motel void

MOTEL VOID: You’re from the Netherlands. Which city? And how would you describe the current music scene there? Do you feel that you’re part of it?

FROM//OCTOBER: I’m living in Zwolle, an hour away from Amsterdam. It’s considered a ‘’small’’ city but there are a lot of musicians living here. The scene is somewhat small but The Netherlands is also a small country so I’m connected to a lot of musicians from cities like Enschede (I’ve lived and studied here at the Conservatory for 4 years), Utrecht and Amsterdam as well. There’s a lot of hiphop, rock and indie where I’m from. I’m more into the lo-fi indie thing and I’m currently looking for more artists in this genre to work together with.

MOTEL VOID: Your favorite local venues and artists?

FROM//OCTOBER: In Zwolle we have a big venue called Hedon and some smaller places like Eureka. They are both very fun places. In Hedon, well known artists play shows but they also have very nice talent programs and rehearsal rooms. It’s a fun place with lovely people. In places like Eureka a lot of smaller/foreign bands play gigs. It was really cool because last summer I saw a band on a festival called ‘’The Cool Greenhouse’’ from the UK and it was packed with people. Someone told me that a few weeks before that they played in Eureka for like 20 people. I love that!
Around 30 kilometers from here there’s another venue called ‘’Het Burgerweeshuis’’. They supported me in 2023 and helped me with my plans. Because of them me and the band were able to rehearse in their venue, we made a light show, some videoclips and last but not least the EP.

MOTEL VOID: You’ve just released your new EP ‘As Time Went By’. Could you tell us more about the recording and writing process of this record?

FROM//OCTOBER: Of course! So, the thing was that after I graduated from music school I wanted to keep getting better at writing, recording and mixing. I decided to do as much as possible on my own for this EP. Some bass and drums were done by my bandmates but the overall process was for me to do on my own. For this EP I recorded everything in my livingroom (except the drums for Again) and I also mixed it here. It was a cozy but very long and at times, a hard process.

The entire EP is built around nostalgia. I’m 25 years old now and have finished school. I see myself growing into adulthood, and I see my friends doing the exact same. I’m happy they are all doing okay. Sometimes when I’m writing at home, I tend to think a lot about the past—the places I’ve visited and the friends I made when I was younger, whom I don’t see as much anymore. I wanted to write this EP for myself and for them.

MOTEL VOID: You draw inspiration from artists like Snow Patrol, Beach Fossils and The Radio Dept., who is your biggest inspiration right now?

FROM//OCTOBER: Yes, I listen to a lot of early 2000’s stuff at the moment but I’m also constantly finding new indie artists. I think that’s a nice thing about the internet. At the moment my favourite artists are bands/projects like Hovvdy, Far Caspian, En Attendant Ana, Ruby Haunt and many more! I’m very much into the whole melancholic/nostalgic aesthetic so yeah, these bands are crazy good at that!

MOTEL VOID: Your plans for 2024?

FROM//OCTOBER: I’m hoping to do some more liveshows this year. From//October online is bit more dreamy and live me and the band are leaning a bit more towards indierock/shoegaze so that’s a nice contract to explore further. I’m also busy writing new music again so this year I will release some more singles and perhaps, when things go well I might release an EP on vinyl at the beginning of next year. So yeah, enough plans haha!