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Corpus Christi’s Caller-Times has an interview with Justin about the upcoming Blue October concert on Saturday.

Now that Furstenfeld is well again, Blue October is back on the road, and performs at 7 p.m. Saturday at Concrete Street Amphitheater to promote and relaunch their “Pick up the Phone” tour and their most recent album “Approaching Normal.”

Furstenfeld said that the band’s promotion of the tour is very personal to him.

“I grew up with depression and I’m trying to speak out for all the kids out there who have depression so that way we won’t have to lose 30,000 Americans every year to suicide,” he said.

The Pick up the Phone Tour was formed through a partnership between nonprofit organizations to raise suicide awareness. Through the 1-800 SUICIDE hot line, the organization provides a service that is private and confidential for people in need.

Callers are routed directly to the closest crisis center so that quick referrals to behavioral health services and other support systems can be offered.

Justin also talked about the status of their next album, about being a father and performing in Texas. Read the rest of the article here.

The Battalion, the student newspaper for Texas A&M in College Station, interviewed Matt Noveskey for this weekend’s upcoming concert at Ziegfest.

One of Texas’ alternative rock icons is returning to Aggieland this weekend. Blue October will headline Ziegfest Sunday with popular country stars Eli Young Band, Jack Ingram and other performers at the Texas World Speedway. We sat down with bassist Matt Noveskey to hear the things which make the Houston natives glad to perform again in College Station, why there won’t be any acoustic arrangements in the set list and what to expect from the upcoming album.

Question You guys are on the Pick Up the Phone tour to raise awareness of mental illness and encourage people to reach out in times of need. Since this is a pretty personal issue for you guys, what sort of effect has it had on the band?

MN It wakes you up a bit. Playing for a cause gives you a purpose, especially one like this that carries a lot of weight with the band [lead singer Justin Furstenfeld has battled bipolar disorder most of his life, and a severe anxiety attack led to the band canceling a tour last year]. I think it shines through in the way we play and changes our general attitudes too. Little things that might have made you angry in the past don’t seem to matter as much after you meet people struggling with much more serious problems.

Read the entire article here.

Berlin, Germany’s Star FM hosted a Blue October acoustic concert on August 26th. The cool thing about this concert was that it took place on a boat that was cruising on the Spree River.  I’m not sure which venue is cooler- the castle I posted about yesterday or this boat venue. Both of them would have ben incredible to see!

The set list included Ugly Side, Say It, Dirt Room, Come In Closer, Into the Ocean, Clumsy Card House, Jump Rope, Calling You, Hate Me and 18th Floor Balcony.

Video of the most of the songs performed at the concert can be seen here. Pictures from the concert can be seen here.

Blue October performed an acoustic show at Schloss Montfort in Langenargen, Switzerland on August 24th. The set list included Ugly Side, Say It, Dirt Room, Been Down, Come In Closer, Sound of Pulling Heaven Down, Into the Ocean, Everlasting Friend, Picking Up Pieces, Jump Rope, Calling You, Should Be Loved, Hate Me and The End.

Regio TV covered the event and interviewed the guys.

A very helpful fan that was at the event translated the news story and gave me the ok to post the translation here.

The rock band from Texas is having a mini concert in the area of the Lake Constance. Radio 7 invited the guys to the town of Langenargen. In front of 200 people (actually it was 142 people) they are playing in probably one of t…he most beautiful locations that you could ever imagine, as an artist and as a fan that is. They are playing in the hall of mirrors in the Montfort castle. The 5 band members agree with that statement.

“Honestly I think the biggest success could possibly be today. This is so pretty and amazing. Um, what’s right in front of here? What is that? Yeah it’s amazing. I mean we are here in this season. ”

Among the fans is *** from Regensburg. She travelled to the concert with a friend.

“I took a friend from Switzerland to the concert. She’s standing right there in the back. She had to take the train for 4 1/2 hours today to be here. It’s her first concert today. For me… I’ve seen them a couple times more often already. This is number 9 today (actually it was number 8 but I was too excited to count and by now it is 9x anyway lol).”

*** is like many people that evening part of the German fan club (actually forum, but whatever). She is overwhelmed by the location. “To see them in a castle… first of all is a contradiction. Such a hard rock band in the hall of mirrors in a castle… that is just something very special. And it’s also special to see them play in front of only so few people.”

The guys don’t seem to be so hard. Hard around the edges and soft inside seems to be a lot more appropriate. First and foremost their songs are poetical and the fans can relate to them. The band name Blue October originates in such an emotional mood.

“I didn’t go to college so I just asked myself what I could do with my talent. I’ve been in a difficult phase in my life where I did a lot of bad things because I was drawn towards the wrong people. Then I just tried to convert the bad things into good things and that is what Blue October stands for. It’s a mood. A time for change.”

