October 28, 2025 • 32 mins
A fall day, a fresh cup, and a songwriter ready to open the door. We sit down with Octoberman’s Marc Morrissette to trace the line from teenaged mixtapes and first guitars to packed vans, TV placements, and the decision to build Octoberman as a fluid, long-haul project. Marc shares how four songwriters in Kids These Days created abundance and how the quieter, folk-leaning material found a real home once he stepped into a looser, more personal frame.
The heart of this conversation lives in process and in the pivot points life hands you. Marc walks us through his writing ritual—constant note-taking, big demo batches, and letting the best ideas rise—then shows how trust shapes arrangements when bandmates write their own parts. We dig into Shoots and why he abandoned the click track for the warmth of two-inch tape, capturing performances live in the room. The result is a record that breathes: wood, wire, and the human timing you can feel in your chest.
There’s a deeper current here too. After stepping back for family and losing his mother suddenly, Marc found proof of her quiet belief—Octoberman CDs in her car, a scrapbook of clippings—and channelled that grief into a creative surge. Half of Shoots sprang from that renewed momentum; the other half came from forgotten demos on old hard drives, bringing vivid character songs and narrative vignettes that expand the album’s voice. We talk Canadiana roots, Harry Nilsson nods, and why names like Roger and Marla can pull a listener closer.
If you love indie folk, live-to-tape warmth, and honest talk about how records actually get made, you’ll feel at home. Press play, meet Marc’s world, and then tell us what you heard—your favourite track, a line that stuck, or your own story of stepping back and starting again. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves analog recordings, and leave a review to help more ears find the show.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Octoberman (00:14):
She hasn't seen him in a lifetime.
She hasn't dreamed of him atnight.
But when she wakes up in themorning.
Chris (00:31):
Okay, good.
Welcome back, everyone.
We are season six here at ifitbeyourwill Podcast coming to
you uh from a beautiful sunnyfall day in Quebec, Canada.
And I'm just reaching to ourneighbors across Ontario border.
I have uh Marc Morrissette fromOctober man, who just put out
(00:51):
an absolutely stunning recordcalled Shoots.
Just dropped not that long ago,so it's still hot off the
press.
You can go and get yourself acopy, which I recommend going to
the band campus there as well.
And I'm hauling Marc in todayto uh talk about kind of his
musical journey, but also we'regonna pay uh close attention to
this great record that hecreated.
(01:12):
I just want to know all thelittle details, a little
nitpicky details about how itcame to be.
So, Marc, thanks so much fortaking some time out of your day
and uh joining me here to talkabout uh your music.
Marc (01:22):
Well, thanks so much for having me, Chris.
It's really nice to meet you.
Chris (01:25):
Yeah, it's been a real pleasure.
Uh so Marc, let's uh let's diveback in time a little bit.
Uh I'd love to know like uh howall this started for you.
Uh now I know it's hard to pinit to like, okay, this happened
and then it all happened.
But were there some momentsthat you can recall when you
were, you know, growing up,teenage years, going up into
(01:46):
your 20s where some experiencesor chance encounters kind of
started to make this idea ofbeing in music a reality.
Marc (01:58):
For sure.
Yeah.
I'll maybe I'll just go back tothe teen years since you you
you referenced that.
I I have an older brother,three years older.
And that's a huge sort ofsecret weapon for people that
nerd out on music, just havingaccess to whatever they're
listening to and at a laterstage in teenhood.
And so he got me, and he's areal music lover and a musician
(02:20):
as well.
So he got me into like prettyearly, like into you know, Bob
Dylan, Neil Young, GovernmentUnderground.
And then I sort of found my ownway to uh a lot of stuff like
Sebadough and Dinosaur Jr.
built later built spill andpavement was always big.
So I could sort of ended upmarrying both of those worlds
(02:42):
when I finally bought my ownguitar at 17 and started
basically learning how to play alot of the songs that I was
listening to.
And that was a good start forme.
I never actually took formallessons, I just played with
friends and learned a lot ofother people's songs.
And I was always sort ofwriting and and you know,
drawing, and I was alwayscreative before having access to
(03:05):
an instrument, and even like Ihad keyboards and stuff, and I
would sort of mess around withthose.
So it really sort of it wasthis sort of gravitational pull.
And then in terms of the momentwhen I started sort of sort of
playing out, is I was going touniversity in Waterloo, Ontario,
and I started playing locallythere.
(03:25):
There were some localcompilations.
Everyone would submit a song.
I started doing that.
And I'd yeah, uh, Waterloo isabout an hour from Toronto, and
so I started playing there aswell regularly.
And then life sort of broughtme out to the West Coast in
Vancouver, and I met somemusician friends there pretty
quickly.
Some of them I had met earlierin my my Ontario days that ended
(03:48):
up relocating as well.
But I already had a projectcalled Kids These Days that I
was more of a bedroom recordingproject, and I was recording
sort of playing under that namein Toronto and Waterloo, as I
mentioned.
But in Vancouver, I started aband called Kids These Days, and
we had a lot of momentum,especially when I look back on
it.
We didn't we had no idea whatwe were doing, but you know, we
(04:11):
we toured a ton, like we hadsome some a lot of energy.
We were young, early 20s.
We toured up and down the WestCoast, all over Canada, New York
City, played a bunch of showsthere.
And I think because we were sojust just playing a lot and
meeting people and and justconstantly inspired, just good
things started to happen.
(04:31):
We ended up on you know muchmusic and CBC and had song
placements and you know,American TV shows, Canadian TV
shows, and you know, featured inthe weeklies and all of that
and exclaim.
So it was it was just like thisnatural snowball effect.
And uh the thing about thatband is there was four
singer-songwriters, and so I hadsome really mellow stuff that I
(04:55):
still that wasn't appropriatefor kids these days, so I just
started recording that on afour-track with my friend James,
and then Kids These Days, oneof the members left for for
school, or he was moving intohis master's and just couldn't
couldn't tour anymore.
So that immediately came to acrashing halt.
(05:15):
And I had this, I had alreadyrecorded this side project, and
I didn't know what to call it.
And the first Kids These DaysCD that I I recorded early on
was called Octoberman, and so Ijust looked at that, I'm like,
okay, I'll just call thisOctoberman.
And then I think I took allthat momentum from that band and
I just put it into like youknow, a quote unquote solo
(05:38):
project that I I I made aconscious decision that the
membership would be fluid.
Sometimes it would even just betouring solo, just for you
know, logistics and economicreasons.
But sometimes, you know, localshows it'd be like eight or nine
of us.
So it was really all over theplace.
And and I'd say that was thesort of synopsis of of the
(05:59):
launching of the project itself.
Chris (06:02):
And Octoberman's first release that that's on Bandcamp
anyway, these trails are old andnew.
You said that there's always avarying cast of characters.
Uh were some of those membersthat came in with these this
first early recording, did theymaintain throughout?
