NZMM Artist Profiles: October
NZMM Artist Profiles: October

The unlikely pop genius making waves with her infectious industrial bops.

I’m not sure if she’d like me describing her music as pop (or even a bop for that matter) but when it’s so catchy and enjoyable, there really isn’t any other choice. We’re living in a strange time for pop music, where the charts are full of sounds that just 5 years ago would have been considered subculture. October is one of New Zealand’s best examples of this. Her music is a euphoric and raw experience dressed in barbed wire and sheet metal. The latter comes across heavily in the visual brand, which is intimidating, but the ear worm vocals will keep you listening.

Born in Blenheim, October (real name Emma Logan) was a music student in Wellington before she dropped out, moved to Auckland and signed with Universal. In 2016 she dropped the innovative EP Switchblade, and then started to turn heads with her single Cherry Cola. The track was one of the best pop hits to come out of NZ that year. It was recognised by i-D and NME, loved by Lorde, and led to performing with Broods and at Red Bull Sound Select.

I got the chance to see October perform at a small show in Auckland last year. It was an interesting experience. The songs she had released were mostly downbeat, and forced her into a more mellow live set. I could tell October’s energy was bubbling at the surface just desperate to explode, which it did when she played Cherry Cola. Her eccentric personality and dancing make for a great show, and I’m looking forward to seeing her perform again.

As I’m writing this I’m wondering if October had any idea that Cherry Cola would become the lead single for here debut album Ultra Red. The 11 track project dropped last month to a hot reception from fans and critics alike. The production is excellent across the board on Ultra Red. Because first and foremost, October is a bedroom producer. She spent several sessions working with other producers on this album, to the point where it was finished, but then took it back just weeks before its release date to reproduce the entire thing by herself.

It’s a good thing she did too. The album sounds like nothing else out there right now. The combination of rock’s anthemic feel, punk’s angst, trip-hop’s sub-bass percussion, and pop songwriting disguised by reverb and delay lends itself to October’s unique sound.
['Mitch Ley']
['October', 'Nzmm', 'Msc', 'Music', 'Pop']