Born In October are Free of Heart
They’re from two different worlds- she’s a country girl and he’s a city boy. But their shared passion of music, and birth month of October, have brought Rachel and Matt together. They form the country/folk music duo Born in October and are just about to release a brand new single and video clip.
Rachel Webster, a Nundle local, grew up as the youngest of four daughters. Her passion for music was sparked from a young age as her parents would often play various musicals in the house and on road trips. “Dad would encourage us to perform as a foursome, every opportunity we got. I developed this mentality that as the youngest I should be seen but not heard. I became painfully shy about singing on my own in front of others,” says Rachel. It wasn’t until she reached her 20’s that she realised how much she enjoyed playing the guitar and attempted to write songs. Suffering from a lack of belief in herself, she never really pursued music until her 30’s.
For Matt Thomson, his music journey is very different in that he knew he would have a career from a young age. At 14, he discovered the guitar, using it is a way to impress the girls. He fell in love with the guitar and began practicing every day. Slowly, he progressed by buying various music scores and perfecting songs such as ACDC’s ‘Back in Black’. “I played in various bands as lead guitarist up until I was 21, which helped me become less terrified of playing to a live audience,” says Matt.
Together with 2 friends, Matt formed a band ‘Go’ where he wrote and performed some songs, but mostly stuck to guitar and backing vocals. He began to learn Latin dancing and acting and even lived in Buenos Aires for a few years where he bought a guitar. His passion for music was reignited and he performed as a folk singer/songwriter.
Fate would lead Matt and Rachel together as they would soon meet each other at the Coogee Diggers Songwriter Sessions in 2013. This was held by Rachel’s then partner Karl Broadie who suggested that the two work together. “We really clicked musically,” says Rachel. Sadly, Karl passed away from pancreatic cancer, but it made Rachel realise how short life is, which pushed her to pursue her music.
They began to write songs together and formed a duo. “After our first co-write we began to encourage and support each other. It was so much more fun to be singing with someone else and have our voices blend together,” says Rachel.
[caption id="attachment_920" align="aligncenter" width="200"]
Photo: Justine Wahlin[/caption]
After scoring a gig at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2017, they came up with the name and officially became a band. “We’d like to say the name is a metaphor for something really deep but it’s actually one of the first things we realised we had in common (being born in October),” says Matt.
When it comes to writing songs, both Matt and Rachel possess an amazing talent. From the get-go, their music just seemed to meld together beautifully. Their inspiration can come from the most random places. “The first song we wrote together was inspired by a glimpse of a girl in my apartment block who was riding her bike out the front,” says Rachel. “Our second song was inspired by a Mars mission I’d seen on the news. We’re both visual people so we usually start with a picture, vision or moment that we have observed and brainstorm ideas. It feels like we paint the song before we write it,” Rachel continues. “When I write alone, I tend to go with a stream of consciousness and try to make sense of it later. When we write together, we kind of bounce ideas off each other,” adds Matt.
Life has also inspired the duo, with Rachel penning a song “Cartwheel and Climb” about the tragic loss of Karl. The song was co-written with Felicity Urquhart at The Dag Songwriter Retreat in Nundle. It features on their EP ‘Running in Bare Feet’ which was released in February. The duo best describe their music as “dreamy, acoustic, nature-infused folk” which comes through on their EP.
[caption id="attachment_921" align="aligncenter" width="244"]
Photo: Justine Wahlin[/caption]
Tomorrow, 12th September, Born in October will release their new song ‘Free of Heart’ where their terrific story telling ability shines through. After sending several songs off to producers to feature on their EP, the duo felt they needed another song to pull it all together. Rachel was driving to Narrandera from Nundle to meet up with Matt for some writing sessions. “The space and open landscape put me in a spiritual, poetic mood and these lyrics jumped in my head. Matt sent me a musical idea to listen to and I drew inspiration from that,” says Rachel. Rachel sent the lyrics to Matt who had come up with the melody before Rachel arrived at Narrandera.
‘Free of Heart’ is all about connecting with our inner child, listening and learning from their voice. “I guess it’s like peeling back the layers of detritus that we gather throughout adulthood sand remembering our view of the world as a child,” says Rachel.
The song, prior to its release, has been announced as a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. It has been listed in the top 11% from 16,000 entries in the Folk Singer/Songwriter category.
The video clip is reflective of the song. It was filmed in Nundle by Rachel’s son Corin Webster. There are shots of the duo enjoying the outdoors- riding their bikes barefoot through the landscape as well as leaping through grassy fields. The video reflects how all of us still hold a relationship with our inner-child and also reflects the free-spirited nature of the duo.
[caption id="attachment_922" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Photo: Justine Wahlin[/caption]
A challenge that the duo faces but have continued to overcome thus far is the fact that they live in 2 cities in vastly different locations. Whilst Rachel lives in Nundle, Matt still lives in Sydney. Whenever Matt travels to Brisbane to visit family, he will often stop by Nundle to rehearse with Rachel. The EP was recorded in Cairns and they have also created music elsewhere, like Narrandera. “We joke that Nundle has become my second home as I’ve travelled there so much over the last 2 years. We have to really maximise our time when we’re both in the same town,” says Matt.
After taking 4 months out from touring, due to the birth of Rachel’s daughter, they will be heading North to perform at the Nimbin Roots Festival, showcasing songs off their EP. They are finalists in the Best EP category at the Australian Roots Music Awards which will be presented in Nimbin on Sunday night.
