Green Octopus Band
How did "Green Octopus Band" come about?
When I first had the idea of performing Glassworks, I was looking for other pieces we could perform alongside it - ideally with the same instrumentation. Struggling to find the ideal companion piece(s), I decided to compose some music myself, which would fit the bill. However, as I wrote more and more tracks, my writing style - and the in
When I first had the idea of performing Glassworks, I was looking for other pieces we could perform alongside it - ideally with the same instrumentation. Struggling to find the ideal companion piece(s), I decided to compose some music myself, which would fit the bill. However, as I wrote more and more tracks, my writing style - and the instrumentation I was using - evolved into something a little different; it ended up making more sense to keep the two projects separate. One of the current tracks - Contemplation - survives from that original attempt to write companion pieces to Glassworks.
Why "Green Octopus Band"?
Basically, around the time I had the idea of putting an ensemble together, I was walking my then 7-year-old son to school. I asked him, “If I had a band, what should it be called?” Without missing a beat, he replied, “Green Octopus Band.” I thought, that’s rather good, especially since I had expected something more along the lines of “Poo
Basically, around the time I had the idea of putting an ensemble together, I was walking my then 7-year-old son to school. I asked him, “If I had a band, what should it be called?” Without missing a beat, he replied, “Green Octopus Band.” I thought, that’s rather good, especially since I had expected something more along the lines of “Pooh-Pooh-Fart Band” from a 7-year-old boy.
A few years later, I asked if he remembered coming up with that name, and he said, “Yes. I was trying to come up with something like the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine.” That decided it; if my young son was referencing the Beatles, that was good enough for me.
The Recording Project
The Recording Project
We haven't done any live performances - yet... in fact, we have only spent one single day together as a band, and that was in the recording studio! However, that was an incredibly productive day in whic we managed to record six tracks; they can be heard if you click on the links below. A further session will follow in 2026, with the inten
We haven't done any live performances - yet... in fact, we have only spent one single day together as a band, and that was in the recording studio! However, that was an incredibly productive day in whic we managed to record six tracks; they can be heard if you click on the links below. A further session will follow in 2026, with the intention of recording six more to make an album's worth. We will then follow that up with an inaugural performance next summer. Be sure to re-visit then to experience the newly recorded tracks!
The Players
The Recording Project
I am very lucky to know so many talented performers, and we had a blast recording these tracks at the wonderful Crouch End Studios. Rhys Taylor was a busy man on various saxophones, recording and overdubbing all day long - excellent job, mate! The string quartet - led by the incomparably excellent Nia Bevan - also featured Simon Howes on
I am very lucky to know so many talented performers, and we had a blast recording these tracks at the wonderful Crouch End Studios. Rhys Taylor was a busy man on various saxophones, recording and overdubbing all day long - excellent job, mate! The string quartet - led by the incomparably excellent Nia Bevan - also featured Simon Howes on 2nd violin, Becky Hopkins on viola and Richard Phillips on cello. Of course, when I wrote the music, I wanted to be part of it, so I am inevitably playing piano. Carrie Grant joins on keyboard, with Tom Clare and Greg Hagger on percussion and electric bass respectively.