Today – Wednesday 15th May – the soon-to-be cultural icon October And The Eyes announces her new EP, Certificate Of Participation, out on Friday 19th July via KRO Records. Alongside the announcement, October And The Eyes releases the incredible lead single from the EP, ‘Public Image’.
On ‘Public Image’, songwriter and producer October purveys pure artistic brilliance. Creating a sound unique to anything on the scene today, October demonstrates why she is set to become a cultural icon for years to come. Fusing together post-punk, psych, grunge, glam, and alternative, to name just a few sounds, ‘Public Image’ is a track that is invigorating and fresh. Impossible to pigeonhole, it possesses a swagger that perfectly encapsulates October’s persona.
October wrote and produced the entire Certificate Of Participation EP, including the new single ‘Public Image’ herself, and it was co-produced by esteemed producer Yves Rothman (Amaarae, Blondhsell, Yves Tumor, Sunflower Bean).
The video for ‘Public Image’ was directed by the revered Rei Nadal, a former student of the famed British fashion photographer, Nick Knight.
Speaking about ‘Public Image’, October said:
“Public Image in its simplest form is inspired by the idea of the digital panopticon. It’s about my relationship with social media and the incessant pressure to constantly be seen and be seen doing well, but also the relationship between surveillance (CCTV) and voluntary self surveillance (social media) and the lack of actual autonomy we have over our public image.
While inspired by a current reality, I think Public Image sets the tone and foreshadows the apocalyptic and science fiction based themes that are presented later in the EP.”
Speaking about the ‘Public Image’ video, October said:
“Working with Rei on this music video has been like praying to a guardian angel who has your best interest at heart: I ask, and she celestially delivers! She’s fiercely protective of the creative process remaining as pure to our vision as possible and it was really quite refreshing having this feminine presence at the helm on set. She’s very calm and steadfast in her directorial approach and we’re both similar in our desire to remain loyal servants in tending to the greater creative goal. She’s like a big sister to me and I really owe a lot to her”
October And The Eyes is the one-woman-band musical pursuit of New Zealand-born, London-based musician October. October describes her style as “Collage-Rock” (not to be confused with college rock). Somewhat unorthodox in her approach, she copy-paste’s lo-fi home recordings into hi-fi studio live sessions, feeds digital synths into guitar pedals, acoustic guitars through computerised sound effects, and frankenstein’s it all together with samples and electronic one-hits.
Pulling inspiration from a disparate array of influences such and folk, post-punk, bossa nova, psych, and grunge, she’ll extract snippets of ideas from each, gluing them together to create a musical collage. The end result is equal parts nostalgia-drenched as it is future forward. Shaped by the likes of Bauhaus, Bowie, Siouxsie Sioux and Suicide, she squeezes her influences through the gauze of modernity and electronics, thus creating something entirely of her own.
As the London underground’s worst kept secret, October and The Eyes have managed to sell out every headline show of theirs to date. October has also toured with the likes of Yves Tumor, The Horrors, Iceage, and The Black Lips.
As well as being a musician, October holds a prominent place within fashion. She has modeled for and within KNWLS, Bella Freud, AnOther, Vogue Italia, Chanel Beauty for Dazed, Numéro Berlin, and Purple Magazine, to name a few. In 2024, October also undertook social campaigns with Raf Simons and Ann Demeulemeester. She has also walked on shows for both KNWLS and Ann Demeulemeester.
Connect with October and the Eyes: INSTAGRAM | X | YOUTUBE | BANDCAMP
Photo Credit – Alexander Schipper