Blue October was formed in Houston, Texas, in 1996 by lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld, his brother, drummer Jeremy, multi-instrumentalist Ryan Delahoussaye, later joined by guitarist/vocalist CB Hudson and bassist Matt Noveskey. Managed by Justin and Jeremy's parents under the name "RoDan Entertainment", Blue October released their first album, The Answers, in 1998, a well-received debut which sold over 5,000 copies in Houston alone.[1] Due to a fan-based connection with the local ABC network television affiliate, Blue October was able to schedule an early-morning news performance — the band's first live television performance.
Blue October caught the attention of the major record labels, and in 2000 was signed to Universal Records for the release of Consent to Treatment. For a variety of reasons, the band was dropped by Universal Records in 2002. Ironically, the band's third album History for Sale — re-released on Universal, due to larger than expected album sales with label Brando Records — is largely a response to the control the label placed on the group during the Consent to Treatment production process.
The History for Sale single "Calling You", featured on the American Wedding movie soundtrack, was the group's largest mainstream success until their 2006 single "Hate Me", which peaked at number two on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart. The music video for "Hate Me" debuted on VH1, later making a splash at number thirteen on VH1's user-controlled video countdown show VSpot Top 20 Countdown; it eventually peaked at number twelve for the week ending on May 5, 2006. Roxwel had the chance to sit down with lead singer, Justin Furstenfeld, where he gave an inciteful description of the making and meaning of "Hate Me".
The band's latest album, entitled Foiled, was released on April 4, 2006. The band made their network television premiere on April 14, 2006, performing "Hate Me", the first single from Foiled on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. They appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on June 28, 2006 and are slated to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman later in 2006. "Into The Ocean", the second single from the album impacted radio on July 17, 2006 and the song "What If We Could" has been making appearances on radio station cage matches across the United States.
As a result of reaching a new audience that Blue October has found with its Foiled album, Blue October has recently undergone an expansion of its tour locations. Originally restricted to Texas and the Southwest United States, Blue October is now touring major locations covering the entire United States, in addition to adding locations in Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, England, Germany and the Netherlands to their schedule.