You can listen and connect to Born in October via the links below:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6KtcNnVXtjmQKZETgWyjKp
Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/running-in-bare-feet-ep/1345117675
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/borninoctoberband/
Music Beginning's
Rachel Webster, a Nundle local, grew up as the youngest of four daughters. Her passion for music was sparked from a young age as her parents would often play various musicals in the house and on road trips. “Dad would encourage us to perform as a foursome, every opportunity we got. I developed this mentality that as the youngest I should be seen but not heard. I became painfully shy about singing on my own in front of others,” says Rachel. It wasn’t until she reached her 20’s that she realised how much she enjoyed playing the guitar and attempted to write songs. Suffering from a lack of belief in herself, she never really pursued music until her 30’s.
For Matt Thomson, his music journey is very different in that he knew he would have a career from a young age. At 14, he discovered the guitar, using it is a way to impress the girls. He fell in love with the guitar and began practicing every day. Slowly, he progressed by buying various music scores and perfecting songs such as ACDC’s ‘Back in Black’. “I played in various bands as lead guitarist up until I was 21, which helped me become less terrified of playing to a live audience,” says Matt.
Together with 2 friends, Matt formed a band ‘Go’ where he wrote and performed some songs, but mostly stuck to guitar and backing vocals. He began to learn Latin dancing and acting and even lived in Buenos Aires for a few years where he bought a guitar. His passion for music was reignited and he performed as a folk singer/songwriter.
Forming Born in October
Fate would lead Matt and Rachel together as they would soon meet each other at the Coogee Diggers Songwriter Sessions in 2013. This was held by Rachel’s then partner Karl Broadie who suggested that the two work together. “We really clicked musically,” says Rachel. Sadly, Karl passed away from pancreatic cancer, but it made Rachel realise how short life is, which pushed her to pursue her music.
They began to write songs together and formed a duo. “After our first co-write we began to encourage and support each other. It was so much more fun to be singing with someone else and have our voices blend together,” says Rachel.
[caption id="attachment_920" align="aligncenter" width="200"]
Photo: Justine Wahlin[/caption]After scoring a gig at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2017, they came up with the name and officially became a band. “We’d like to say the name is a metaphor for something really deep but it’s actually one of the first things we realised we had in common (being born in October),” says Matt.
Songwriting
When it comes to writing songs, both Matt and Rachel possess an amazing talent. From the get-go, their music just seemed to meld together beautifully. Their inspiration can come from the most random places. “The first song we wrote together was inspired by a glimpse of a girl in my apartment block who was riding her bike out the front,” says Rachel. “Our second song was inspired by a Mars mission I’d seen on the news. We’re both visual people so we usually start with a picture, vision or moment that we have observed and brainstorm ideas. It feels like we paint the song before we write it,” Rachel continues. “When I write alone, I tend to go with a stream of consciousness and try to make sense of it later. When we write together, we kind of bounce ideas off each other,” adds Matt.
Life has also inspired the duo, with Rachel penning a song “Cartwheel and Climb” about the tragic loss of Karl. The song was co-written with Felicity Urquhart at The Dag Songwriter Retreat in Nundle. It features on their EP ‘Running in Bare Feet’ which was released in February. The duo best describe their music as “dreamy, acoustic, nature-infused folk” which comes through on their EP.
[caption id="attachment_921" align="aligncenter" width="244"]
Photo: Justine Wahlin[/caption]Free of Heart
Tomorrow, 12th September, Born in October will release their new song ‘Free of Heart’ where their terrific story telling ability shines through. After sending several songs off to producers to feature on their EP, the duo felt they needed another song to pull it all together. Rachel was driving to Narrandera from Nundle to meet up with Matt for some writing sessions. “The space and open landscape put me in a spiritual, poetic mood and these lyrics jumped in my head. Matt sent me a musical idea to listen to and I drew inspiration from that,” says Rachel. Rachel sent the lyrics to Matt who had come up with the melody before Rachel arrived at Narrandera.
‘Free of Heart’ is all about connecting with our inner child, listening and learning from their voice. “I guess it’s like peeling back the layers of detritus that we gather throughout adulthood sand remembering our view of the world as a child,” says Rachel.
The song, prior to its release, has been announced as a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. It has been listed in the top 11% from 16,000 entries in the Folk Singer/Songwriter category.
The video clip is reflective of the song. It was filmed in Nundle by Rachel’s son Corin Webster. There are shots of the duo enjoying the outdoors- riding their bikes barefoot through the landscape as well as leaping through grassy fields. The video reflects how all of us still hold a relationship with our inner-child and also reflects the free-spirited nature of the duo.
[caption id="attachment_922" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Photo: Justine Wahlin[/caption]Distance
A challenge that the duo faces but have continued to overcome thus far is the fact that they live in 2 cities in vastly different locations. Whilst Rachel lives in Nundle, Matt still lives in Sydney. Whenever Matt travels to Brisbane to visit family, he will often stop by Nundle to rehearse with Rachel. The EP was recorded in Cairns and they have also created music elsewhere, like Narrandera. “We joke that Nundle has become my second home as I’ve travelled there so much over the last 2 years. We have to really maximise our time when we’re both in the same town,” says Matt.
After taking 4 months out from touring, due to the birth of Rachel’s daughter, they will be heading North to perform at the Nimbin Roots Festival, showcasing songs off their EP. They are finalists in the Best EP category at the Australian Roots Music Awards which will be presented in Nimbin on Sunday night.
You can listen and connect to Born in October via the links below:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6KtcNnVXtjmQKZETgWyjKp
Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/running-in-bare-feet-ep/1345117675
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/borninoctoberband/
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