Did you did they did theyappear in shoot?
Marc (06:20):
Like did that continuum, that line lineage well they so
that's a good question.
So interestingly, some some ofthe kids these days, actually
almost all the kids these daysmembers are on uh the first
couple of Octoberman records oralbums.
And uh but what happened is Iin 2008 I moved to Toronto, and
(06:41):
so that sort of necessitated alineup change.
And so I'd I'd already metMarshall Bugo, uh, who he was
playing in another band that Iwas touring with in Europe, and
uh we we we vibed as friends,and so he started drumming with
us, and then uh Tob O Diaz deBonilla, who he's he filled in
(07:02):
on bass when we were touringwith uh a band called the
FemmeBots, a great band calledthe FemmeBots.
So so yeah, so that oh yeah,they're so good.
They're such good guys and sucha great creative, inspiring,
interesting band.
So, anyways, I sort of had therhythm section, and then my
friend Ciel, who played who'splaying with me in Vancouver, he
(07:23):
moved to Toronto at the sametime.
So that that's where that sortof continued with a different a
different uh rhythm section.
And then I'd say the band, youknow, we started playing with JJ
Ibsen in 2011, 2012.
And so JJ Tavo and Marshallhave been, you know, for a you
know, the last uh 13 years orso.
And then my friend Annalise,who has done some recording with
(07:46):
us since like around 2014,she's now uh playing as well and
playing shows with us andrecording with us.
So it's it's been pretty whenyou look at 20 years, it's not
the same folks as I said.
It was sort of meant to bemembership flexible, but yeah,
it's been pretty steady when youthink of the history of most
bands, I guess.
Chris (08:04):
Absolutely.
And what how do you how did youkind of break off from the kids
these days in the sense of yousaid you had these slower, kind
of more uh you know, indie folkysongs that were coming out of
you?
Was it pretty obvious rightfrom uh as you were penning
those songs that this was goingto be something that would be a
(08:25):
part not a part of the band thatyou were in at the time?
Like you had this vision ofokay, I think I need to branch
off and and put my own songsforward.
Marc (08:35):
Yeah, it was more that I I just had the songs and they
were yeah, I guess I'm a littlebit I wouldn't say hyper, but
yeah, I just for some reasonwhen I get a batch of songs, I I
I kind of want to record themand release them just to get
them behind me.
And so kids these days was moreI'd say more indie rock for
lack of a better word, thanthese songs.
(08:57):
These songs were more folky.
And so I didn't even want tolike pitch them and try to like
add a dimension to kids thesedays.
I just was like, okay, I'll dothese over here, and then I'll
bring songs with a bit more, Iguess, yeah, either a faster
tempo or like a bit more, a bitless folky to that project.
But then that project ended.
And so then my secondOctoberman album, Run from
(09:18):
Safety.
There's some Kids These Daysongs that just you know, we
didn't have a chance to recordthem that ended up on that
album.
And that's that's sort of likecloser to what Kids These Days
sounded like.
And I guess I was part of KidsThese Days, so it wasn't a crazy
departure.
Oh, really interesting.
Chris (09:34):
And Marc, what's your process?
Like, how do you how does asong come to you?
How and I'll add on to that.
When a song comes to you, whendo you know I want to keep
pursuing this or you know, andI'll put it with a batch of
songs that I want to recordversus I'm gonna shell this one
because I'm just not there yetwith it.
Like, how do you approach yoursongwriting?
(09:55):
And and is it can it be thatblack and white when you know
you're onto something versuswhen you're not?
Marc (10:01):
I I find this to be a super interesting question.
And uh a lot of my songwriterfriends will ask that to each
other because it's it's afascinating to hear how everyone
works.
I don't really have a setprocess, and in fact, I've I've
tried every way of writing asong.
I don't think there's been away that's been you know better
or worse.
It's just it just happens to behow it unfolds.
(10:23):
But I'm always writing.
But I I I really like to work,as I sort of mentioned, like uh
I want to finish a project.
So if I have like too manysongs accumulating, I want to
like pick the best, you know,what I do is I my my process is
I'm writing all the time, I Icollect them, but then when I'm
ready to work on a record, Idemo all of them.
And that's where I'm I'mfinalizing arrangements and keys
(10:46):
and you know lyrics.
And so once they're all demoed,I usually have a sense of which
ones I think are the strongest,and I'll I'll send those to my
bandmates, and then we'll justrehearse a few times to get you
know the rhythm and the temposfinalized, and then just book
studio time and and and play asa band as much as possible.
(11:06):
And then there's room to addstuff afterwards to sort of
color it, add some textures anduh and finalize it from there.
Chris (11:14):
So it's not you're not bringing it to bandmates like
here it is.
There's there's influences andtheir personalities seep into it
as well.
But I mean, you know thosepersonalities just because you
guys have been playing togetherfor so long.
So you must already kind ofknow, all right, he's gonna add
this to it, or it's gonna likedoes it is it work in that way a
little bit?
Marc (11:34):
Yeah, no, for sure.
I I basically wholeheartedlytrust and know them, as you
mentioned.
And I I don't like to dictatewhat their parts sound like.
So everyone writes their ownparts.
And I will I will have ideasfor instrumentation.
Like there were some songs inthe shoots demos where I sent
them to the bandmates.
I said, I said, Annalise, I'dlove for you to play banjo on
(11:57):
this one and accordion on thisone.
And I already know she playsthose instruments really well,
and she's also a producer, andso she would know where to fit
them in and and what would workwith these songs.
So I was never concerned aboutthat.
But there were ideas I had forguitar lines, lead guitar lines
that I I just demoed myself.
(12:18):
So then when the rest of themembers heard the song, they're
like, okay, well, Marc's alreadygot an idea there, and then so
I won't bother writing a linefor that song.
I'll I'll add one over here,I'll add a part over here.
So there's a little bit of bothhappening, but I would never
tell someone how to play theirown instrument or their own.
Chris (12:37):
But if you had a line that was integral to the
overarching song, I was talkingto somebody the other day, and
he's like, Yeah, like, you know,the Guns N' Roses song, Sweet
Child of Mine, you know, likeyou're not gonna go and change
that line, you know, the guitarline, because it's like that's
the song.
You know.
(12:57):
He saw it in that way as well,where certain, you know, almost
like the instruments where itwas another voice or another,
you know, integral part of thesong that you just wouldn't
know.
You can't change that.
You know, it has to be likethis, you know.
Exactly.
Marc (13:14):
Sometimes the line is just there, and yeah, you're right.
It's hard to do it.
I wish I wrote a guitar line asgood enough is that one as a
child of mine, but uh such aslife.
Chris (13:24):
The first song off of shoots is pretty darn close.
I mean, it's such a great song,Harry Nielsen.
The song that you the is thethe opening.
I mean it's got a great line onit.
