The Long Story of Octavate

Octavate began as a music passion project from band founder, Josh Prost (also the leader and main contributor for Jack Prost Band). Sometime around 2017 (Josh will let me know if the date is wrong), long time musician, Josh, wanted to write music in the styles of music he grew up listening to and loving, and he picked up his bass to get started.  Next thing he knew, he had a dozen or so songs created and recorded with guitar, bass, drums, vocals, and sometimes more.  All created and recorded himself in his studio, with some occasional vocal, musician or mixing input from friends. But, Josh wanted more. He wanted a band to create with, record with, and tour with. He set on a journey. 

Shawn had heard several of Josh's recordings and was also working on his own solo studio project, Special Victim. A mutual friend introduced them, and they decided to explore making music together. This was early 2019. Shawn had spent the previous 3 years mostly playing drums in a cover band and creating original music on his own. 

When Shawn and Josh got together, Shawn took his spot on the drum throne, ready to lay down beats, but kept his microphone handy, just in case. Josh put his bass strap over his shoulder, and they got ready to build on a rhythm section; Josh also kept a microphone handy...just in case. But, they both knew that having a guitar player was needed to really get things started.  

Long story short, that 2019 start, quickly fell flat. Shawn and Josh collaborated a bit on some songs, but Shawn wasn't ready to pull away from his other projects and Josh was ready to go. 

Enter, Gilly and Matt. Matt, a kick ass drummer with speed, power and chops for days. Gilly, a rocking guitar player, who can truly play just about anything with ease. With Josh leading this trio, they got together every few weeks to learn some of Josh's creations, and a few well known rock/metal classics. They also tried out a few singers, just not finding the right voice and personality to round out a foursome. 

End of 2019, Josh and Shawn reconnected. Shawn was finishing up some gigs with cover band Power Surge, and had started up a new Boston-based party band project with 15 other musicians, under the name Moosicians. Shawn, also was working on releasing new original music for Special Victim.  Yet, through some great conversations, Josh and Shawn decided to give it a go again, as the trio had some Spring 2020 gigs lined up. Shawn always is up for an opportunity to play music live. As of February 2020, the foursome quickly gelled, and set out to get a 10 song (mostly originals) set for some upcoming gigs beginning in March.  The "yet to be named" band, was progressing quickly....enter COVID-19. All band practices quickly stopped, Shawn got some symptoms, all gigs were canceled, and the 2020 roadmap was immediately halted. A couple good things did come out of March. The band decided on a name, Octavate, and Shawn put on his tech/social hat, to get this website and social media accounts set up. 

As April 2020 came around, Josh and Shawn decided to make sure both their home studios were up and running, and that they would start recording as much as they could (even though the other guys weren't able to record from home). As we are now into the 4th month (July 2020) of the quarantine life, Josh and Shawn have recorded a handful of songs, though all are still considered "demos"; they are not quite ready for Spotify (at least that's their opinion). The plan is to write and record songs, to share with you, and get some interest in the new band.  Once there is enough for an EP or album, the band will work to get the songs ready for a wider audience (and will hide the demos back in the vault). So, let's see how the rest of 2020 plays out, and if there will be a 2021 Octavate release. Join us on this ride. 

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