First of October (band)

Last updated

First of October
Andrew Huang and Rob Scallon 2017 01 (cropped).png
Huang (left) and Scallon (right) in 2017
Background information
Origin Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres Rock, pop, power pop, Midwest emo, indie rock, punk rock, funk metal, progressive rock, heavy metal
Years active2018–2019, 2021–present
Members Rob Scallon

First of October is an American-Canadian indie rock duo formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 2018. [1] It was formed between musical YouTubers Rob Scallon and Andrew Huang from an idea where they would go into a recording studio and write and record a 10-track album in a 10-hour recording session. The duo's name is derived from the date they recorded their first album. The band has recorded and released six albums of the sort since 2018, with plans to repeat the project annually. [2] [3]

Contents

History

Background

Scallon and Huang both rose to prominence as internet musicians. Huang founded the website "Songs to Wear Pants To" as a way to earn money for commissioned songs. Scallon was inspired by Huang's project, and started a personal MySpace page to promote his own music. [4] Huang moved to YouTube in 2006, [5] and Scallon followed in 2007. The two began to frequently collaborate on the platform. [4]

Both Huang and Scallon were members of the Perfect Strangers, the backing band for Hank Green. [6] The group released one album in 2014, Incongruent. [7]

Since the formation of First of October in 2018, Huang and Scallon have continued to collaborate outside of the band. For example, the duo premiered the YouTube series Sonic Boom in 2023. The production features Huang and Scallon completing various musical challenges or experimenting with unique instruments. [8]

2018–2020: Ten Hours and Gourmet Ravioli

First of October formed in late 2018 for a YouTube video where the two would write and record an entire album in a single 10-hour session. Their first album, Ten Hours, was recorded in Uptown Recording studio on October 1, 2018, and released two weeks later on October 15. The album was mixed and produced by Rob Ruccia of Uptown Recording and formerly of nu metal band From Zero. There was no tour to support the album, which was self-released online. Huang announced the breakup of the band in a video containing all the album's songs, "The band name is the First of October, because that was the day we recorded the album, and the band doesn't exist any other day of the year!" [9]

Exactly one year after the recording of their first album, the band announced in a rerelease of their song "Don't Go" (featuring Brandon Acker on theorbo) that they had reunited in the studio to record a second album to be released later that month. [10] This time there were more instruments than the previous year they recorded, now featuring a piano, synth, 12-string electric guitar in E♭ tuning, and a short scale electric guitar in F♯ tuning. For this session they gave themselves an additional 2 hours for lunch and a break. The album, called Gourmet Ravioli (in reference to a song on the album titled "Ravioli"), was recorded in a single 12-hour session and was released on October 26, 2019. At the end of the behind the scenes video on Scallon's YouTube channel, he hinted at another album for 2020, saying, "Thanks for being such a fan of our one day a year band. See you next year." [2] These plans were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which Scallon announced on Twitter. [11]

2021–2022: Gotta Record Everything Good and CHAOS

On September 30, 2021, Huang uploaded a YouTube video titled "This Is the End", and Scallon posted a comment confirming he and Huang would be reuniting in the studio to record their third album for 2021. [12] On the first of October itself, Rob Scallon posted on the community page of his YouTube channel "First of October is Happening :)" along with a picture of their studio, now in Canada, with a 12-hour timer. [13] They released their third album Gotta Record Everything Good on October 26, 2021, again with additional instruments such as ukulele, mandolin, 5 and 6-string basses, and banjo. [14] [15] In addition, this was their first album to feature an eleventh song, which was recorded in the final three minutes. [16] The title of the album comes from a recurring character in their discography called Greg, who is mentioned in “Don’t Go to My House” on Ten Hours, “Thirty-First of October” on Gourmet Ravioli, and “Greg!” on this album. Here, Greg is also an acronym for Gotta Record Everything Good, an idea that came from their engineer Rob Ruccia while Scallon and Huang were writing "I Am Not Afraid". Scallon again hinted at an upcoming album for 2022, saying “Thanks so much for being a fan of our one day a year band. See you next year.” [17]

