"Fuzzed out rock," Nashville-based band and Live Lunch veterans, Year of October, are set to release their sixth album, Wastelands, this October. Frontwoman, Phlecia Sullivan, and guitarist, Josh Sullivan, speak with Tracy Ross about their upcoming record, the writing process, and what it's like being in a band with your spouse.
Wastelands, set to release on October 9th, 2020, follows Year of October's fifth album, Trouble Comes, named Best Rock Album at the Nashville Music Industry Awards. "[Wastelands] may surprise some people, especially [those] who may have just listened to our first two records," Phlecia begins. "I think moving on from Trouble Comes, it kind of feels like a natural progression. It's pretty rocking."
Described by Guitar World as "clawing Nashville rock" with "soulful, swirling vocals," Year of October spent 2019 touring full-time, creating the sound that would encompass their ten-track release. "We played about 180 shows total," Josh says. "What we were doing was we would write two or three new songs...tour on them for like a month...then come back and record those two or three. As we're recording, we're also practicing, so we were writing new ones. We'd tour the next two or three, get them tight and the way you want them live. It was kind of interesting to write as you go."
"Me and Phlecia have had a lot of these song ideas for probably two years," he continues. "With James, our drummer, we were able to knock them out pretty quick. We wrote ten songs in eight months with him that we really liked. We've got five or six other new ones. It was really awesome. We were able to tour [the songs], get them really tight, and knock them out real quick recording-wise."
The songwriting process was slightly different than for past records as well, the couple explains. "On this record, I feel like it was more of a jam and work through the songs together [process]. My lyrics would come afterwards," Phlecia explains. "In previous times, I would have a melody stuck, and I would say, 'Josh, you have to find something to play underneath this.' It kind of changes, but this one I think was a really collaborative process with us as a full band."
"I could bring a riff to practice, and me and James would jam on it," Josh continues. "It would either turn into something else, or we would come up with another part. The songs were really natural in that way. We never really talk about it, we would just play. This is the first time we've done it like that. The three of us."
The album will be released in October, but the open-endedness of live music in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic creates a sense of uncertainty for the touring musicians. Year of October is tentatively planning to tour Wastelands this winter. "We take it one day at a time," Phlecia explains. "If something happens by the winter, then we'll have something in the works. Maybe it will work out." Josh adds, even if we're not going to play live, we're trying to work towards [the release] -- doing band stuff as much as we can."
To adapt to the current times, the band has switched to virtual performances and networking. "It's not ideal, but...people have been really receptive to [livestreams]. Even though it feels weird to play for a computer screen, and you're not sure if people are paying attention, people have been really nice and supportive. I'm glad we have that because it's way better than not having anything. It's definitely been different for sure. We're kind of adjusting. We're trying to do more music videos and Youtube-related stuff, like live videos. That's been good because it's forced us to do better with that sort of thing," Josh says.
Despite the stress of an undetermined tour route, Josh and Phlecia are both incredibly happy with the band's progress, the upcoming album, and the balance they've struck as bandmates and spouses. "It's definitely the coolest thing I've had in my life," Josh says. "We look at it kind of like a job. [The band] is our art, and then we have our relationship. Even though they're directly related, we have time to ourselves where we're not talking about the band. Both of us are 100% in. I know that if we need something that we got to get done, she's going to be on the same page as I'm on. We talk about everything."
"It's nice because we know the other person is reliable, and we know that they're going to go as far as you're going to go and try as hard as you're going to try to make it work," Phlecia adds. "I think that in itself is the best part. I think us being best friends makes it easy when we're touring. Obviously, you're going to get into little spats and stuff with someone you're around literally all the time. But it just makes the road so much easier and so much fun. I can't imagine if we were married and just didn't really like each other. How terrible the road would be," she laughs.
"We understand each other so well. It makes the writing process really easy. We can call each other out. If someone is being stupid or getting down on themselves about something and thinking they're not good, you can be like 'no, stop, you're good at what you do. You've just been too honed in, and you're questioning everything.' It's nice that we can call each other out," Phlecia concludes.
For more information on Year of October and their new album, Wastelands, visit their website or Facebook page.
