Melbourne act To Octavia have been riding a wave of hype since their debut, and yet they’re more than exceeding the expectations that lay before them. After their first EP garnered success internationally, they’ve announced the follow-up in the forthcoming Somewhere In A World, Not Of The Dream, which is set to drop in the middle of next month. To celebrate their new single, ‘Sleep’, officially out Friday, 11th June, we caught up with each member of the band to find out more about what shaped the eclectic track. Produced, mixed and mastered by Chris Lalic, the track and its accompanying video put on display the fact that diverse influences breed the best kind of metalcore, which the band proves out in their explanations below.
Molly Congreve (guitar): Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Stonefield
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets and Stonefield were my inspirations throughout this EP. Stonefield bring elements of ’70s grunge and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets never fail to nail the hard-hitting guitars on the head; pushing the boundary of creating a heavy riff whilst still keeping the upbeat bounce. I really wanted to draw these elements into our sound to diversify the metal sound we had and create the feeling of jumping like crazy to songs with grungy, hard-hitting instruments.
Justin Keurntjes (guitar): Palaye Royale
Palaye Royale has been a big influence for me throughout the writing process of this EP. The rawness of the instrumentation and the fuzz tones they use on the guitars really forced me to try things I would never conventionally have done for To Octavia.
Merry Kirk-Holmes (vocals): Don Broco, Bring Me The Horizon
I feel like I was really inspired by the newest Don Broco and Bring Me The Horizon albums and how they’ve blended a dark pop vibe into heavy music.
Lucas Keurntjes (drums): Mansionair, brakence, IAMX
A lot of my inspiration as a musician comes from a mixture of many genres and I think I express that a lot in my drumming. Mansionair, brakence and IAMX were very strong influences for me on this release through their ability to bring a strong percussive presence forward in a song and let it shape the music, telling its own story, while also helping the rest of the music tell its story. That’s something I’ve always aspired to do in my own writing and definitely focused on a lot for this EP.
