Their roots may be in the Chicago scene, but pop is their passion for the members in October Fall: vocalist/guitarist Pat D'Andrea, guitarist Clark Harrison, pianist Owen Toomey, bassist Greg Shanahan, and drummer Nick Scalise.
D'Andrea's early influences were Johnny Cash, Tom Petty and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He would sit in his bedroom playing guitar outlet and accidentally writing songs while attending one of his sister's musicals. D'Andrea met a fellow musician, Clark Harrison, and the two began jamming together as "Silver Lining". With high ambitions and a budding arsenal of songs, the duo changed its name to "October Fall" and solidified a line-up with Toomey, Scalise and Shanahan.
After selling out shows to just open the band, the whole town took notice. It was one of the scene's most beloved alumni, Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, who wrote the band to his Fueled By Ramen imprint Decaydance. From there, the band prepared to record their debut album and soon hit the road with Ashlee Simpson.
The inspiration for the title of October Fall's debut, A Season in Hell comes from a cult classic movie, Eddie and the Cruisers, which actually premiered in theaters before any of the band members (all of which were still in their teens) were even born.
In the summer of 2005, they migrated westward to record at The Green Room in Los Angeles, California, with producer Mike Green (Yellowcard Rufio Paramore). In September and October 2005, they went on a two-month US cross-country tour with Just Surrender, My American Heart, and Lorene Drive.5 In May 2006, they appeared at The Bamboozle festival.6
The song "Walking" set October Fall's sound movement is a piano-driven rocker, thinking about a girl, who cannot look himself in the mirror, not satisfied with simply writing about Heartaches and Heart-Breaker "Hey Hey" deals with the harsh tale of a turbulent friendship. A Season in Hell also features guest appearances by Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump (song "Second Chance") and Paramore's Hayley Williams (on "Keep Dreaming Upside Down").7
On October 1, 2007, the band announced that they had gone their separate ways.8
In the fall of 2007, Clark Harrison and Nick Foxer (formerly of the All American Rejects) formed a band called Phonocast, based in southern California where both musicians now live.
Pat D'Andrea formed Archie Star, in which he shares lead vocals with his sister, Maria. The band released their album, Carry Me Home in November 2008.
Fueled By Ramen & Decaydance Winter '05/'06 iTunes Sampler
"2020: October Fall Biography". 2022. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/october-fall-mn0001905980/biography?1648090160683 ↩
Apar, Corey. Biography at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-04-23. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p760404/biography ↩
"05/10/2006: Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour @ GIANT Center, Hershey Park | Concert Archives". www.concertarchives.org. Retrieved January 30, 2020. https://www.concertarchives.org/concerts/black-clouds-and-underdogs-tour--4 ↩
Pat, D'Andrea (October 2, 2007). "October Fall have officially broken up". Live Journal. https://octoberfall.livejournal.com/228719.html ↩
Shultz, Brian (September 7, 2005). "Just Surrender touring with My American Heart". Punknews.org. Retrieved November 8, 2021. https://www.punknews.org/article/13707/tours-just-surrender-touring-with-my-american-heart ↩
Paul, Aubin (March 3, 2006). "Poison The Well, Strike Anywhere, Paint It Black, Chiodos, Moneen, others added to Bamboozle". Punknews.org. Retrieved January 22, 2022. https://www.punknews.org/article/16063/poison-the-well-strike-anywhere-paint-it-black-chiodos-moneen-others-added-to-bamboozle ↩
"October fall songfacts". 2022. https://www.songfacts.com/songs/october-fall ↩