuck Oasis.

If you had to tell a person to fuck off, who would you choose? And why? Hahaha a girl I used to live with who was the most insufferable cunt I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting. 

What is the night you spent the most money to have fun? My Schichuan karaoke birthday party. 

What’s your favorite artist? Visually? I don’t really have one. If I had to choose, maybe Goya.

What’s your favorite show business character? Liza Minelli.

If you could choose which historical era to live in, which would you choose? Cliche but born in the 40s so I can be a twenty something in the 60s.

If you could spend a day with an historical figure who would you choose? I think a night out with Warhol would be enlightening. 

Who are the people that inspired you the most? My East London musical comrades. 

If you could choose to be a famous person for a night, who would it be? Henry VIII.

And be in a relationship with? Henry VIII.

A song you wish you had written? The Old Man’s Back Again – Scott Walker. The bass line alone is unmatched. 

Who is your best friend in the showbusiness world? I mean I hardly exist in a showbizz world but my best musician friend’s have gotta be Sabina and Joe.

Is there anyone you don’t get along with? I suffer a lot of fools gladly. 

What is the thing you like most about Italy? Old Italian people actually look like they want to be alive. They look as if they are full of zest. Vivere. 

And one you don’t like? You can’t order a damn Uber anywhere.

Where have you been on vacation when you were young? My family and I would always holiday in a place called Pohara, on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Every year we’d stay in the same motel by the sea for 14 years.

Where are you going on vacation now? I don’t know if I have time for a holiday this year. Hopefully a green island with as few American tourists as possible. 

Do you think it would be correct to create a place where man can live in the state of nature, making him free from a choice of social belonging that is instead taken for granted? It would be an interesting experiment if anything. Man is overwhelmed by choice and responsibility – I think we like the idea of unbridled freedom much more than the reality. We’re a species of convenience – we’re lazy and we’re egotistical. Most would suffer and yearn for structure.

What’s the topic you are most expert in? The Doors catalogue. 

Have you ever been in love? Yes and madly. 

Have you ever had a homosexual experience? Well I has an FFM threesome once if that counts. 

Where do you live? London. 

Which neighbourhood? Leyton.

Where are you from?  New Zealand.

Other cities where you’ve been living and how long? Lived in Wellington for a year and Auckland for about 5.

Which languages do you speak? English and I know a few Māori phrases. 

Which are your favorite places in your city London? The Adam and Eve, Donlon Books, Atlantis Records, Victoria Park, Barshu in China Town.

Favorite movies? ….. Austin Powers 1, 2 and 3.

Favorite directors? David Cronenberg, Tom Ford, Wong Kar Wai.

Favorite songs? It changes frequently, but at the moment it’s Air Instrument by Omertà, Bermuda Triangle Blues by Blondie, Hilly Fields by Nick Nicely, and Man Without a Country by John Surman and Stu Martin to name a few.

Favorite bands? The Doors, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Iggy and The Stooges.

A famous band you don’t like? The Libertines.

Favorite books? A Spy In The House of Love, Crash.

Favorite authors?  William S Burroughs, JG Ballard, Anaïs Niin, Bret Easton Ellis.

Favorite artworks? Anything by Goya.

If you can choose 5 celebrities to have a party with who they would be? Grace Jones, Lindsay Lohan, Andy Warhol, Kate Moss, Ronnie O Sullivan.

Do you feel envy for anyone? If so, for whom? No I don’t envy anyone. Grass is always greener.

The material good you most desire and envy? A house of my own. 

The quality you would like to have and don’t have? I don’t yearn for things I can’t change. 

There are more and more models who do not respond to the “classic” aesthetic canons, do you think that brands really try to change the social dynamics or do you think they are choices dictated by marketing reasons to exploit the politically correct? Everything is a trend, diversity is definitely capitalised off of (for good or for bad). I don’t think brands genuinely care about changing social dynamics, no.

Have you ever been offered something in exchange for sex? No.

If you had the possibility to remove social networks from the world, would you delete them? No.

And what about globalization? No.

The craziest experience you’ve ever had? Sitting next to my deceased grandfather. 

What do you think about influencers?  Not for me. 

What’s your favorite historical character? Jesus. 

Can you define yourself with an adjective? Patient.

Favorite TV series? Twin Peaks. 

If you were an animal which one would you like to be? A well loved family cat. 

Have you ever had sex with more than one person? Yes.

What time do you usually go to sleep? Midnight.

What time do you usually wake up? I’m a working girl so it’s 7.30 sharp.

What’s your favorite city in the world? London.

Do you believe in some religions? I’m agnostic.

What’s the first thing you would do if you win the lottery? Out for seafood and champagne.

The richest person you know? I think I know an aristocrat.

Your favorite dish? 1 single oyster.

Do you have some phobias? Needles.

Favorite fashion brand? Ann Demeulemeester.

How important is it for you to be rich from 1 to 10? 5 – I need only get by.

And fame? 5 – not fame but appreciation. 

How important are fame and money to impress a partner? Of zero importance.

And what about beauty? Relatively important.

And intelligence? Of utmost importance.

The smartest person you know? My brother.

Do you consider yourself smart? I guess so.

If you could choose any brand to be sponsored by which one would you choose? Wellll it’s sort already happening but Ann Demeulemeester.

