Octavia Wakes are an exciting up and coming alt-rock band from Nottingham, UK. Blending together genre influences including; rock, metal, punk and alt-rock. The band includes members: Maia, Bassist Sam, Guitarist Tom, and Drummer Aaron. This crew blends hard riffs, catchy hooks, and impactful vocals to bring that contagious fun energy to every stage.

In this interivew spotlight, I chat with Octavia Wakes about AI, their latest music, dream collabs, and more.

Full Q&A along with links and music below.

AI (aka Artificial Intelligence aka Chat GPT 4.0)… How is it changing the music world? What are your thoughts about this new trend?

AI has such a varied potential, and it’s definitely something that musicians can take advantage of! We know several musicians that are using it to help understand their music better or use it to help visualise an idea. It of course comes with risks including plagiarism, or entirely AI generated music, but this will likely make up such a small percentage of what musicians will use it for. We think we’re only just scratching the surface with what AI is able to do, with distributors like DistroKid already having AI included within their systems to help artists grow and understand aspects of the industry. 

Can you choose a favorite song of all time? Or is this an impossible task? If yes, what’s the song? If no, what’s your current Top 3?

Difficult question! It’s impossible for us to come up with just one song that’s our favourite due to such varied music tastes. However, each of us has come up with a favourite; Tom’s favourite is Blackbird by Alter Bridge, Aaron’s is Whiskey in the Jar by Metallica, Maia’s is Hit me Like a Man by The Pretty Reckless, and Sam’s is Hysteria by Muse. 

What about this project makes you most proud? Was there a specific goal you were trying to accomplish with this release?

With this release it marked the re imagining of one of our oldest tracks, with it being one of the first songs written, so finally seeing it professionally recorded and hitting streaming platforms is a really proud moment for us. We always thought these songs would end up being ‘live’ tracks as we write new songs, but as the band grew, the songs developed and changed with us, so when the opportunity arose to get them properly sorted we went for it and they turned out better than we had expected. Being able to share these old tracks and see people loving them is definitely a proud moment. 

What inspires you to create music? What motivates you to keep going?

We’re definitely inspired by the ability for music to provide an expression of who we are, and allow four strangers to get into a room together and produce a coherent sound (sometimes) and work together mostly without talking. Writing allows us to challenge each other and be creative in small aspects of songs and try new things! That definitely motivates us to keep going, but one thing that really keeps us going is seeing people enjoy our music and tell us that they really like what we’re doing. Nothing better than hearing strangers say they like something you spent hours writing and performing. 

If you could collaborate with anyone – dead or alive, famous or unknown – who would it be and why? If it’s an indie/DIY artist, please include a link so readers can check them out.

We’d absolutely love to collaborate with Halestorm and Lzzy Hale. We love their music and the sheer ferocity they have live. Lzzy is such a power frontwoman and the band embody energy! We also love the diversity of their music, everything from Progressive Metal to Country! 

What was the last song you listened to? Favorite all-time bands/artists?

Last song we listened to was Saturation (Strange Love) by Grey Daze who we supported at Rescue Rooms, Nottingham last week. Some of our favourite bands are; Muse, The Offspring, Alter Bridge, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, The Pretty Reckless, Spiritbox, Motorhead and Halestorm.

Where is the best place to find you and stay connected?

You can find us on most social media platforms! Search Octavia Wakes on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X) as well as on Bands In Town to stay up to date on gigs and Bandcamp to support the band and get yourself some T-Shirts and CDs! You can also find us on most streaming platforms, so give us a follow there to be the first to hear new music!

I appreciate Your time. Want to say or plug any other projects before we part ways?

We also would encourage everyone to support their local scene and local bands! Most of the time they rely on the support of the local people to keep doing what they love! Also keep an eye out for our debut EP ‘Little Doses’ releasing on June 7th 2024!