Being Edmonton based and no coastline, where did Brother Octopus come from and how did the band come to be? That’s obvious isn’t it? Brother Octopus walked out of the ocean and onto land, just like you would have imagined. I kid you not. Just floating around his Octopus’ Garden (see, there is a Beatles influence) one day and a guitar sank to the ocean floor. Brother picked it up and played with it for some time before wondering what else might be above the surface. Now when an octopus goes for a walk, he goes for a walk. Little Guppy, a friend from the Pacific joined him and they became a duo for some time. Eventually, Golden Boy joined the group…er, school(?) when the duo spied him with his guitar, on a ferry headed up the inlet to look for gold. It’s still a little unclear to me, but new Guy came next. He’s not aquatic at all, just a normal, new guy, not even a fisherman. Lastly, Dogfish joined the group bringing the Pacific Ocean full circle.
The band has been around for about seven years now and have opened for everyone from Tupelo Honey to Fred Penner. On top of the already mentioned releases, Brother Octopus has a third full disc, Sea of Champions. This is a play on the former tag line for Edmonton, City of Champions. The CD is 17 tracks long and is done with seventeen different bands, in seventeen difference studios, with all the background work being done here to. The
dream is to do music full time, same as many
artists, but it is expensive, and they must hold down regular day jobs and their co workers are all too happy to have creatures of the sea working side by side with them.
After Sea of Champions was released, Brother Octopus was nominated for and won an Edmonton Music Award for Artist to Watch. And if you think that the names, the costumes that they do wear on stage and the general out side the box attitude is a little much, they are nominated for a 2018 Edmonton Music Award for Dance / Electronic Recording of the Year.
Touring is not on the near horizon as New Guy and Little Guppy are getting married this summer, can’t wait to see those kids, so they have planning and honeymoon that will take some time. That does not mean the band will not be performing. You can find them on May 5th at Happy Harbor Comics doing a show on Free Comic Day. Happy harbor is probably the perfect spot for this band to be playing. Brother Octopus’ fans are of all ages and nerdiness. With the band using props and costumes on stage, they would love to see more of their fans show up in like outfits. Think back to KISS when fans would show up in the face paint, it’s a big boast to the band, knowing that they have that much influence on their people. If you want to be in the bands good graces, wear your tentacles, wear your seafaring slickers, Brother will applaud and encourage you.