The most precious material thing you own? My two Lumina Daphine bedside lamps I just treated myself to.

What do you usually drink at the bar? One of two things: the house red or a gin and tonic.

An advice you can give to someone that want to do your job? Don’t bother trying.

Best party you’ve been to? Always the ones that I host. 

Do you know someone being a real racist? Luckily I don’t move in those kinda circles.

Do you think that if people couldn’t post on Instagram about it, they would take part as well to social movements?  I think that’s already happening. 

What do you think about the existence of royal rulers for birthright? Guillotine!!!!!

What’s your best talent? Not so much a talent, but I consider myself fairly resilient.

What are the clothes you can’t stand to see on a man and on a woman? Any sports or “athleisure” attire that’s worn outside of the context of actually exercising.

What’s the item of clothing you spent the most money on? I got some Fidan Novruzova boots a few years ago for like £700? I got a nice paycheck and it was a treat.

Can you tell us a number from 1 to 89? 8.

Favorite restaurant and bar in the city where you live? Adam and Eve Pub.

And club? I don’t do clubs.

Your ideal holiday? One where I don’t pay for it.

If you could compose the best band in history, who would be in it? Rowland S Howard n guitar, John Densemore on drums, maybe there’s no bass guitar but like Puce Mary on bass synths n sound fx, Sylvia Plath on vocals and Joel Gion on percussion for good measure.

If you could choose someone to follow you on Instagram who would you choose? Jim Jarmusch.

Do you think that if there were no hypothetical partners to impress, human beings would pursue success so spasmodically? I don’t really know what you’re asking here but what I will say from my own experience that my creative endeavours are certainly spasmodic, I go through phases of writing intensively and then not at all and it has nothing to do with impressing anyone 

Do you think that in certain environments, especially those in which we find fame and money, there is a lack of certain values? Always. 

Does the current concept of democracy make sense to you? It’s all I know so yes. Do I think it’s efficient, effective and representative of my political views? No, but like I said it’s hard to imagine an alternative.

What is your position on a hypothetical enlightened dictatorship that could direct the good of people? Never liked being told what to do. 

What do you think about the psychological profile of politicians? Generalizing and keeping in mind the existence of due exceptions, do you think that politicians get to do their job for personal interests, such as ego satisfaction or economic profit, or for an ethical and civic help vocation? I’d like to think it’s a generalisation and I’d like to think there’s some who have a strong moral compass and a desire to do good even if that seems a little naive and idealistic.

Do you think politicians and influencers have similar psychological profiles? No.

Do you think that prison, intended as deprivation of freedom of a subject, is a correct solution for an individual who violates the laws of society, or do you think it presupposes an acceptance of participation in the social contract that some individuals may not want? Harmony is essential to a heathy society and those who disrupt that aren’t going to come to learn anything about loving thy neighbour in prison. I don’t have an alternative solution – maybe all the menaces of society should be made to join a band. It’s the ultimate test of collaboration, compromise, creative expression of inner feelings and clashing egos… I think that’d do some good.

There are those who argue that the death penalty is a non-penalty, in the sense that at the moment in which the penalty is executed, the subject who should undergo it does not exist anymore because of the penalty itself, consequently involving however an interference in the life of the subjects close to the condemned, who would become at that point the real passive subjects of the case, what do you think about it? You deserve the electric chair for this kind of question.

If we consider the death as the end of everything, hypothetically the homicide of a subject that for absurdity doesn’t have, and has never had, social relationships of any kind with anybody, neith uh er economic, neither personal, neither juridical, and if he would be killed without inflicting any suffering and without that he could realize it, such homicide should be punished? Leaving aside the motivations of the agent, as well as the need to protect other subjects of a hypothetical society, in case he would be punished, the murderer would suffer the punishment for an action of which no one suffers any consequence, is it correct for you then to assert that death is something that concerns only the living? I think the desire to eradicate life that is evil.  Death cannot concern the dead of course

Do you think that as animals, races also exist for human beings? No.

Do you think that racism is a manifestation of some kind of deficiency, an aid to fill gaps in existence for those who approach it? Could this explain the fact that often the profile of the average.

racist corresponds to individuals with difficult lives who have to struggle with a variety of issues and who use it as an outlet? A deficiency of intellect probably.

Do you think that a cultural growth is always good for an individual or do you think that in certain situations it is identified with a loss of intellectual purity? I don’t know if a believe in “cultural purity” at all. Being exposed to as many different experiences and points of view can only add to the depth of one’s character.

Do you think that culture in the hands of a stupid person can sometimes represent a problem? Without a doubt. Unfortunately I think we’ve come to herald and praise stupidity and lack of any deep thought.

What do you think about the cancel culture? Has turned into a poisonous culture war. Ostracisation is probably not the answer. Those who are without sin may cast the first stone.

What would you answer to the dilemma of the Mandarin of Chateaubriand then taken up by Balzac and countless other philosophers? In this case, if in order to fulfill any of your desires, you had to end the life of a person who is extremely distant from you and about whom you know nothing, without them suffering and without anyone ever knowing, would you do it? I think most of us would.

Is rock and roll still alive? Rock and Roll can never die.

A question you wish we had asked you but didn’t? Who my favourite Beatle is.

And what answer would you have given yourself? George Harrison of course. 

If you could choose a person you know to read this interview, who would it be? Iggy Pop.