Article by Marzia Picciano
Is this the year of rock's revenge? If we asked the October Drift they would answer us without too many words yes, and even if it wasn't, for them it would be the same. Even for fans of the genre. We actually talked about it a few days ago for a short interview.
Small step back: who are we talking about? In short, about Kiran Roy (vocals/guitars), Alex Bispham (Bass), Chris Holmes (drums/vocals) and Dan Young (guitar), three very young people from Taunton, Somerset, South West from the Great Britain. Who are currently crossing Europe on their first headlining tour to get this one Saturday 14 December in Milanal Legend Clubto present their new(issim)o album, Blame The Youngreleased at the end of September.
If the timing may seem rushed and reckless, I would like to underline that they do exactly that, rushed, as intense as a 45 minute boxing session, and as reckless as our worries when the possibility of ruining our day arises.
And then I really am one live band: they first played and then recorded. And apparently they are so good live that they have convinced several people to go Justin Lockeyguitarist of Editorsalready their producer. But above all the owner of the Physical Education Recordingslabel under which it is formed at the speed of light, yet so naturally, Blame The Young. They have already seen Glastonbouryin 2017, but they also love smaller European festivals, or those that bring non-obvious line-ups like the Greenman.
To my ears, the presence of the Editors' guitarist leaves an indelible mark on their music and also in the taste it leaves in the mouth when consumed. But it's not just this. Kiran has no doubts: those who inspired and shaped their songs the most, when they decided to make music, were the The National. They follow Radiohead, Smashinh Pumpkins. Experiments are not denied, as done with NakedEP containing acoustic (if not orchestrated) versions of some very sweet (bitter) pieces, Naked And Cinnamon Girl. They think it's also doable for Blame The Youngwith live album versions or an acoustic version, but they haven't decided what yet.
If the first records Forever Whatever And I Don't Belong Anywhere they are the hidden and catastrophic antechamber of the hyperbaric chamber that we experience in our daily lives (and therefore more grungy guitars abound, more fully rock in the classic sense), Blame The Young it is the romantic deviation, which necessarily embraces indie, the most melodic punk, producing perfect singles of existential discomfort to be passionate about. A dull gunshot. They take and amplify a concept, that of denial, that feeling, or approach, which we have gradually found ourselves making the substratum of our days. Unfortunately.
But how difficult is it to put this into words, music? The October Drift they don't give up the noise, the guitars to smash, the feeling, which I seem to feel, deep down, my beloved Killers of the first albums. It's that in Kiran and co I find a bit of everything, of what I listened to before entering the maturity of thought and calmness of thoughts, even the darkest ones. Since it really makes me think that denial is a feeling for old people, and it must taste like something that ultimately belongs to us too much.
We'd really have to ask what they think, right? I hear Kiran while she's on the tour bus traveling from Stockholm to Germany, where they performed in Berlin on Monday. Then he tells me they have Prague, then they arrive in the Bel Paese and then Paris and they have a couple of dates in the Netherlands. He is definitely satisfied and happy. “Our first headlining tour in Europe, we weren't sure what to expect. We are pleasantly surprised. I mean, so far it's been really, really great”.
The October Drift They've seen some stages though. They opened the Editors on tour in Europe and it was here that they saw the Milanese audience for the first time (only one other date was scheduled but it was cancelled). They have also performed on the stages of many festivals, an extremely high number considering their “youth”. The October Drift they are looking for their way to ever wider success, for now supported primarily by very positive criticism, even and especially when it comes to denial.
“We really wanted to create some kind of journey in this album. It starts with this denial thing and then it hits rock bottom, where everyone capitulates, and then it ends with some kind of hope for healing towards the end”. Just think of a piece like Wallflower: “cigarettes and bloodsports/I'll remain a wallflower”. Placed there almost in the middle of a lineup where the central point is the sensation of being comfortably numb in the position of irrelevance and apathy that we live in.
Identifying this process was also natural. “It wasn't until we had the complete songs that we put them together. And we put them in that order, as if it could take (the listener) on some kind of journey, and that it made sense in that”.
And the journey itself is a further step. “The second album came straight out of lockdown and was recorded in that environment, in the pandemic era. He has a lot more claustrophobia. This feels a little like coming out the other side, like there's a little more space, it has healing elements. This is where we started.”
In fact he says “rushed” which is the real speed with which everything was born. But how do they combine their stage presence with this new mood of overcoming the claustrophobia of the 2020s?
“When we got to the second album, we realized that we basically had two half-written albums, and one was more a little grunge, a little rock, and that's where this part went to make the second album. And then half of those songs we brought over to this album, since they were a little more expansive. And, yes, some of these songs were also written in that rock mood, where I was writing alone between acoustic guitars. And then, when we were able to meet again (with the band ed.), we put things together, and everyone else brought their musical ideas.”
Then, to put them together, live, you need harmony. It always fascinates me a lot to know about the secret lives or not even that much of bands, especially at the beginning. “We have jobs where we have been able to be flexible” For example, Kiran in a bar in her area (where she will now go the weekend before Christmas, given the tour, and laughs). “We meet three times a week, every weekend, when we rehearse. Sometimes there is a difficult balance. You know, between work and families and the band, everything. For a while now, we've been trying to do things right and at this point I hope it's all paying off. I don't take it for granted, we have European tours and stuff like that. I'm really grateful.”
I try to imagine them in Somerset. In this corner of which I only know the most touristic aspect (or that of the background of English detective films), with their gardens and low red brick houses, the Instagrammable streets, where we put the October Drift? Probably where half the UK is today. In one medium, which is also particularly angry. From Brexit, from an explosive situation, government instability, from what has come out of Brexit, from the injustices of the system, climate cataclysms etc. I ask him. Is it a coincidence that the post-punk trend is experiencing an entirely British (and Irish) wave of regeneration? Isn't there a connection?
“I think it's really interesting. This was kind of a reaction to the political turmoil, this was the music in the UK, and it's a reflection of the time. I found it very interesting. I think of punk, a political renaissance and a lot of bands that are emerging.” Like Idles, but not only. “What seems fundamental to me is that there has been a sort of resurrection of guitar music. Our music isn't as directly political as some of the bands that are in the spotlight today, but I see a reflection of the time. Everyone writes songs that reflect the environment, and the environment is reflected in the works they work on and I think it's also something inevitable. It's an interesting connection though.”
Kiran isn't negative about everything though. He sees this reaction positively. And also the reaction. “C'It's so much division (in general ed.) and I think this division has been fueled by people online. But there's also something very powerful about bringing people together in rooms and creating a sense of community, I think that's important to keep them going as well.”
October Drift will be on stage at Legend on December 14th. Are we facing the (confirmation of) rock revelation at the end of 2024? We are certainly very close. Seeing is believing.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