With their song Jump Rope and their current single Hate Me, the guys are starting over in Germany at the moment. They owe this success to their loyal fan base and the band really appreciates this.

“Thank you cause without you we’d be nowhere. Without you I wouldn’t have a house, I wouldn’t have a daughter and I wouldn’t have these boys in the band. Our fans are everything, you know. Without them we’d absolutely be… singing in the shower.”

Now when that statement isn’t a declaration of love. The fans are thanking them for that with tremendous applause. *** and *** are totally overwhelmed.

“Concert number 13. First acoustic performance. Amazing, so amazing. So close.”

“I’m speechless to tell the truth. Terrific. So emotional. I can’t put it into words.”

Yes, the Texans provided a great show! Whoever couldn’t be there last night, there’s a little solace: Blue October are touring through Germany until the end of September. After the show they’re giving out autographs and take photos. A quaint performance, not only from the band.

Video of performances from the event can be seen here. Pictures can be seen here.

The Pick Up the Phone Facebook page just announced that Blue October will be performing an acoustic set at the “Please Don’t Jump” event on September 22nd.

For those of you in the Bay area, Blue October will be performing an acoustic set the day of their concert at the Regency Ballroom for the “Please Don’t Jump” event at West Bluff Amphitheater in Crissy Field.

More information about the event from the Please Don’t Jump Facebook Event Page:

Tens of thousands of people around the world have been touched by a postcard since it was posted on http://www.postsecret.com/.

The postcard reads: “I have lived in San Francisco since I was young… I am illegal…I am not wanted here. I don’t belong anywhere. This summer I plan to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge.”

Shattered by the secret, one woman created a Facebook page asking the sender of the card not to jump. Every day people post …positive messages and inspirational media, also pleading for the life of the sender of the card. The page is at www.facebook.com/pleasedonotjump

The Golden Gate Bridge is unfortunately a site of many suicides each year. On September 22, 2010, the Kristin Brooks Hope Center, founder of 1-800-SUICIDE, is asking you to join them at the bridge to fight suicide and ask people “please don’t jump.”

Join the Kristin Brooks Hope Center, band Blue October, speakers from the Bridge Rail Foundation, and the friends and family of those who have lost someone on the bridge from 12-2 pm. There will be a live acoustic set by Blue October as well as several speakers and special exhibits.

Blue October is headlining the Pick Up The Phone Tour, a suicide awareness and prevention concert series. Their show in San Francisco will be that evening at the Regency Ballroom. For more information, visit: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=130826840265746

If you are interested in learning more about this event or getting involved, please email Nicole at nicole@hopeline.com.

Positively Houston has posted their interview with Justin, C.B. and Matt from the Houston acoustic concert on July 24th. This concert had several fundraisers for Homes for Our Troops.

Update: Positively Houston has uploaded a longer version of their interview. The guys talk about the loyalty of the fans, about what inspires them, writing music and what they do for fun.

Blue October was interviewed on Germany’s Fantasy Radio 93.4. They have posted video of part of the interview and part of a performance of My Never.

Jeremy was interviewed by Russia’s Maximum 103.7 for their upcoming concert in Moscow on August 22nd. They talk about the progress of the new album, what he is listening to, his musical inspirations, vodka, performing in Russia and much more.  The website is in Russian but you can hear Jeremy’s answers by pressing play on each of the clips on their site. (Babel Fish gave me the best translation but it’s still a bit choppy but you can pretty much figure out what the question was by Jeremy’s answer.) You can also listen to all of his answers in the clip below.

The Houston Press talked to Matt about his production company, Wanderlust A.M.P.

Musicians guiding musicians may sound like the blind leading the blind, but his firsthand experience with music-business pitfalls showed Blue October bassist Matt Noveskey otherwise.

“I’ve worked with a lot of producers that, well, they think their shit doesn’t stink,” Noveskey says of his experiences. “They’re really stubborn, they talk down to bands and they tend to think that because they’ve been doing this for X amount of years that they have all the answers.”

This frustration led Noveskey to turn his production hobby into his own company. The way he sees it, no one understands musicians better than, well, musicians.

“In my opinion some of the best producers out there are musicians, because they’ve been on the other side of the coin; they’ve been treated the right way and they’ve been treated the wrong way, and they have learned from those experiences.”

“I’m still learning; I’m not an engineer,” says Noveskey, who has worked with numerous Houston artists including Deep Ella, Five Dollar Friend, and Adam Jermstad of Giants in the Earth. “But once I got a couple of projects under my belt several years ago, I started to realize how much I enjoy it – and that’s always the role I’ve played in every band I’ve been in anyway.

