Guitars in the Big Apple

When we decided to record different pieces of our songs all over the country, we were hoping that the project would be influenced by the flavor and creativity of each of person and location. New York was a great representation of that ideal being played out in real-time!

The first day after arriving in New York, we met the guitarist Jared Scharff of Saturday Night Live at Mophonics to record some guitar tracks for our three songs.

“Hold on. Doesn’t Ben play guitar? Why doesn’t he just do the tracking himself?!”

Good question, glad you asked.

When we created our demos, Ben did do a ton of work writing and performing guitar parts to fill out each song. Some of the results we loved, but we still felt there was something lacking that the tracks really needed, so we decided to ask for help from someone who would have a totally different perspective and a ton of expertise specific to the instrument.

Turns out it was a good choice. Along with engineer Kyle Paas, Jared invested a ton of creativity into our songs, experimenting with sounds, rhythms, and melodies that we never would’ve come up with on our own. After a day of crafting parts for each track, we took away lots of great material and now we have the task of picking which takes to use for the final versions (there’s a wicked guitar solo coming your way, just you wait).

In addition to our time in the studio, we really enjoyed adventuring in New York! The city was so full of energy, and we were blown away by its diversity and endless activity. This being my first visit, we made sure to take in some of the classics, going for a stroll around Central Park, riding the Staten Island Ferry for a view of the city and the Statue of Liberty, and exploring as much as possible from Times Square to the Wall Street area. We even got to some great thrift stores and tried out a killer ramen restaurant, Ippudo (per Jared’s suggestion)!

Jared and Kyle’s help with the guitar tracks gave us the last piece we needed to wrap up the instrumentation for our songs, so we packed up and headed out for the opposite coast for the last leg of the trip. Our time with Aaron Sterling went so well on the front end of this project, we decided to head back to his home studio to enlist his help for vocal production!

But more on that soon.

- L

Ahhh-stin

Having never visited Austin, Texas before, Ben and I honestly had no idea what to expect...except that everyone we talked to that HAD been there only had positive reviews! Well, we now have a positive review of our own to add to the mix.

Austin was beautiful. The city had such a relaxed and laid-back vibe, it was perfect for catching up and continuing work on edits and lyrics (see our last post from Portland for more explanations on that). Though we didn't have a specific recording session booked in Austin, we did get to tour Arlyn Studios- an inspiring space with a vintage vibe where Willie Nelson and Gary Clark Jr. (among many others) have written and recorded some great music.

Our incredible hosts, the Easleys, provided some great recommendations and a restful home-base, and from there we took the opportunity to sleep in and really focus on resting up. We went wading close to the Barton Springs Pool, listened to the live music down 6th street, messed around on some synths at a local music store, and ate more than our fair share of tacos and street corn from the food trucks...fantastic.

After passing through Dallas to catch up with some of my family, we ventured out from the West to our next stop...New York!

If you've been following along on social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook), you probably won't be surprised to hear that we've been enjoying the big city, and that we will have lots to tell you about our explorations and our guitar session with Jared Scharff of Saturday Night Live! Thanks for following along...

- L

Portlandia

Hello everyone!

After our first few locations were heavily stacked with studio time, Portland was a chance to stop, take a breather, and catch up on some tedious, but much needed, detail work. So, with some classic Northwest cloudy weather and excellent coffee to keep us fueled (thank you Heart Roasters), we spent quite a few hours editing tracks and revising lyrics.

At risk of being a bit repetitious, let me just take the opportunity to explain exactly where we are at with our three songs for this first EP. Before we began this trip, Ben and I worked hard to create demo versions that accurately represented the structure, feel, and direction we envisioned for each song. We then took these demos with us on the trip and used them as the starting points to rethink the tracks. Beginning with the drums then moving to the bass and keys, we have used the expertise of those we’ve worked with in each city to make the songs even better. Sometimes that means keeping the original parts just as they are, but sometimes that means cutting them out completely, re-recording them to be even stronger, or adding in something entirely new that takes it in a different direction.