It's very subtle though, butit's there and it just threw
out, and it's like thefoundation I find of that song.
The guitar line, which is justso I want to talk about this,
but before we jump into that, uhyou are a prolific songwriter,
(13:47):
like your catalog is massive.
You've written and recorded,you know, hundreds of songs.
And uh you were chugging along,and then 2024 hits, right?
You put out the record, let mejust get it right because I want
to make sure.
What happened?
What more, what more, right?
2024 or 20.
Oh, 2014.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then things kind of gotquiet for you.
(14:11):
And then stuff only came out alittle bit, you know, multiple
years later.
Do you mind if I ask like whatwhat was that pro like what
happened with with the musicaljourney at that time where it
had to be kind of uh halted alittle bit or or reduced um in a
way?
Marc (14:29):
Yeah, no, that's that's an it's an obvious question, and I
totally appreciate it.
So basically, li like theeasiest way to answer is life
happened.
I I mentioned when we were sortof bantering earlier, I've got
um two two kids.
So uh yeah, I'd say they were abig part of it, and yeah, you
know, just you know, having topay a mortgage and you know, new
(14:52):
responsibilities.
I just, you know, and also justenergy and momentum.
Like I'm I'm big on momentum,and I just had none of it.
I I and also when I when I putout What More, What More, and
even you know, the last songs,What More Do You Want?
I honestly thought that mightbe the last Octoberman album,
and I was totally fine withthat.
Chris (15:10):
And was and touring was that a little bit okay.
This this was the project, ithad its legs, so we had some
fun.
Marc (15:19):
It's it felt like it.
And I honestly uh I had zerointerest in touring anymore at
that point, especially, youknow, also when you're you're
about to start a family.
And for me, it's like why putsomething out if you can't
really promote it or put youknow, do anything to to actually
uh finish the cycle.
But what happened was I I keptwriting.
I kept, you know, I I would jamsometimes with my bandmates.
(15:42):
I played the odd, I I think Ionly played one show, so not the
odd show.
Somebody asked me to open upfor them.
And then what happened was inJanuary 31st, 2022, my mom
suddenly passed away.
And uh it sort of flippedflipped my my life upside down.
And it was interesting.
(16:02):
So I was going through her car,and you know, you you do all
the stuff to to you know as anestate obligations, and it it it
blew my mind like she had allall my romance CDs in her car,
including one in the player, andand then I was going through
her stuff and collecting, andshe had a scrapbook of every
little piece of press we'd evergot and and every show poster
(16:24):
I'd ever, you know.
I lived in Vancouver for awhile, so I would just give her
stuff or send her stuff, and youknow, it was a way to you know
show her what I'd been up in.
So she was a fan and asupporter.
And then I was talking to mybrother, and he said, She told
him once, I forget how this cameout, but she told him, Oh, I
will always make music.
And in my mind, I'm kind oflike, well, it felt like a a way
(16:47):
to kind of work through thegrief was to like, I just
decided I'm like, I'm gonnawrite and record an album.
And it happened really quickly.
As I mentioned, he died like atthe end of January.
We'd finished rec writing andrecording it by the end of May.
But there was some stuff addedlater.
It was like really a whirlwind.
And I kind of wanted to justget it done.
And then after that, it felt sogood to be making music again
(17:12):
and hanging out with my my myfriends in that capacity and
playing the odd show.
And and also the other reality,my kids have grown up a bit, so
you know, uh, I can actuallypull it off.
The diapers are gone.
I go back to exactly.
I I always laughed when I sawthat sad man Galen album cover.
It's called Diaper Island.
(17:33):
So I was on Diaper Island for abit, and so finally I was no
longer marooned.
And and so yeah, again, thatmomentum word I had so many
songs over that nine periodwhere I didn't I didn't I didn't
put anything out.
So I I had the sort of likegift of you know, at least you
know, at least two albums worth,and then now I've got another
couple albums worth as well.
(17:54):
So yeah, and and for for havingthe songs, I'm not too precious
about stylistically or or whatworks together.
It's just where I'm at in thatmoment.
What's yeah, you know, what'sthe batch and uh what what are
the strongest 10 or 12?
Chris (18:09):
I like your you know go get it mentality, you know.
It's like it's here, it'shappening, I'm not stopping.
The gas is going.
Like, let's go.
I love it's the only way reallyit's done, right?
Like, or or it's always like,okay, well, next week, or we'll
see, or like, no, it's doing,we're going.
Marc (18:26):
It's true.
I sorry, I'm this might be toomuch information, but like I had
this other, you know, scarythought.
Like, you know, when someoneclose to you dies unexpectedly,
you're like, life is short.
Like, yeah, and and and I wasjust like, okay, I want to like
do this now while I can.
And so there was definitelylike all of that swirling
around.
So totally, totally.
Chris (18:46):
So then come shoots.
I mean, I want to drill down onthis a little bit because it's
such a great record.
And I've read that therecording method that you use,
you you know, it was live clicktracks, analog, like it it
sounded like you wanted it tofeel like a live performance in
a way, and you wanted all thosekind of like subtle hisses and
(19:10):
pops and things when you'rerecording live and on analog.
Was your what was your mindsetin approaching this record that
way?
Marc (19:18):
Yeah, it's that's a that's another great question.
So we had recorded all analogand almost all live for an album
called Fortresses that came outin 2009.
And and I'd so I've recordedevery every different way, and
it and for There You Were thatcame out in 2023, it was
everything to a click track.
(19:38):
It was yeah, we recorded in astudio and then home studio a
bit afterwards, but it was verydigital and and lots of you know
plugins and all that stuff.
And it sounds great.
I I really like how it turnedout.
The the fellow that helped usout uh produce it, his name
Chris Springer, very talented,awesome guy.
So I loved how that turned out,but I I I couldn't help but
(20:00):
want to do the opposite on thenext record.
So so no no metronomes, noclick track.
We recorded literally thetwo-inch tape, and it was we're
in the room staring at eachother playing the way we would
if we were either playing on astage or or in a rehearsal
space.
And I just there's there'ssomething about that that is a
bit intangible, but I like thesound of you know analog live
(20:25):
recordings.
I listen to a lot of old music,and that's how that was just
the way they, the only way theycould do it back in the day.
So yeah, that was the mindsetgoing in.
Obviously, and then you takeadvantage of the tools.
A couple of the members didn'teven set foot in the studio and
they just had their parts in theuh home studio and internet,
and that was largely geographiclimitations.
(20:46):
Uh we're just we're we'rescattered all over Ontario, so
it's just like you do what yougotta do.
Yeah, and everyone's busy.
Chris (20:53):
We are lucky too to have that capacity nowadays, which we
didn't have when say your firstrecord came out, you know, like
exactly it just weren'tavailable, so it has made making
music in that collaborativeprocess much easier on artists.
Marc (21:08):
Um exactly.
