Do you consider your music electronic?

Tassy: Yes and no.

Octant is clearly more than music. Would you like it to become an art movement like Fluxus?

Tassy: Yes, that would be awesome. Can you arrange that for me? I think there are already other bands that are starting to incorporate more visual or unordinary elements into their live shows. Once we played a show with The Thrones where he heated a plate of pizza rolls during the set and then passed them out to the audience. It was great. I think people are wanting to experiment more with different types of sounds besides guitar, bass and drums.

How do you think moving to Chicago will change Octant?

Tassy: I'm hoping that it will give us more venues to play at besides the standard bar shows. I think people in Chicago are used to seeing and hearing experimental music and won't be shocked by what we're doing and will be able to appreciate it more. I don't think people in Seattle realize how much work, time and money goes into making Octant; they consider it more of a novelty act than a genuine performance.

How is your new CD going to be different from the last?

Tassy: Our new CD is more experimental than our last one. There are still a few pop songs, but the majority of the songs are instrumental/experimental. I like this CD more because it isn't just one song after another; there are soundscapes and noises that are really interesting to listen to. I also sing more on this CD. This is the first CD that we've made entirely in our apartment. It's more laid back and creative because we got to record whenever we wanted to, any time of the day. It's nice being able to have the resources to play music and record it whenever you want.

Tassy: I enjoy playing live when there are people there that want to see Octant. It's not really fun being an opening band when people are there to see a guitar rock show. I used to hate setting up, but now that everything is portable it's not too bad. I like seeing the expressions on people's faces when the drums go off for the first time.

How are your current live shows different from the past and where do you see the live shows evolving in the future?

Tassy: Our first shows it was a struggle just making sure that everyone got set up on time and everything worked. Now our instruments are pretty stable and we don't have to worry about them overheating or blowing up. The live shows now usually involve three or four people. We are more of a band than before. I predict that our instruments, including the drum set, will keep evolving and growing. Eventually we want to have all of the instruments play themselves and we want to be offstage controlling them all. I would also like to see us have choreographed dance moves, but that is something way in the future.

Do you have any tours planned?

Tassy: We plan on touring the U.S. in the fall after our new CD comes out. We would love to visit Japan and Europe, too.

People like to put bands in different categories and genres and you guys are quite hard to categorize. What types of bands do you end up playing with live?

Tassy: We usually end up playing with our friends' bands, even if our music isn't relative to theirs. Bands like Love as Laughter, Miranda July, Pleaseeasaur and Quasi.

Tassy: Miranda July is fun to play with. We went on an East Coast tour with her last year. It kind of felt like we were all part of a freak show, so it went well. Other bands that we've played with, I will not name names, I've hated musically, but we've played with just to play a show.

And Finally Tassy, this question is something that I am fascinated by after hanging out with you lately. It's kind of a joke, but there might be something to it. Why do you eat the same food for each meal for a couple weeks and then switch to a new food and eat that for every meal for another couple weeks? How does this influence your music?

Tassy: I like this question. I've been trying to figure out why I do this to myself. I think I am mildly obsessive compulsive and when I find something that tastes good I try to eat it as much as possible. Unfortunately, I usually end up hating my favorite food or making myself sick. Once I ate an entire box of pudding pops. I guess I kind of do the same thing with music and the way I play instruments. Most of our instruments are hard to play and if I find a particular way to play them that evokes really cool noises, I keep playing it the same way for every show. The electrified stringboard for instance, I always play it with metal rods because it makes a cool drone sound.

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