In recent years of intensive touring, long drives from venue to venue soundtracked by minimal composers Terry Riley and Steve Reich led Austin-based group The Octopus Project to think about expanding the scope of their own endeavors. Already known for concise blasts of experimental pop and energetic stage shows, the band wished to create a more enveloping experience. That notion evolved into Hexadecagon, debuted as a live performance and soon to be released in album form October 26, 2010 on Peek-A-Boo Records. In order to achieve their creative vision, Josh and Yvonne Lambert, Toto Miranda, and Ryan Figg decided they needed more than stereo audio and a single projection. Using custom electronics (The Bend Matrix) and pushing existing software (Ableton Live, VDMX, OSCulator) to its limits, they arranged eight speakers in a circle around the audience, with the audience surrounding the band at the center, accompanied by eight synchronized video projections, designed by Austin digital artist Wiley Wiggins. The Octopus Project performed Hexadecagon live twice to over-capacity crowds during SXSW 2010 to emphatically positive reception. Paste Magazine said of the show, "if there's a such thing as a happiness seizure, be prepared to have one," while The Austin American Statesman described the event as, "the trippiest, most elaborate thing the Octopus Project have ever done, and that's a very tall order." USA Today ranked the performance one of its top five shows of SXSW.

The band spent the next two months recording in their Austin home studio and mixing in Dallas with John Congleton (St. Vincent, Explosions In the Sky, Clinic, The Walkmen). The result is a multi-layered, high-definition, ultra-widescreen sonic universe, re-arranged and re-orchestrated to create an engrossing experience for anyone with a pair of speakers or headphones.

The Octopus Project will bring elements of Hexadecagon on the road with them for a fall tour, with dates to be announced shortly. Don't miss them!