I'm not against that at allbecause it's it's a fantastic uh
totally tool and opportunity.
And so yeah, I love I lovedtaking advantage of both in this
record.
Right.
Chris (21:19):
And Marc, these are like half songs that you had had kind
of in on that bookshelf or inyour catalog that you hadn't
touched yet, and then otherswere new songs that were were
penned for this record inparticular.
That's exactly right.
Marc (21:34):
Yeah, so half of them were songs I wrote after There You
Were uh had been finished.
And then the other half were megoing through, I found a bunch
of old hard drives and just outof fun, I just listened back to
all the, you know, there'sfolders just called demos and
like all different years.
And I was just curious what theheck I was up to back then.
(21:55):
And I found some songs that Ijust I don't remember writing, I
don't remember recording thedemo, and they they kind of
stick out like they're differentstylistically than a lot of my
songs, and especially comparedto the newer stuff.
So I I took advantage of that,and you know, I might have
changed some some some of thestructure or the lyrics or uh
the arrangements, but I so yeah,the other half were those.
(22:18):
And interestingly, they were alot of them were storytelling
songs about charactersconversations, yeah.
And and again, those are thesongs I don't remember writing.
So I don't remember whatinspired them.
Was I watching some weird movieor I have no idea?
But I that that that was a fun,a fun aspect as well for me to
combine both, and it gave a bitmore variety to to the record
(22:41):
itself because it's like okay,it's not just a narrator kind of
waxing on about you know whatwhat's going on in 2020s.
Uh it's just like a little bitof vignettes, so to speak.
Chris (22:52):
I like your I like the songs that have characters in
them, you know, like Roger andAustin and you know, the first
track, Harry Nielsen.
I mean, they they they are soauthentic and it's fun to kind
of listen along to the storythat you're telling us rather
than you know, it's kind of likecamp, you know, sitting around
and telling stories around thecampfire using guitar and stuff.
(23:13):
And I find that thatauthenticity too, and it
reminded me when I saw you on AGjust doing your acoustic songs,
you know, you'd put out a fewthe last month or you know,
leading up to the release.
And uh those songs that youjust singing there uh have that
same essence that the recordhas.
And I just find that uhamazing, and I don't know how
(23:36):
you did it, but uh thepersonality and and the heart of
the songs just carry throughwhenever you sing them because
oh cool.
Well, you're saying who youare.
But I've really, really enjoyedum revisiting those songs and
kind of listening to the storiesand the storytelling as it goes
through.
And uh my uh next question isdid you have the the uh library
(24:02):
songs that the songs from thepast that you have on this
record now, and those informedyou as to what songs you wanted
to write, or were you doing itkind of you had those and then
they didn't really influence thesongs, but then they just kind
of fit how did did it happenaccidentally that that the song
it was totally accidentally,yeah.
Marc (24:23):
I just I I always just have a batch and they happen to
be in the same batch, and thenI'd already written the new
songs when I found those thosedemos and and I decided to pad
the options with those as well.
And but it is funny, like I Iplayed the album for my kids,
and when there's people's names,they don't they don't they
(24:43):
don't really fully understandthe concept of like you know you
make up a story, and so there'sone song and and I'm I'm
pretending that my wife justleft left me for a guy named
Roger, and I'm like kind of likefeeling sorry for myself, and
they thought it was hilarious,and they're just like who's
Roger?
I'm like, there is no Roger,and I I hope there isn't a Roger
that emerges in my in my reallife.
And if I meet a guy namedRoger, I should maybe look at
(25:05):
him a little suspiciously, butuh so yeah, and then there's one
about this woman named Marla,and they thought that was
hilarious too.
So it does it does change theway someone listens to a song,
and I I appreciate that.
And I listen to a lot of youknow old country songs, and
there's a lot of that, right?
It's people's names, and justit just draws you in in a
different way, I think.
Chris (25:25):
So what is coming down the pipe over the next year or
so, Marc?
You know, apropos toOctoberman, are you are you
gonna do some touring or or areyou gonna jump right back into
the record thing?
Marc (25:39):
So we're just uh there's only two shows on the books
right now.
We're playing Toronto andOttawa, and then hoping to add
more.
And again, it's it comes downto logistics.
Montreal would be great, yeah.
It's not far, and and yeah, wealways love playing there.
It's been uh it's been a whiletoo.
Oddly, a lot of my friends fromMontreal have moved to Ottawa
(26:01):
and Toronto, but I still havesome friends there, so it would
be fun to make the trip.
And then I'm I'm gonna start onthe next record.
I'm gonna go into that demoingstage.
I've already got the batchwritten, and so I'm gonna start
demoing and no no deadlines oranything, but that that'll be
fun just to kind of startsomething, start something new
from there.
And there was one other thingmy friend Ryder told me he
(26:24):
thinks I should record a coversalbum.
And and my response was like,Well, I have I already have my
own songs written, so why wouldI you know spend spend time
recording someone else's?
But then I was like, okay, whywhy is it either or why can't I
just do both?
So I might I might and I'vealways recorded the odd cover
and just put them out assingles, but I thought it might
(26:44):
be a nice challenge to uh tohave that idea as a s a side a
side burner.
Just because I do enjoy youknow that aspect.
And his example was WillieNelson Stardust, where like I
think that was Willie Nelson'sbreakthrough to a certain
degree, and and just how you canpeople don't do that as much
(27:05):
anymore, but it is kind of a acool, cool new way to think of
recording an album.
Doesn't have to always be yourown.
Chris (27:11):
I like that.
I think you do great, you know.
I call your your musicCanadiana, not Americana,
Canadiana, because definitelyhas that Canadian essence to it
as well.
And talking with you, I mean,we're we're comrades from the
same country, which is always atreat to have, Marc.
So I want to thank you firstoff, just thanks for taking some
(27:33):
time.
I know it's a busy time andkids, family, music.
So I really appreciate thislittle carve out that you've
given me and given the listenersto hear about your music, how
it evolved and where it's going.
I'm excited for you.
I really love this record.
It's one of my no-skip records,you know, the pitchfork do the
(27:53):
no-skip.
This is one of them.
I just listened to it over andover again.
I also had to stop it.
Like, I didn't want to wear itout, so I'm like, okay, you're
not gonna listen to it for acouple days, and I listen to it
over and over again.
So I appreciate that you putthat out there for us.
And uh I wish you all the best.
I would love to continue thisconversation too.
(28:14):
It's been really, really fun tohear about these stories.
And I identify with a lot ofwhat you're saying.
Uh being a family man and uhdealing with music and family is
not always easy, so Iappreciate you taking some time.
Marc (28:29):
Well, I I'm truly honored, and thank you so much, Chris,
for all those nice things andjust for wanting to talk to you
today.
It's uh it's been super fun,very nice to meet you.
And I've been listening to thepodcast and I enjoy all your
gets into what I find superinteresting about like people's
process, and I find thatinteresting.