Read the rest of the article here.

Photo property of Longoria Photography. More of Abel’s pictures of Matt at the acoustic concerts can be seen on Matt’s Fender page.

Blue October is currently in Germany for the Jump Ferro Festival 2010. They are headlining the festival. This is a brief interview with one of the DJs from the radio station before the Blue October performance.

On July 22, 23, and 24 Blue October performed five acoustic shows- one in Austin, Texas (7/22), two in Dallas, Texas (7/23) and two in Houston, Texas (7/24). I had the opportunity to attend the Austin show and it was phenomenal (as usual!) It was so worth the trip from Salt Lake, I just wish I could have stayed for the other shows.

Austin: The set list was Ugly Side, The Answer, Schizophrenia, Say It, Dirt Room, Been Down, Come in Closer, Sound of Pulling Heaven Down, Into the Ocean, Everlasting Friend, Colorado 5591, Picking Up Pieces, Amnesia, Jump Rope, Blue Skies, X Amount of Words, Holler, Calling You, Should Be Loved, Hate Me, Blue Does, The End.

My (very amateur) pictures can be seen here. Pictures by Lime Light Imaging can be seen here. Do512.com pictures can be seen here.

Video from the Austin Show can be seen here.

Dallas Early Show:The set list was Ugly Side, The Answer, Say It, Dirt Room, Come In Closer, Into The Ocean, Everlasting Friend, Colorado 5591, Picking Up Pieces, Jump Rope, Blue Skies, X Amount of Words, Calling You, Should Be Loved, Hate Me, Amazing, The End.

Dallas Late Show:The set list was Ugly Side, The Answer, Say It, Dirt Room, Come In Closer, Into The Ocean, Everlasting Friend, Colorado 5591, Picking Up Pieces, Jump Rope, Amnesia, X Amount of Words, Holler, Calling You, Should Be Loved, Hate Me, Amazing, Conversation via Radio, The End.

Video from the Dallas Shows can be seen here.

Houston Early Show: The set list was Ugly Side, Tomorrow, Say It, Dirt Room, Come In Closer, Into The Ocean, Everlasting Friend, Colorado 5591, Picking Up Pieces, Jump Rope, Darkest Side of Houston’s Finest Day, X Amount of Words, Calling You, Should Be Loved, Hate Me, Amazing, The End.

Pictures from 94.5 The Buzz can be seen here.

Houston Late Show: The set list was Ugly Side, The Answer, Say It, Dirt Room, Come In Closer, Into The Ocean, For My Brother, Colorado 5591, Picking Up Pieces, Jump Rope, Blue Skies, X Amount of Words, Calling You, Should Be Loved, Hate Me, Blue Does, Italian Radio, The End.

Video from the Houston Shows can be seen here.

*Pictures and video of the concerts are still being posted- I will update this post with new links as I find them.

This has been stuck on repeat in my head all week.

Is it a bad thing that I’ve added being willing to hide the bodies on the ride home to my list of requirements for the man in my life?

Blue October is teaming up with Homes for Our Troops to raise money for the organization to build specially adapted homes for severely injured veterans by offering two VIP options at the Houston Acoustic concerts on July 24th.

The first VIP offer is a sound check party before the early concert. Tickets for the sound check party can be purchased here.

The second VIP option is purchasing seats in the VIP section at the concert. There are only 30 seats at each show that are in the VIP section. The VIP package includes an amazing view of the stage plus food & drinks during the show. VIP tickets for the early Houston concert can be purchased here, tickets for the late concert can be purchased here.

100% of the proceeds from these VIP Tickets will go to Homes For Our Troops!

(WOW!!)

As part of Good Morning America’s “Be Inspired” Series Justin Furstenfeld pays a surprise visit to his high school drama teacher, Sharon Ferranti, who he says inspired him.

“She’s the one that really made me aware of what was going on in the world. And that there were other people outside of myself,” Furstenfeld said.

A write up of this story can be found here.

Blue October performed for soldiers and their families at Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan on July 4, 2010. The set list included You Make Me Smile, She’s My Ride Home, Say It, Dirt Room, HRSA, Calling You, Jump Rope, Come in Closer, Into the Ocean, X Amount of Words, James, Should Be Loved, Hate Me and the Star Spangled Banner (by Ryan).

You Make Me Smile/She’s My Ride Home

The Star Spangled Banner (This made me cry- thanks a lot Ryan!)

Video of each performance from the concert can be seen here.

Photo via NAF Atsugi MWR Facebook Page

I know I’ve said this before but I have to say it one more time- HUGE thanks to Blue October and their crew for taking time away from their own families to entertain our soldiers!!