On October 1, 2022, Huang published a video of him and Scallon writing 100 riffs in a day to prove that First of October was true improvisation. [18] This would be the inspiration for their song "Riff Lord" on the following album. That day, Scallon uploaded a video to Twitter announcing the return of the band, now back in Chicago. [19] Huang uploaded the same video to his Twitter. Huang and Scallon also announced that they would be releasing more merchandise, including t-shirts, beanies, pins, and cassette tapes distributed through DFTBA Records. [20] Throughout the day Huang and Scallon put out a series of twelve tweets each on their personal accounts, saying the same thing as the other member, seemingly revealing the upcoming album's song titles as they were recording (two of those tweets were re-naming songs). They would continue to announce the song titles like this on their subsequent albums. On October 22, Huang announced the album's name was CHAOS. [21] It was released on October 26. The album was more Halloween-focused and heavier compared to their previous records, as the last two albums contained only one song centered around the holiday, whereas this album had four. This was also their first record to not mention their character, Greg, on any track. [22] On November 5, Scallon posted a video on his secondary YouTube channel, the video titled "Guitar pedals we used on 'CHAOS' (album in a day 2022)". At the end of the video, Rob confirmed they were planning on doing another album the following year. [23]

2023–present: Across the Road and Round 6

On October 25, 2022, the day before CHAOS was released, Scallon said on his Patreon-exclusive commentary of the behind-the-scenes video of CHAOS that he and Huang were planning on recording their next album at Abbey Road Studios in London. [24] On October 1, 2023, Scallon posted a video on X publicly announcing that they would be recording their fifth studio album at Abbey Road Studios in London. [25] Despite report of a delay, Across the Road and its accompanying videos were released as scheduled on October 26, 2023. [26] [27] [28] The album's title and cover were derived from The Beatles' Abbey Road album. Other names that were considered were "Rob, Rob, Andrew, and Greg", "October's Garden", and "Here Comes The Fun". During the session, Rob stated that he was experiencing undisclosed medical issues, later revealed to be bipolar I disorder, that were hindering his ability to write songs quickly, only primarily writing three tracks for the album. [29] Scallon would later say of the session, "[The] Abbey Road First of October is actually kind of a touchy subject for me. In that it was this big awesome thing, but due to some medical stuff I had going on, I wasn't able to enjoy it. ... Honestly, I really did not have a good time at all." [30] After the session, Scallon said that everyone who was in studio with them that day ended up contracting COVID-19. [31] Their character, Greg, was again absent in this release.

On October 1, 2024, Scallon, having fully recovered from the depression he was experiencing in 2023, announced on X that recording for the band's 2024 album had been delayed to October 19 because a team member contracted COVID-19. [32] This was the first time the band had ever recorded a First of October album on a date other than October 1st. The album, Round 6, was released November 16, 2024. The album was heavily inspired by video games of the early 1990s, particularly fighting and dungeon-crawler games. During recording, they used the sound chips of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo Game Boy to record numerous sections of songs. They also used a melodica, 2-string bass, bear bells, and 8-string electric guitar, at various points. At the beginning of recording, the band was experiencing over half an hour of technical difficulties relating to the Game Boy. They tried to write a song on acoustic guitar in the mean time, but decided they did not want to start with a slow song. [30] After the issues were resolved, the group decided to restart the 12-hour timer and start over. The album was the first since Gotta Record Everything Good to mention Greg, whose actor showed up at Uptown Recording Studio while the duo was recording the album. [33] Huang was experiencing a cold on the day of recording. [30]

Band members

Current lineup

Additional personnel

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trapt</span> American rock band