Chris (28:48):
Thanks for including me in and not in person, but you
know, virtually.
Yeah, I mean this is the nextbest thing, I guess so.
I'll take it.
Thanks so much, Marc.
Octoberman (28:57):
All of that in the proper place to be showing the
lines of time.
Yes, beyond it for the beyondskies, we want I'm not to fall
(30:11):
down I'm not to fall down foryou So what the hell do you even
recall On how to never gain theworld that hates itself Ivy
(30:39):
Nelson said it back Ebbe Nelsonsaid it back Early Nelson said
it best I can't live you knowthe rest The secrets of the open
(31:16):
sea stand They bury us andcarry us beyond here So further
up beyond the skies we wanderHow not to fall down How not to
fall down How not to fall down?
She hasn't seen him in a lifetime.
She hasn't dreamed of him atnight.
But when she wakes up in themorning.
Chris (00:31):
Okay, good.
Welcome back, everyone.
We are season six here at ifitbeyourwill Podcast coming to
you uh from a beautiful sunnyfall day in Quebec, Canada.
And I'm just reaching to ourneighbors across Ontario border.
I have uh Marc Morrissette fromOctober man, who just put out
(00:51):
an absolutely stunning recordcalled Shoots.
Just dropped not that long ago,so it's still hot off the
press.
You can go and get yourself acopy, which I recommend going to
the band campus there as well.
And I'm hauling Marc in todayto uh talk about kind of his
musical journey, but also we'regonna pay uh close attention to
this great record that hecreated.
(01:12):
I just want to know all thelittle details, a little
nitpicky details about how itcame to be.
So, Marc, thanks so much fortaking some time out of your day
and uh joining me here to talkabout uh your music.
Marc (01:22):
Well, thanks so much for having me, Chris.
It's really nice to meet you.
Chris (01:25):
Yeah, it's been a real pleasure.
Uh so Marc, let's uh let's diveback in time a little bit.
Uh I'd love to know like uh howall this started for you.
Uh now I know it's hard to pinit to like, okay, this happened
and then it all happened.
But were there some momentsthat you can recall when you
were, you know, growing up,teenage years, going up into
(01:46):
your 20s where some experiencesor chance encounters kind of
started to make this idea ofbeing in music a reality.
Marc (01:58):
For sure.
Yeah.
I'll maybe I'll just go back tothe teen years since you you
you referenced that.
I I have an older brother,three years older.
And that's a huge sort ofsecret weapon for people that
nerd out on music, just havingaccess to whatever they're
listening to and at a laterstage in teenhood.
And so he got me, and he's areal music lover and a musician
(02:20):
as well.
So he got me into like prettyearly, like into you know, Bob
Dylan, Neil Young, GovernmentUnderground.
And then I sort of found my ownway to uh a lot of stuff like
Sebadough and Dinosaur Jr.
built later built spill andpavement was always big.
So I could sort of ended upmarrying both of those worlds
(02:42):
when I finally bought my ownguitar at 17 and started
basically learning how to play alot of the songs that I was
listening to.
And that was a good start forme.
I never actually took formallessons, I just played with
friends and learned a lot ofother people's songs.
And I was always sort ofwriting and and you know,
drawing, and I was alwayscreative before having access to
(03:05):
an instrument, and even like Ihad keyboards and stuff, and I
would sort of mess around withthose.
So it really sort of it wasthis sort of gravitational pull.
And then in terms of the momentwhen I started sort of sort of
playing out, is I was going touniversity in Waterloo, Ontario,
and I started playing locallythere.
(03:25):
There were some localcompilations.
Everyone would submit a song.
I started doing that.
And I'd yeah, uh, Waterloo isabout an hour from Toronto, and
so I started playing there aswell regularly.
And then life sort of broughtme out to the West Coast in
Vancouver, and I met somemusician friends there pretty
quickly.
Some of them I had met earlierin my my Ontario days that ended
(03:48):
up relocating as well.
But I already had a projectcalled Kids These Days that I
was more of a bedroom recordingproject, and I was recording
sort of playing under that namein Toronto and Waterloo, as I
mentioned.
But in Vancouver, I started aband called Kids These Days, and
we had a lot of momentum,especially when I look back on
it.
We didn't we had no idea whatwe were doing, but you know, we
(04:11):
we toured a ton, like we hadsome some a lot of energy.
We were young, early 20s.
We toured up and down the WestCoast, all over Canada, New York
City, played a bunch of showsthere.
And I think because we were sojust just playing a lot and
meeting people and and justconstantly inspired, just good
things started to happen.
(04:31):
We ended up on you know muchmusic and CBC and had song
placements and you know,American TV shows, Canadian TV
shows, and you know, featured inthe weeklies and all of that
and exclaim.
So it was it was just like thisnatural snowball effect.
And uh the thing about thatband is there was four
singer-songwriters, and so I hadsome really mellow stuff that I
(04:55):
still that wasn't appropriatefor kids these days, so I just
started recording that on afour-track with my friend James,
and then Kids These Days, oneof the members left for for
school, or he was moving intohis master's and just couldn't
couldn't tour anymore.
So that immediately came to acrashing halt.
(05:15):
And I had this, I had alreadyrecorded this side project, and
I didn't know what to call it.
And the first Kids These DaysCD that I I recorded early on
was called Octoberman, and so Ijust looked at that, I'm like,
okay, I'll just call thisOctoberman.
And then I think I took allthat momentum from that band and
I just put it into like youknow, a quote unquote solo
(05:38):
project that I I I made aconscious decision that the
membership would be fluid.
Sometimes it would even just betouring solo, just for you
know, logistics and economicreasons.
But sometimes, you know, localshows it'd be like eight or nine
of us.
So it was really all over theplace.
And and I'd say that was thesort of synopsis of of the
(05:59):
launching of the project itself.
Chris (06:02):
And Octoberman's first release that that's on Bandcamp
anyway, these trails are old andnew.
You said that there's always avarying cast of characters.
Uh were some of those membersthat came in with these this
first early recording, did theymaintain throughout?
Did you did they did theyappear in shoot?
Marc (06:20):
Like did that continuum, that line lineage well they so
that's a good question.
So interestingly, some some ofthe kids these days, actually
almost all the kids these daysmembers are on uh the first
couple of Octoberman records oralbums.
And uh but what happened is Iin 2008 I moved to Toronto, and
(06:41):
so that sort of necessitated alineup change.
And so I'd I'd already metMarshall Bugo, uh, who he was
playing in another band that Iwas touring with in Europe, and
uh we we we vibed as friends,and so he started drumming with
us, and then uh Tob O Diaz deBonilla, who he's he filled in
(07:02):
on bass when we were touringwith uh a band called the
FemmeBots, a great band calledthe FemmeBots.
So so yeah, so that oh yeah,they're so good.
