Emma Logan (born October 1997), known professionally as October, is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, record producer, and model. She moved from her hometown of Blenheim to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

to pursue a career in music and released her debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP), ''Switchblade'', in 2016. Her debut studio album, ''Ultra Red'' (2018), was self-written and self-produced by her and distributed by Universal Music NZ. In 2020, she began performing as October and the Eyes and released her two EPs under the name, ''Dogs and Gods'' (2020) and ''Who Upset You?'' (2022), through KRO Records; , October and the Eyes performs live as a five-piece band.

Life and career

Emma Logan was born in October 1997 and raised in Blenheim, New Zealand. She has one older brother. As a child, she played piano and was exposed to classical music through her mother, a music teacher, who would make her do activities while listening to it. She began writing music at age 12, when she learned the basics of GarageBand, and, in high school, joined a

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. ...

. She taught herself how to produce

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

at age 16 and began using a

MIDI keyboard A MIDI keyboard or controller keyboard is typically a piano-style electronic musical keyboard, often with other buttons, wheels and sliders, used for sending MIDI signals or commands over a USB or MIDI 5-pin cable to other musical devi ...

at age 17 to produce her music. She then began studying music in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

before dropping out after her first year and moving to

, where she began meeting with record label executives and a music lawyer in pursuit of a musical career. Logan's single "Voids" was released in October 2015. She released the electronic-influenced ''Switchblade'', her debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, in April 2016, and released her single "Cherry Cola" with help from

NZ On Air NZ On Air (NZOA; mi, Irirangi te Motu), formally the Broadcasting Commission, is an autonomous Crown entity and commission of the New Zealand Government responsible for funding support for broadcasting and creative works. The commission oper ...

in September of that year, which was endorsed by Lorde. Also in 2016, she performed as an opening act for

Yung Lean Yung may refer to: * Yung (surname), Chinese surname * Yung Joc, (born Jasiel Robinson in 1983), an American rapper * Yung Wun, (born James Carlton Anderson in 1982), an American rapper * Yung Berg, (born Christian Ward in 1985), an American rappe ...

and

Broods Broods is a New Zealand musical duo from Nelson, composed of Georgia Josiena Nott on lead vocals, with older brother and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Allan Joseph Nott on production and backing vocals. They released the single "Bridges", which w ...

. In August 2017, she walked the runway at

New Zealand Fashion Week New Zealand Fashion Week, also known as NZ Fashion Week or NZFW, is an annual Fashion Week held in New Zealand. History New Zealand Fashion Week held its first show on 23 October 2001, opened by the prime minister at the time, Helen Clark. It ...

for Zambesi. She also released her singles "Pure" and "All She Does is Stare" in August and December 2017, respectively. Her single "1000 Eyes" was released in February 2018. Her debut studio album, ''Ultra Red'', was intended for release in October 2017. After listening to the album, she felt it was "far too pop" due to production by the album's collaborators, including

Joel Little Joel Little (born 13 February 1983) is a New Zealand record producer, musician and Grammy Award-winning songwriter.

and

Thom Powers The Naked and Famous are a New Zealand indie electronic band from Auckland, formed in 2007. The band currently consists of Alisa Xayalith (vocals, keyboards) and Thom Powers (vocals, guitars). The band has released four studio albums: '' Pass ...

. She spent several months reproducing the songs until December 2017 and the finished version of ''Ultra Red'' was self-released by Logan on 18 April 2018 and distributed by Universal Music NZ. In 2020, Logan started performing as October and the Eyes, became based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and got signed to KRO Records after her demo tape was sent by singer

Yves Tumor Sean Bowie, best known by the recording alias Yves Tumor, is an American musician and producer of experimental music, born in Miami, Florida and currently based in Turin, Italy. To date, they have released four studio albums: ''When Man Fails Y ...

to their producers. Her debut EP as October and the Eyes, ''Dogs and Gods'', was released through KRO on 20 November 2020 and preceded by the single "All for You", which was released in October 2020. She had also modeled for brands such as Balenciaga and Charlotte Knowles by 2020. Her single "Spiral" was released in February 2022. In early 2022, she toured as opening act for Yves Tumor. In May 2022, she released the single "When I Was Your Girl", and released her EP ''Who Upset You?'' on 24 June 2022. , October and the Eyes performs live as a five-piece band.

Musical style

Logan based her initial stage name, October, on her being born in the month of October, and based the addition of "the Eyes" on her desire to collaborate with other musicians as well as her song "1000 Eyes". She has described herself as primarily a producer and stated that her vocals "add to what he hasconstructed, production-wise". She uses

Logic Pro Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI sequencer software application for the macOS platform. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software developer C-Lab which later went by E ...

to produce her songs. She has described her music as October as pop with elements of industrial music and has called the persona of October a "more bold and commanding and confident version of erself, while describing her music as October and the Eyes as

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

. She has called

Siouxsie Sioux Susan Janet Ballion (born 27 May 1957), known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She was the lead singer of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees (1976–1996). They released 11 ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, and

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

, as well as female record producers like

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from "lo-fi R&B" to futuristic dance-pop, and has i ...

Sevdaliza Sevda Alizadeh (; born 1 September 1987), known professionally as Sevdaliza, is an Iranian-Dutch singer, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and director. In 2015, she released two EPs, ''The Suspended Kid'' and ''Children of Silk''. Whi ...

, and

FKA Twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 17 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in Cheltenham, she became a backup dancer for numerous famous musicians aft ...

, her inspirations, and called

King Krule Archy Ivan Marshall (born 24 August 1994), also known by his stage name King Krule, among other names, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, rapper and record producer. He began recording music in 2010 under the moniker Zoo Kid. The fol ...

Sky Ferreira Sky Tonia Ferreira (born July 8, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, model, and actress. As a teenager, Ferreira began uploading videos on Myspace of herself singing songs she had written, which led to her discovery by producers Bloods ...

, and Yung Lean "heroes" of hers.

Discography

As October

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As October and the Eyes

Extended plays

Singles

References

Industrial musicians Universal Music Group artists New Zealand pop singers New Zealand rock singers New Zealand record producers People from Blenheim, New Zealand 1990s births New Zealand female models 21st-century New Zealand singers 21st-century New Zealand songwriters 1997 births Living people {{DEFAULTSORT:October