Trapt is an American rock band formed in Los Gatos, California. Nine studio albums have been recorded to date: Amalgamation (1999), Trapt (2002), Someone in Control (2005), Only Through the Pain (2008), No Apologies (2010), Reborn (2013), DNA (2016), Shadow Work (2020), and The Fall (2024). Its lineup for all studio recordings have consisted of Chris Taylor Brown (vocals) and Pete Charell (bass), with various members filling other roles over the course of their career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spoon (band)</span> American rock band

Spoon is an American rock band from Austin, Texas, consisting of members Britt Daniel, Jim Eno (drums), Alex Fischel, Gerardo Larios and Ben Trokan. The band was formed in Austin in October 1993 by Daniel and Eno. Critics have described the band's musical style as rock and roll, post-punk, and art rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoobastank</span> American rock band

Hoobastank is an American rock band formed in 1994 in Agoura Hills, California, by lead vocalist Doug Robb, guitarist Dan Estrin, drummer Chris Hesse, and original bassist Markku Lappalainen. They were signed to Island Records from 2001 to 2012 and have released six albums and one extended play to date. Their most recent album, Push Pull, was released in May 2018. They have sold 10 million albums worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aztec Camera</span> Scottish musical group

Aztec Camera were a Scottish pop/new wave band founded by Roddy Frame, the group's singer, songwriter and only consistent member. Established in 1980, Aztec Camera released a total of six studio albums: High Land, Hard Rain (1983), Knife (1984), Love (1987), Stray (1990), Dreamland (1993) and Frestonia (1995). The band garnered popular success for the songs "Oblivious", "Somewhere in My Heart" and "Good Morning Britain".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atreyu</span> American metalcore band

Atreyu is an American metalcore band from Yorba Linda, California, formed in 1998. The band's current line-up consists of clean vocalist Brandon Saller, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, and bassist and unclean vocalist Marc "Porter" McKnight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowling for Soup</span> American rock band

Bowling for Soup is an American rock band formed in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1994. The band consists of Jaret Reddick, Gary Wiseman, and Rob Felicetti. The band is best known for its singles "Girl All the Bad Guys Want", "1985", "Almost" and "High School Never Ends". The band is also known for performing the theme song for the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb. Reddick is the only original member as of 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue October</span> American rock band

Blue October is an American rock band originally from Houston, Texas, formed in 1995. It currently consists of singer/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld, drummer Jeremy Furstenfeld, multi-instrumentalist Ryan Delahoussaye, bassist Matt Noveskey, and lead guitarist Steve Schiltz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John 5 (guitarist)</span> American guitarist

John William Lowery, known by the stage name John 5, is an American guitarist. Lowery first took the stage name in 1998 when he left David Lee Roth's solo band and joined Marilyn Manson. Lowery later became the guitarist for Rob Zombie, and in 2022, became the touring guitarist for Mötley Crüe, being promoted to a full member the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dance Gavin Dance</span> American post-hardcore band

Dance Gavin Dance is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2005. It consists of lead guitarist Will Swan, drummer Matthew Mingus, harsh vocalist Jon Mess, and lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Andrew Wells. The band formerly included lead vocalists Jonny Craig, Kurt Travis, and Tilian Pearson, and the lineup has changed numerous times since their inception. Swan and Mingus are the only band members who have appeared on every studio album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tally Hall</span> American rock band

Tally Hall is an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in December 2002, and publicly active until the conclusion of their Good & Evil tour in 2011. The band is known for its upbeat melodies, whimsical lyrics, and a dedicated fanbase on social media sites. The members originally described their musical style as "wonky rock", later redefining their sound as "fabloo", to not let any particular genres define their music after critics began defining the characteristics of "wonky rock".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matchbox Twenty</span> American rock band

Matchbox Twenty is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas, Brian Yale, Paul Doucette, and Kyle Cook.