They're such good guys and sucha great creative, inspiring,
interesting band.
So, anyways, I sort of had therhythm section, and then my
friend Ciel, who played who'splaying with me in Vancouver, he
(07:23):
moved to Toronto at the sametime.
So that that's where that sortof continued with a different a
different uh rhythm section.
And then I'd say the band, youknow, we started playing with JJ
Ibsen in 2011, 2012.
And so JJ Tavo and Marshallhave been, you know, for a you
know, the last uh 13 years orso.
And then my friend Annalise,who has done some recording with
(07:46):
us since like around 2014,she's now uh playing as well and
playing shows with us andrecording with us.
So it's it's been pretty whenyou look at 20 years, it's not
the same folks as I said.
It was sort of meant to bemembership flexible, but yeah,
it's been pretty steady when youthink of the history of most
bands, I guess.
Chris (08:04):
Absolutely.
And what how do you how did youkind of break off from the kids
these days in the sense of yousaid you had these slower, kind
of more uh you know, indie folkysongs that were coming out of
you?
Was it pretty obvious rightfrom uh as you were penning
those songs that this was goingto be something that would be a
(08:25):
part not a part of the band thatyou were in at the time?
Like you had this vision ofokay, I think I need to branch
off and and put my own songsforward.
Marc (08:35):
Yeah, it was more that I I just had the songs and they
were yeah, I guess I'm a littlebit I wouldn't say hyper, but
yeah, I just for some reasonwhen I get a batch of songs, I I
I kind of want to record themand release them just to get
them behind me.
And so kids these days was moreI'd say more indie rock for
lack of a better word, thanthese songs.
(08:57):
These songs were more folky.
And so I didn't even want tolike pitch them and try to like
add a dimension to kids thesedays.
I just was like, okay, I'll dothese over here, and then I'll
bring songs with a bit more, Iguess, yeah, either a faster
tempo or like a bit more, a bitless folky to that project.
But then that project ended.
And so then my secondOctoberman album, Run from
(09:18):
Safety.
There's some Kids These Daysongs that just you know, we
didn't have a chance to recordthem that ended up on that
album.
And that's that's sort of likecloser to what Kids These Days
sounded like.
And I guess I was part of KidsThese Days, so it wasn't a crazy
departure.
Oh, really interesting.
Chris (09:34):
And Marc, what's your process?
Like, how do you how does asong come to you?
How and I'll add on to that.
When a song comes to you, whendo you know I want to keep
pursuing this or you know, andI'll put it with a batch of
songs that I want to recordversus I'm gonna shell this one
because I'm just not there yetwith it.
Like, how do you approach yoursongwriting?
(09:55):
And and is it can it be thatblack and white when you know
you're onto something versuswhen you're not?
Marc (10:01):
I I find this to be a super interesting question.
And uh a lot of my songwriterfriends will ask that to each
other because it's it's afascinating to hear how everyone
works.
I don't really have a setprocess, and in fact, I've I've
tried every way of writing asong.
I don't think there's been away that's been you know better
or worse.
It's just it just happens to behow it unfolds.
(10:23):
But I'm always writing.
But I I I really like to work,as I sort of mentioned, like uh
I want to finish a project.
So if I have like too manysongs accumulating, I want to
like pick the best, you know,what I do is I my my process is
I'm writing all the time, I Icollect them, but then when I'm
ready to work on a record, Idemo all of them.
And that's where I'm I'mfinalizing arrangements and keys
(10:46):
and you know lyrics.
And so once they're all demoed,I usually have a sense of which
ones I think are the strongest,and I'll I'll send those to my
bandmates, and then we'll justrehearse a few times to get you
know the rhythm and the temposfinalized, and then just book
studio time and and and play asa band as much as possible.
(11:06):
And then there's room to addstuff afterwards to sort of
color it, add some textures anduh and finalize it from there.
Chris (11:14):
So it's not you're not bringing it to bandmates like
here it is.
There's there's influences andtheir personalities seep into it
as well.
But I mean, you know thosepersonalities just because you
guys have been playing togetherfor so long.
So you must already kind ofknow, all right, he's gonna add
this to it, or it's gonna likedoes it is it work in that way a
little bit?
Marc (11:34):
Yeah, no, for sure.
I I basically wholeheartedlytrust and know them, as you
mentioned.
And I I don't like to dictatewhat their parts sound like.
So everyone writes their ownparts.
And I will I will have ideasfor instrumentation.
Like there were some songs inthe shoots demos where I sent
them to the bandmates.
I said, I said, Annalise, I'dlove for you to play banjo on
(11:57):
this one and accordion on thisone.
And I already know she playsthose instruments really well,
and she's also a producer, andso she would know where to fit
them in and and what would workwith these songs.
So I was never concerned aboutthat.
But there were ideas I had forguitar lines, lead guitar lines
that I I just demoed myself.
(12:18):
So then when the rest of themembers heard the song, they're
like, okay, well, Marc's alreadygot an idea there, and then so
I won't bother writing a linefor that song.
I'll I'll add one over here,I'll add a part over here.
So there's a little bit of bothhappening, but I would never
tell someone how to play theirown instrument or their own.
Chris (12:37):
But if you had a line that was integral to the
overarching song, I was talkingto somebody the other day, and
he's like, Yeah, like, you know,the Guns N' Roses song, Sweet
Child of Mine, you know, likeyou're not gonna go and change
that line, you know, the guitarline, because it's like that's
the song.
You know.
(12:57):
He saw it in that way as well,where certain, you know, almost
like the instruments where itwas another voice or another,
you know, integral part of thesong that you just wouldn't
know.
You can't change that.
You know, it has to be likethis, you know.
Exactly.
Marc (13:14):
Sometimes the line is just there, and yeah, you're right.
It's hard to do it.
I wish I wrote a guitar line asgood enough is that one as a
child of mine, but uh such aslife.
Chris (13:24):
The first song off of shoots is pretty darn close.
I mean, it's such a great song,Harry Nielsen.
The song that you the is thethe opening.
I mean it's got a great line onit.
It's very subtle though, butit's there and it just threw
out, and it's like thefoundation I find of that song.
The guitar line, which is justso I want to talk about this,
but before we jump into that, uhyou are a prolific songwriter,
(13:47):
like your catalog is massive.
You've written and recorded,you know, hundreds of songs.
And uh you were chugging along,and then 2024 hits, right?
You put out the record, let mejust get it right because I want
to make sure.
What happened?
What more, what more, right?
2024 or 20.
Oh, 2014.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then things kind of gotquiet for you.
(14:11):
And then stuff only came out alittle bit, you know, multiple
years later.
Do you mind if I ask like whatwhat was that pro like what
happened with with the musicaljourney at that time where it
had to be kind of uh halted alittle bit or or reduced um in a
way?
Marc (14:29):
Yeah, no, that's that's an it's an obvious question, and I
totally appreciate it.