As you can imagine, that method has brought in some unique elements that we are incredibly excited about, but it also has left us with lots of pieces that need to be drawn together to maintain cohesiveness within each song. Thus, along the way we have been composing new melodies, changing parts, and editing each element of each song so we are ready for the next phase of recording.  

But we’d be lying if we made it sound like we were “hard at work” the whole time we were in Portland…

In the excellent company of our friends John and Dana, we explored a bit of Forest Park, went to several thrift stores and unique shops, took full advantage of a day of sunshine with a hike to see Punchbowl Falls, and ATE. With Dana’s fantastic cooking (we celebrated her cookbook being released while we were there, it’s AMAZING and you should check it out), delicious tacos, brunch with Ben’s cousin, gluten free pizza, and grilling with new friends...it’s a good thing we spent a lot of time walking around the city to make up for it!

We are now finishing up our time in Austin, Texas and will be headed next to New York to work on the guitar tracks. I’ve never been, so send us some recommendations!

- L

Candyland (For Synth People)

Hey there!

We've had a fantastic time in Portland, Oregon, but before we share about it (you'll have to wait for our next post for that), we have been itching to tell you about a truly unique stop we made during the second half of our stay in San Francisco.

As we mentioned in our last post, we began our time in San Fran with a day at New, Improved Recording, laying down most of the bass and a few keys tracks with the help of our friend Shawn and the engineer Jay Pellicci. With those in place, we were ready for the next step of fleshing out the synthesizers.

Let me just tell you that synthesizers hold a special place in both Ben and I’s hearts, so we were a bit giddy when we decided to try out the Vintage Synthesizer Museum. Aka: Synthesizer Candyland.

You guys, what an experience. As our first time in the same room with some of the most classic vintage synths in the music world, we could've easily spent days just tweaking knobs and messing with faders. But amidst out kid-like enjoyment, we did actually get some work done, taking advantage of the extensive collection by recording parts on the Prophet 5, Minimoog Model D, Jupiter 8, and Oberheim OB-X (among others).

Needless to say, we were amazed at the subtle depth and richness that the analog signals added to our mixes, creating dynamics and interest without demanding too much attention. The results sound wonderful, and we are already looking forward to the next time we get to go back. Thank you Lance for opening up such a great resource to musicians in the Bay Area, and thank you Shawn for your input and suggestions along the way!

Before we had to leave San Francisco, our friends Shawn and Sierra took us on a day trip across the Golden Gate Bridge and up the coast to Point Reyes. After a scenic drive and a short hike past flowering succulents to see the lighthouse, we ended the day on the beach, watching the sun set over the most beautifully intense waves that Ben and I had ever seen.

San Francisco was gorgeous, productive, inspiring, and difficult to leave...but we will definitely be back.

More to come soon on lyric writing and edits in Portland...and don't forget, if you'd like to see more photos and videos, connect with us on Instagram or Facebook!

- L

Bass and Bridges

Hey all!

Our last stop in California was packed to the brim with two full days of studio tracking and time spent saying hello to the beautiful city of San Francisco.

After the drum session with Aaron Sterling added so much character and excitement to the foundational level of our tracks, we were interested to see how our next layers, the bass and keys, would start to take shape during our time with Jay Pellicci at New, Improved Recording. One reason that New, Improved had caught our eye was their collection of outboard and other gear we could utilize to find the right sound and feel for each individual song. We were excited that a 1966 Fender P-Bass, Vintage Neve 1073 Preamps, and other high-end gear made it into the signal chain. Nerdy, yes, but it was fun and definitely brought about some great results!

While in San Fran, our friends Shawn and Sierra not only graciously kept us from sleeping on the streets, but they also showed us as much of the area as we could pack in during our time outside of the studio. We drove across the Golden Gate and Oakland Bay Bridges, tried out the public transportation (including the classic old trolley downtown), explored muraled alleyways and Ben met what he calls “the best burrito he’s ever consumed”.

Also, let’s take a special moment to honor some special gluten free food. Fried chicken, baguettes, bagels, cinnamon rolls, cupcakes...I may come home 30lbs heavier, but there will be no regrets.  