<i>Sorry for Partyin</i> 2009 album by Bowling for Soup

Sorry for Partyin' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Bowling for Soup. It is the band's sixth and final album to be released by Jive Records. It was released on October 12, 2009. It debuted at No. 104 on the Billboard 200 and No. 47 on Rock albums. No single was released to the radio for the album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filter (band)</span> American rock band

Filter is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Cleveland, Ohio, by singer Richard Patrick, along with guitarist and programmer Brian Liesegang. The band was formed when Patrick desired to start his own band after leaving Nine Inch Nails as their touring guitarist. Their debut album, Short Bus (1995) received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), supported by the single "Hey Man Nice Shot." After the album, the band would go through the first of many lineup changes, leaving Patrick as the only consistent member across all releases.

Andrew Robert Wade is an American recording engineer and music producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Huang (musician)</span> Canadian musician and YouTuber

Andrew Lewis Huang is a Canadian musician, YouTube personality, and video producer. He is best known for his "Song Challenge" video series, which invites viewers to dare him in feats of musicianship, as well as for several viral videos featuring his music. He is also known for his videos where he creates music using sounds from unconventional objects and instruments. Huang has released more than 50 albums of original music independently and through various collaborations, under his own name as well as under various pseudonyms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jared Dines</span> American musician and YouTuber

Jared Dines is an American YouTuber and musician who is known for metalcore-themed and adjacent videos, covers, parodies, and his own original music. He is a member of Canadian metalcore band Oni, and a frequent collaborator with musicians such as Howard Jones and Matt Heafy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Scallon</span> American musician and YouTuber (born 1990)

Robert Andrew Scallon is an American YouTuber, musician, and multi-instrumentalist based in Chicago, Illinois. He is best known for several viral videos featuring his music, including heavy metal songs played with traditionally non-metal instruments.

Sarah Longfield is an American YouTuber, musician, and multi-instrumentalist based in Madison, Wisconsin. She is known for her two-handed tapping style of playing and the use of an eight-string guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synergy (song)</span> 2022 single by Dance Gavin Dance featuring Rob Damiani

"Synergy" is a song by American rock band Dance Gavin Dance. It was released as the lead single from their tenth studio album, Jackpot Juicer, to digital and streaming platforms on March 24, 2022, on Rise Records. It was written by the band with additional guitar parts from Louie Baltazar of American post-hardcore band Wolf & Bear and features guest vocals from Rob Damiani of English rock band Don Broco. It is the band's first release to feature Andrew Wells of American post-hardcore band Eidola as an official member since joining as a touring guitarist in 2015 and is their final song to be released before Tim Feerick's death.

<i>Jackpot Juicer</i> 2022 studio album by Dance Gavin Dance

Jackpot Juicer is the tenth full-length studio album by American rock band Dance Gavin Dance, released on July 29, 2022, on Rise Records. It serves as the follow-up to their ninth studio album, Afterburner (2020). Produced by Kris Crummett, the album was recorded at Interlace Audio in Portland, Oregon, between April and July 2021 and is the band's longest album to date consisting of eighteen tracks and a runtime of one hour and three minutes. It is the band's first studio album to be credited as a sextet since Acceptance Speech (2013) as well as their first to feature Andrew Wells as an official member since joining as a touring guitarist in 2015. It is also their final release to feature bassist Tim Feerick, who died on April 13, 2022, and vocalist Tilian Pearson, who left the band in April 2024.

