Blue October 'Foiled For The Last Time' album

Blue October has earned their place as rock’s most unsung success story the hard way way: winning fans over one show at a time. Their emergence as one of the year’s breakthrough platinum-plus rock acts arrived with little media fanfare, set against a grueling 12 year history that would have broken lesser bands: A compelling back-story complete with a Texas-bred word-of-mouth launch, and a grinding mid-career detour that led them to feisty, aptly named indie label Brando Records. Throw in provocative, passionate songwriter/vocalist Justin Furstenfeld, whose gift for mining evocative emotional territory has drawn comparisons to elite frontmen such as Bono and Peter Gabriel, and you realize rock’s best kept secret might be on the verge of finally being found out.

Universal Motown Records knows that better than anyone. After all, it was the major label powerhouse Universal who added their own version of good cop-bad cop to the fivesome’s story, signing the band in 2000 – dropping them – and signing them again 3 years later, in large part due to the band’s Brando released 3rd album History For Sale, and its pivotal single “Calling You.” A new version of that signature song is one of the catalysts behind the 2007 special deluxe digi-pak offering of the band’s career-defining platinum-plus album Foiled (2006), featuring a wealth of premium bonus material. Titled Foiled for The Last Time, the special release includes the original disc, 14 classic live songs, searing remixes by rock production stalwarts Paul Oakenfeld (U2, Moby) and Carmen Rizzo (Coldplay), never-before-seen behind the scenes footage, and the aforementioned signature song, “Calling You.” It’s a sparkling reintroduction to one of only a handful of ‘new’rock artists to even hit platinum last year (Hinder, The Fray, Chris Daughtry among them) made even more necessary when you consider Blue October is five albums deep with a well-earned live reputation as one of the most cathartic stage shows in rock.

“We realized when Foiled started to break through last year that many of the people who were coming to our shows were still in the discovery process,” says Furstenfeld. Understandably, new fans were being lured by Foiled’s two singles, “Hate Me,” and “Into The Ocean,” both of which became alt-rock anthems. “Hate Me” soared as a mainstay of the modern rock radio Top Ten for more than six months (reaching all the way to #2), with “Into The Ocean,” reigning as both a rock radio and #1 VH1 staple. “New fans would come waiting for those songs, and be amazed that our longtime hardcore fans were singing the words of every song for the entire show,” says Justin.

For the perceptive Furstenfeld, who values the one-on-one connection he has with his audience (fans applauded him for putting his own mother into the video for “Hate Me”), his mission has always been to welcome newcomers deeper into the Blue October fold. “The first-timers were coming away from these cathartic shows saying ‘Why didn’t know about you guys before.’ With five albums under our belts, and all of our live releases, we felt it was important for the new fans to get to know some of the songs of our past. To get to know other flavors we bring to the table as a band.”

The connection will no doubt be made even stronger by the amazing online tapestry of Blue October fans from all over the world. Intricately plugged-in to the passionate give-and-take of such a loyal rock following, Furstenfeld and the other band members, his brother Jeremy (drums), CB Hudson (guitars), Ryan Delahoussaye (violin, mandolin, piano), Matt Noveskey (bass), have been heartened by the grateful emails and letters they’ve received praising the fierce emotional depth conveyed in their songs. “Our music comes from that honest place where we don’t have all the answers, but we’re willing to put it out there,” he says. “I think our audience knows we’ve felt the way they do. We’ve had the ups and downs and come through. People sometimes refer to our music as melancholic, but when we see all those fans singing to every word - riding the waves of all those emotions: Light, dark, the beautiful, and yeah, the brutal – I can’t think of a more human experience than that. You don’t get too many opportunities to have a bond like that with other human beings whether you’re on stage or in the audience.”

The group’s own support system, Rainmaker Artists/Brando Records seconds that notion. Most of the emails they receive are from parents, loved ones, brothers/sisters of loved ones who write to say how Blue October’s music has been critical to turning some emotional corner. The Texas based record company (Greatness In Tragedy, South FM) confirms the group has always had a sixth sense about relating to its it’s audience, particularly during the band’s own ‘dark days’ – that long, hard slog through unforgiving indie terrain that both defines and reflects the character of Blue October.

Brando has been in the group’s corner since signing them after Universal nixed ties in 2002. Formed in Houston, TX in 1995, The band’s two previous albums – 1998’s debut The Answers, and 2000’s Universal debut Consent To Treatment, hinted at what their combustible 2003 Brando debut, History For Sale, confirmed: Here was a group possessing all the components of a vital new rock voice. With “Calling You,” lighting up the local airwaves, the major imprints had once again come calling, and once again, Blue October did the unthinkable – re-upping with the very label that dropped them. “We definitely went against the grain on that one,” says Justin. “We were thinking – wouldn’t it be great to achieve success with the very label that rejected us. But when you think about it – they knew us better than anybody. And it says something about them – to admit they made a mistake and re-sign us. We know each other. They’ve been in the trenches with us. They’re like family now.”

The foxholes of which Justin speaks were mostly encountered during the two years of non-stop touring leading up to Foiled. The group was determined to build an unbreakable bond with their fans and knew the best place to do that was on stage. In early 2005 they released the Brando-released live CD/DVD Argue With A Tree, further cementing their live rep before going in to record their crown jewel studio album.

With demand building for their follow-up, the band also knows not to rush the process. Over the years, patience has become one of the most treasured Blue October virtues. “We’re thankful for our success, but we also have a few scars to remind us how we got here. We’re going to tour again this year, go out and hopefully make some new friends, thank our audience for how supportive they’ve been to us, and then make the record we want to make,” says Justin. They will be hitting the road in the fall of 2007 with Yellowcard and Shiny Toy Guns, carrying on what they call the ongoing discovery process of letting old and new wanderers into that Blue October door. They even allow fans to record and trade copies of their live shows. “It’s the best way for people to get to know who we are,” says Justin. “And that’s what’s so great about Foiled For The Last Time. There are so many different paths fans can go down to discover or rediscover exactly who we are.”

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Blue October - Foiled For The Last Time