Coming Soon: More about San Francisco and our second day of tracking in the Vintage Synth Museum!

- L

Drums and LA sunshine

Hello from San Francisco!

We have had a busy but wonderful few days, packed with recording, travel, and time with family and friends. California has been putting it’s best foot forward from day 1, giving us the kind of sunshine that makes us wish we had twice as much time explore.

To kick off the official music business of the trip, we were privileged to spend a day in the studio with Aaron Sterling, hashing out the foundational drum parts for our songs. It’s hard to put into words how inspiring it was to break down the tracks with him, rethinking old parts, adding in new ideas and allowing the songs to come to life in a fresh way. The dynamic was extremely fluid and motivating- we are discovering how valuable it is to have the creative input and experienced opinion of someone else involved in our process, and it certainly made a HUGE difference that we all clicked on a personal level as well. Needless to say, we look forward to working more with him in the future and we are now even more excited to share it all with you when it’s finished.

The stay in LA was not long enough to see as much as we would’ve liked, but in our off time, our highlights were hanging out with Ben’s cousin and his wife (and their adorable dog, Sophie), catching up on some rest, and wandering out on the Manhattan Beach Pier. 

We are now spending a few days in San Francisco with friends, getting a final taste of California and heading in to two different studios in order to add the bass and keys layers to our songs.

Thanks for staying connected- more soon!

A few days in the desert

Hey everyone!

Well, our first few days on the road have been incredible. After a quick flight from Kansas City to LA, we drove straight to the Imperial Valley to spend a few days with my brother (Laura speaking) and his wife and kids. We were anticipating that we would enjoy our time together, but we weren't expecting to be so blown away by the beautifully diverse scenery of the desert.

From the cactuses that just happened to be in bloom ALL at the same time, to the unusual cloud cover and brief rains that resulted in perfectly mild temperatures, the desert seemed to be showing off for us during our explorations. We had a blast searching for unique rocks with the kids, hiking over terrain that looked like another planet, playing in the shifting sand of the Glamis dunes, and catching up with family over delicious authentic Mexican food. A special thanks to our brother, sister-in-law, and nieces and nephew for hosting us and giving us our first taste of the desert of California! We are smitten.

There's no way we could share all the photos we took during our stay in the Valley here on the blog, so check our Instagram and Facebook for more during the next few days!

Speaking of the next few days…

After a brief stop for some unexpected hangout time with friends in San Diego, we are now in LA, soaking up more of this amazing California sunshine. Tomorrow we head in for our first recording session of the trip with drummer Aaron Sterling (check out more about him on his website or give him a follow on Instagram) and we can't wait to get started on the tracks. We are looking forward to sharing about that experience with you, so stay tuned for the next update! 

Thanks for joining us.

Let's do this...

Hey there! We are Benjamin and Laura Heller, husband and wife musicians and founders of the band, October VI. Whether you have known us for years, or you are just hearing about us for the first time, we are honored at your interest in us and thrilled to share our music with you.

We have loved music for our entire lives and though at various points we have said we wanted to quit playing (and sometimes even did), we’ve never been able to shake the desire to express ourselves and connect through music. Why? Because music is part of us, part of our relationships, our memories, our beliefs, our joys and failures; music is a conversation that we just can’t help but continue.

October VI is our way to engage in that conversation with you, a way to connect through the medium of music, and we are incredibly eager to get started.

Throughout the past year, we have been carefully crafting the vision, direction, and content for what will become our first album. To start it off, we will be tracking three songs on the road, traveling to six cities around the United States to enlist the help of other creatives in the recording process and to finish an EP that we can share with you.

So why tell you about this now? We want you to come with us, to join us in the studio, to see the progression of the project as it develops, to come along as we explore new scenes and meet new people. We will be continuously updating our social media as we go (follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube) so you can experience the process with us. Then when it’s all finished, we will be releasing the final project so you can see the results. If you want to be the first to hear it, sign up to receive our email updates!

We are excited to get started, curious to see what comes from the next six weeks, and delighted to have you join us. Thanks for following October VI.