References

  1. ↑ Stolzer-Gary, Isaac (October 16, 2018). "Here's What An Album Written And Recorded In 10 Hours Sounds Like". GearGods. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Scallon, Rob (October 26, 2019). "Album in a Day 2019 (w/ Andrew Huang)". YouTube. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  3. ↑ Mullen, Matt (October 28, 2021). "Watch Andrew Huang and Rob Scallon write and record an album from scratch in one day". MusicRadar. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  4. 1 2 Galil, Leor (March 29, 2017). "Chicago's most popular young metal guitarist plays on YouTube, not onstage". Chicago Reader. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  5. ↑ Tingen, Paul (May 2017). "Internet Famous: How three musicians have cracked the code and made it big on YouTube". AudioTechnology. Australia: Alchemedia Publishing. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  6. ↑ Dickinson, Chrissie (April 20, 2015). "Hank Green merges online, real worlds at Metro". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  7. ↑ Dunn, Patrick (April 17, 2015). "A music career spurred on by a video blog". The Detroit News. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  8. ↑ Philips, Derrick (May 15, 2023). "Local band Curb Service featured on popular YouTube series". Smile Politely. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  9. ↑ Huang, Andrew (October 15, 2019). "We had 10 hours to make an album. (w/ Rob Scallon)". YouTube. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  10. ↑ Scallon, Rob (October 1, 2019). "Rob Scallon & Andrew Huang - Don't Go (ft. Brandon Acker)". YouTube. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  11. ↑ Scallon, Rob [@RobScallon] (October 4, 2020). "Unfortunately Andrew and I weren't able to get together for another First of October album this year..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ↑ Scallon, Rob (September 30, 2021), "So glad you made it back in time for First of October! See you tomorrow :) [Comment on the video "This Is the End"]", YouTube, retrieved October 25, 2022
  13. ↑ Scallon, Rob. "First of October is happening :) Edit: new album will be out on the 26th!". YouTube. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  14. ↑ Scallon, Rob (October 1, 2021). "Just got home :)⁣ First of October was a massive success Thanks for such a lovely time as always Canada :) First of October album 3 will be released on the 26th.⁣".
  15. ↑ Huang, Andrew (October 24, 2021). "The new First of October album and videos come out Tuesday". Twitter .
  16. ↑ Seah, Daniel (October 27, 2021). "Watch: Andrew Huang and Rob Scallon race against the clock to write a 10-track album in a day". MusicTech. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  17. ↑ Scallon, Rob (October 26, 2021). "Album in a Day 2021 (w/ Andrew Huang)". YouTube . Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  18. ↑ Parker, Matt (October 10, 2022). "Rob Scallon and Andrew Huang write 100 riffs in a day, with typically brilliant results". Guitar World. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  19. ↑ Scallon, Rob [@RobScallon] (October 1, 2022). "IT'S THE FIRST OF OCTOBER!! Our one-day-a-year band is back together to write and record our 4th album in a day" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ↑ "First of October Full Bundle". DFTBA. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  21. ↑ Huang, Andrew [@andrewhuang] (October 25, 2022). "First of October's new album "CHAOS" (+ making of video) comes out tomorrow! All written and recorded in one day" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ↑ Scallon, Rob (October 26, 2022). "Album in a Day 2022 (w/ Andrew Huang)". YouTube. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  23. ↑ Scallon, Rob (November 5, 2022). "Guitar pedals we used on "CHAOS" (album in a day 2022)". YouTube. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  24. ↑ RobScallon2 (October 25, 2022). FOO 2022 Commentary . Retrieved December 14, 2024– via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ↑ Scallon, Rob [@RobScallon] (October 1, 2023). "It's the First of October!" (Tweet). Retrieved October 27, 2023– via Twitter.
  26. ↑ We made an album in a day...with the Beatles' gear, October 26, 2023, retrieved October 27, 2023
  27. ↑ Album in a Day (using THE BEATLES' instruments), October 26, 2023, retrieved October 27, 2023
  28. ↑ Scallon, Rob [@RobScallon] (October 26, 2023). "We made an album in a day at @AbbeyRoad" (Tweet). Retrieved October 27, 2023– via Twitter.
  29. ↑ Scallon, Rob (July 6, 2024). I have Bipolar 1 disorder (mania, psychosis and my mental health struggles of 2023) – via YouTube.
  30. 1 2 3 RobScallon2 (November 15, 2024). Album in a Day 2024 Commentary . Retrieved December 14, 2024– via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  31. ↑ RobScallon2 (October 23, 2023). FOO 2023 Commentary Road . Retrieved December 14, 2024– via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  32. ↑ https://x.com/RobScallon/status/1841152537618981254
  33. ↑ Huang, Andrew (November 16, 2024). Album in a day 2024 (w/ Rob Scallon) – via YouTube.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.