So basically, li like theeasiest way to answer is life
happened.
I I mentioned when we were sortof bantering earlier, I've got
um two two kids.
So uh yeah, I'd say they were abig part of it, and yeah, you
know, just you know, having topay a mortgage and you know, new
(14:52):
responsibilities.
I just, you know, and also justenergy and momentum.
Like I'm I'm big on momentum,and I just had none of it.
I I and also when I when I putout What More, What More, and
even you know, the last songs,What More Do You Want?
I honestly thought that mightbe the last Octoberman album,
and I was totally fine withthat.
Chris (15:10):
And was and touring was that a little bit okay.
This this was the project, ithad its legs, so we had some
fun.
Marc (15:19):
It's it felt like it.
And I honestly uh I had zerointerest in touring anymore at
that point, especially, youknow, also when you're you're
about to start a family.
And for me, it's like why putsomething out if you can't
really promote it or put youknow, do anything to to actually
uh finish the cycle.
But what happened was I I keptwriting.
I kept, you know, I I would jamsometimes with my bandmates.
(15:42):
I played the odd, I I think Ionly played one show, so not the
odd show.
Somebody asked me to open upfor them.
And then what happened was inJanuary 31st, 2022, my mom
suddenly passed away.
And uh it sort of flippedflipped my my life upside down.
And it was interesting.
(16:02):
So I was going through her car,and you know, you you do all
the stuff to to you know as anestate obligations, and it it it
blew my mind like she had allall my romance CDs in her car,
including one in the player, andand then I was going through
her stuff and collecting, andshe had a scrapbook of every
little piece of press we'd evergot and and every show poster
(16:24):
I'd ever, you know.
I lived in Vancouver for awhile, so I would just give her
stuff or send her stuff, and youknow, it was a way to you know
show her what I'd been up in.
So she was a fan and asupporter.
And then I was talking to mybrother, and he said, She told
him once, I forget how this cameout, but she told him, Oh, I
will always make music.
And in my mind, I'm kind oflike, well, it felt like a a way
(16:47):
to kind of work through thegrief was to like, I just
decided I'm like, I'm gonnawrite and record an album.
And it happened really quickly.
As I mentioned, he died like atthe end of January.
We'd finished rec writing andrecording it by the end of May.
But there was some stuff addedlater.
It was like really a whirlwind.
And I kind of wanted to justget it done.
And then after that, it felt sogood to be making music again
(17:12):
and hanging out with my my myfriends in that capacity and
playing the odd show.
And and also the other reality,my kids have grown up a bit, so
you know, uh, I can actuallypull it off.
The diapers are gone.
I go back to exactly.
I I always laughed when I sawthat sad man Galen album cover.
It's called Diaper Island.
(17:33):
So I was on Diaper Island for abit, and so finally I was no
longer marooned.
And and so yeah, again, thatmomentum word I had so many
songs over that nine periodwhere I didn't I didn't I didn't
put anything out.
So I I had the sort of likegift of you know, at least you
know, at least two albums worth,and then now I've got another
couple albums worth as well.
(17:54):
So yeah, and and for for havingthe songs, I'm not too precious
about stylistically or or whatworks together.
It's just where I'm at in thatmoment.
What's yeah, you know, what'sthe batch and uh what what are
the strongest 10 or 12?
Chris (18:09):
I like your you know go get it mentality, you know.
It's like it's here, it'shappening, I'm not stopping.
The gas is going.
Like, let's go.
I love it's the only way reallyit's done, right?
Like, or or it's always like,okay, well, next week, or we'll
see, or like, no, it's doing,we're going.
Marc (18:26):
It's true.
I sorry, I'm this might be toomuch information, but like I had
this other, you know, scarythought.
Like, you know, when someoneclose to you dies unexpectedly,
you're like, life is short.
Like, yeah, and and and I wasjust like, okay, I want to like
do this now while I can.
And so there was definitelylike all of that swirling
around.
So totally, totally.
Chris (18:46):
So then come shoots.
I mean, I want to drill down onthis a little bit because it's
such a great record.
And I've read that therecording method that you use,
you you know, it was live clicktracks, analog, like it it
sounded like you wanted it tofeel like a live performance in
a way, and you wanted all thosekind of like subtle hisses and
(19:10):
pops and things when you'rerecording live and on analog.
Was your what was your mindsetin approaching this record that
way?
Marc (19:18):
Yeah, it's that's a that's another great question.
So we had recorded all analogand almost all live for an album
called Fortresses that came outin 2009.
And and I'd so I've recordedevery every different way, and
it and for There You Were thatcame out in 2023, it was
everything to a click track.
(19:38):
It was yeah, we recorded in astudio and then home studio a
bit afterwards, but it was verydigital and and lots of you know
plugins and all that stuff.
And it sounds great.
I I really like how it turnedout.
The the fellow that helped usout uh produce it, his name
Chris Springer, very talented,awesome guy.
So I loved how that turned out,but I I I couldn't help but
(20:00):
want to do the opposite on thenext record.
So so no no metronomes, noclick track.
We recorded literally thetwo-inch tape, and it was we're
in the room staring at eachother playing the way we would
if we were either playing on astage or or in a rehearsal
space.
And I just there's there'ssomething about that that is a
bit intangible, but I like thesound of you know analog live
(20:25):
recordings.
I listen to a lot of old music,and that's how that was just
the way they, the only way theycould do it back in the day.
So yeah, that was the mindsetgoing in.
Obviously, and then you takeadvantage of the tools.
A couple of the members didn'teven set foot in the studio and
they just had their parts in theuh home studio and internet,
and that was largely geographiclimitations.
(20:46):
Uh we're just we're we'rescattered all over Ontario, so
it's just like you do what yougotta do.
Yeah, and everyone's busy.
Chris (20:53):
We are lucky too to have that capacity nowadays, which we
didn't have when say your firstrecord came out, you know, like
exactly it just weren'tavailable, so it has made making
music in that collaborativeprocess much easier on artists.
Marc (21:08):
Um exactly.
I'm not against that at allbecause it's it's a fantastic uh
totally tool and opportunity.
And so yeah, I love I lovedtaking advantage of both in this
record.
Right.
Chris (21:19):
And Marc, these are like half songs that you had had kind
of in on that bookshelf or inyour catalog that you hadn't
touched yet, and then otherswere new songs that were were
penned for this record inparticular.
That's exactly right.
Marc (21:34):
Yeah, so half of them were songs I wrote after There You
Were uh had been finished.
And then the other half were megoing through, I found a bunch
of old hard drives and just outof fun, I just listened back to
all the, you know, there'sfolders just called demos and
like all different years.
And I was just curious what theheck I was up to back then.
(21:55):
And I found some songs that Ijust I don't remember writing, I
don't remember recording thedemo, and they they kind of
stick out like they're differentstylistically than a lot of my
songs, and especially comparedto the newer stuff.
