October Music Biography

Biography

"Electrifyingly arousing, sharply perceptive, and all round outstanding material from this fresh new talent. Hotly tipped singer songwriter ‘October’ shows a musical depth and maturity beyond her years" (Guitarist Magazine).

October’s international touring has brought her critical acclaim, with reviews that describe "well crafted poetry, excellent guitar and distinctive vocals". She's already played to massive crowds at Lisebergshallen Arena, Birmingham's Symphony Hall, Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, Excel, and The Acoustic Festival of Britain. Not to mention the infamous Glastonbury Festival, three years in a row! Dubbed by the press as a "Melodic Rock Lady with a big future", 2010 looks set to be a very exciting year for October. Although self-managed, October has already achieved an incredible amount in an unprecedentedly short time. She has played sessions on BBC Radio One, BBC Radio Manchester and BBC Radio Wales.

"Her lyrics are complimented by guitar playing that most male guitarists would be jealous of. She can rock out one moment and then in the next song play such sensitive fingerstyle guitar that you are drawn into her world of passion and intimacy." (Glastonbury Festival).

As a child, wanting to do anything but go home, she would hide after school until she knew she could "go wild on the drum kit and get away with it!" As well as teaching herself percussion, she also began teaching herself the piano, and "anything I could find in the music room cupboard! I’ve only ever had four music lessons in my life and they were on the double bass. I didn’t find the teacher particularly inspiring though. She wanted me to sit and play with a bow. I wanted to stand up and swing it round and play filthy jazz! She wasn’t at all impressed!” The next instrument October set her sights on was the electric guitar.

“Instead of encouraging my creativity, my wonderfully pompous and uninspiring all-girls school told me ‘not to be so ridiculous’ when I talked of yearning to play the electric guitar. It actually just made me more determined though, and I immediately began to embark on washing every car I could get my hands on until I had enough money to buy a guitar to teach myself on. A shiny new Strat copy”.

Sadly the love affair with her precious red guitar lasted no more than about 18 months though, thanks to being continuously discouraged. To her devastation, her mother even smashed it up. For the next few years October explored many other avenues, even trying out Sports Science and Law, but mostly what she calls “generally mis-spending my youth!” When asked why, she said she felt a lot of it had to do with the effects of being taken into foster care at such a difficult age. It was more than five years before October even thought about playing again.

"I had to call a plumber one day. Having been left gobsmacked by the amount I had to part with, it occurred to me that I should learn how to plumb! So I went for a course interview at my closest reputable college. Whilst sitting in the waiting room browsing the prospectus, I noticed a new Music Technology course. It boasted teaching everything from studio recording to management and music law to filming videos. I was called into my plumbing interview where I announced my uncontrollable urge to pursue my true dream! They looked at me like I was a complete fruit loop, but they knew I meant it. I was taken straight to the course leader, as all the places on that course had already gone. The tutor asked me my name. ‘Oh my God’ he said. ‘With a name like that you were meant to be a rock star!’ He somehow managed to pull a few strings and enrolled me onto the course that day. I literally started playing the guitar again that afternoon (after locating and dusting it off)!”

This critical change in direction and subsequent move to the music college in Surrey reignited her enthusiasm for music and began her career. Just as naturally as she did when she wrote her first song at the age of five, October began again to write songs that reflected upon her life and experiences. Staying hours after everyone else had left college for the day, she took advantage of the facilities and self recorded her first demo, playing all the instruments as well. She sent out three copies. Less than 24 hours after finishing the 3 track EP, October received several phone calls and was subsequently booked for her first festival, along with four live appearances on the Musician’s Channel.

"The next massive turning point for me was accidentally buying my first proper guitar! Being a complete guitar nerd, I spotted a 1972 Gibson SG in a shop window going for a somewhat surprising price. It had an unusually slim neck and felt fabulous to play, even with my ickle girly hands. Totally unable to afford it but equally unable to pass it by, I nabbed it. I was so over excited it even lay in the bed beside me for several nights! One day, unable to wait, I hopped out of the bath to try to play the riff I was hearing in my head. Slowly, the guitar turned from brown to milky white! After exhausting all the local luthiers, the same course tutor once again changed my life by giving me his ticket to a Gibson guitar surgery that was on tour in the area. At this, I was told it was the fact that I had got out of the bath and played the guitar naked, not even having the patience to dry off with a towel that had had that bizarre effect on the 30 plus year old lacquer! I travelled over a hundred miles to take it to their guitar surgery workshop in Suffolk to get it restored, and well, never came back!"

It was there that October began to train and work as a Luthier, also ghost writing for Europe’s leading guitar magazine. She began playing gigs up to 8 times a week, steadily gaining live experience. During this time she developed many close working relationships with established musicians. Her dearest mentors were from the likes of Frank Zappa's band, Cockney Rebel and Suzi Quatro's band. They played festivals and recorded together several times. Cockney Rebel featured as October's band for her best known song 'Ulterior Motives'. Her playing style and live performances matured and developed greatly during this period, encouraging October to travel around the UK performing solo, and in the summer playing some of the UK's most popular festivals. Since then she has played to crowds in many parts of the world, including a comprehensive tour of Australia, the UK, Italy, France, Cuba, Wales and Sweden.

Based in London, October regularly plays all the popular music haunts including The Clapham Grand, Chinawhite, Ronnie Scott's, The Bedford and Proud, touring regularly in between. Explore this site for blogs, galleries, competitions and tour dates.