So I I took advantage of that,and you know, I might have
changed some some some of thestructure or the lyrics or uh
the arrangements, but I so yeah,the other half were those.
(22:18):
And interestingly, they were alot of them were storytelling
songs about charactersconversations, yeah.
And and again, those are thesongs I don't remember writing.
So I don't remember whatinspired them.
Was I watching some weird movieor I have no idea?
But I that that that was a fun,a fun aspect as well for me to
combine both, and it gave a bitmore variety to to the record
(22:41):
itself because it's like okay,it's not just a narrator kind of
waxing on about you know whatwhat's going on in 2020s.
Uh it's just like a little bitof vignettes, so to speak.
Chris (22:52):
I like your I like the songs that have characters in
them, you know, like Roger andAustin and you know, the first
track, Harry Nielsen.
I mean, they they they are soauthentic and it's fun to kind
of listen along to the storythat you're telling us rather
than you know, it's kind of likecamp, you know, sitting around
and telling stories around thecampfire using guitar and stuff.
(23:13):
And I find that thatauthenticity too, and it
reminded me when I saw you on AGjust doing your acoustic songs,
you know, you'd put out a fewthe last month or you know,
leading up to the release.
And uh those songs that youjust singing there uh have that
same essence that the recordhas.
And I just find that uhamazing, and I don't know how
(23:36):
you did it, but uh thepersonality and and the heart of
the songs just carry throughwhenever you sing them because
oh cool.
Well, you're saying who youare.
But I've really, really enjoyedum revisiting those songs and
kind of listening to the storiesand the storytelling as it goes
through.
And uh my uh next question isdid you have the the uh library
(24:02):
songs that the songs from thepast that you have on this
record now, and those informedyou as to what songs you wanted
to write, or were you doing itkind of you had those and then
they didn't really influence thesongs, but then they just kind
of fit how did did it happenaccidentally that that the song
it was totally accidentally,yeah.
Marc (24:23):
I just I I always just have a batch and they happen to
be in the same batch, and thenI'd already written the new
songs when I found those thosedemos and and I decided to pad
the options with those as well.
And but it is funny, like I Iplayed the album for my kids,
and when there's people's names,they don't they don't they
(24:43):
don't really fully understandthe concept of like you know you
make up a story, and so there'sone song and and I'm I'm
pretending that my wife justleft left me for a guy named
Roger, and I'm like kind of likefeeling sorry for myself, and
they thought it was hilarious,and they're just like who's
Roger?
I'm like, there is no Roger,and I I hope there isn't a Roger
that emerges in my in my reallife.
And if I meet a guy namedRoger, I should maybe look at
(25:05):
him a little suspiciously, butuh so yeah, and then there's one
about this woman named Marla,and they thought that was
hilarious too.
So it does it does change theway someone listens to a song,
and I I appreciate that.
And I listen to a lot of youknow old country songs, and
there's a lot of that, right?
It's people's names, and justit just draws you in in a
different way, I think.
Chris (25:25):
So what is coming down the pipe over the next year or
so, Marc?
You know, apropos toOctoberman, are you are you
gonna do some touring or or areyou gonna jump right back into
the record thing?
Marc (25:39):
So we're just uh there's only two shows on the books
right now.
We're playing Toronto andOttawa, and then hoping to add
more.
And again, it's it comes downto logistics.
Montreal would be great, yeah.
It's not far, and and yeah, wealways love playing there.
It's been uh it's been a whiletoo.
Oddly, a lot of my friends fromMontreal have moved to Ottawa
(26:01):
and Toronto, but I still havesome friends there, so it would
be fun to make the trip.
And then I'm I'm gonna start onthe next record.
I'm gonna go into that demoingstage.
I've already got the batchwritten, and so I'm gonna start
demoing and no no deadlines oranything, but that that'll be
fun just to kind of startsomething, start something new
from there.
And there was one other thingmy friend Ryder told me he
(26:24):
thinks I should record a coversalbum.
And and my response was like,Well, I have I already have my
own songs written, so why wouldI you know spend spend time
recording someone else's?
But then I was like, okay, whywhy is it either or why can't I
just do both?
So I might I might and I'vealways recorded the odd cover
and just put them out assingles, but I thought it might
(26:44):
be a nice challenge to uh tohave that idea as a s a side a
side burner.
Just because I do enjoy youknow that aspect.
And his example was WillieNelson Stardust, where like I
think that was Willie Nelson'sbreakthrough to a certain
degree, and and just how you canpeople don't do that as much
(27:05):
anymore, but it is kind of a acool, cool new way to think of
recording an album.
Doesn't have to always be yourown.
Chris (27:11):
I like that.
I think you do great, you know.
I call your your musicCanadiana, not Americana,
Canadiana, because definitelyhas that Canadian essence to it
as well.
And talking with you, I mean,we're we're comrades from the
same country, which is always atreat to have, Marc.
So I want to thank you firstoff, just thanks for taking some
(27:33):
time.
I know it's a busy time andkids, family, music.
So I really appreciate thislittle carve out that you've
given me and given the listenersto hear about your music, how
it evolved and where it's going.
I'm excited for you.
I really love this record.
It's one of my no-skip records,you know, the pitchfork do the
(27:53):
no-skip.
This is one of them.
I just listened to it over andover again.
I also had to stop it.
Like, I didn't want to wear itout, so I'm like, okay, you're
not gonna listen to it for acouple days, and I listen to it
over and over again.
So I appreciate that you putthat out there for us.
And uh I wish you all the best.
I would love to continue thisconversation too.
(28:14):
It's been really, really fun tohear about these stories.
And I identify with a lot ofwhat you're saying.
Uh being a family man and uhdealing with music and family is
not always easy, so Iappreciate you taking some time.
Marc (28:29):
Well, I I'm truly honored, and thank you so much, Chris,
for all those nice things andjust for wanting to talk to you
today.
It's uh it's been super fun,very nice to meet you.
And I've been listening to thepodcast and I enjoy all your
gets into what I find superinteresting about like people's
process, and I find thatinteresting.
Chris (28:48):
Thanks for including me in and not in person, but you
know, virtually.
Yeah, I mean this is the nextbest thing, I guess so.
I'll take it.
Thanks so much, Marc.
Octoberman (28:57):
All of that in the proper place to be showing the
lines of time.
Yes, beyond it for the beyondskies, we want I'm not to fall
(30:11):
down I'm not to fall down foryou So what the hell do you even
recall On how to never gain theworld that hates itself Ivy
(30:39):
Nelson said it back Ebbe Nelsonsaid it back Early Nelson said
it best I can't live you knowthe rest The secrets of the open
(31:16):
sea stand They bury us andcarry us beyond here So further
up beyond the skies we wanderHow not to fall down How not to
fall down How not to fall down?
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