San Francisco post-punk outfit Octavian Winters announce a series of West Coast tour dates, together with NYC dreamrock / new wave icons Black Rose Burning. The quartet will be touring in support of their debut EP ‘The Line or Curve’ and their latest ‘Nebula / Velveteen (Mark Pistel Remix)’ single, both released via Stratis Capta Records.

Formed in 2022, Octavian Winters is guitarist Stephan Salit (Thrill of The Pull), drummer Randy Gzebb (Thrill of The Pull, Love Club), bassist Jay Denton and Ria Aursjoen on vocals and keyboards. Together, they weave their visceral and ethereal sound into a texture all its own – of stories once told but half-remembered, under a dusk of shadows and stars, in an abandoned city under the winter moon.

Led by George Grant, NYC-based outfit Black Rose Burning continues to tour in support of their third album ‘Ad Astra’, a compelling collection blending ominous goth atmospheres, dark dancefloor anthems, new wave magnetism, and post-punk drive that was met with critical acclaim.

Co-produced by Octavian Winters and William Faith (The Bellwether Syndicate, Faith & the Muse, Christian Death), ‘The Line or Curve’ EP was mainly recorded at Pistel’s Room 5 Recording before being mixed and mastered at 13 Studio in Chicago. Most recently, the band released the video for Pistel’s remix of ‘Velveteen’, created by filmmaker David Kruschke,

A producer, engineer, programmer, remixer and songwriter active since the 80s, Mark Pistel founded the band Consolidated and has been with Meat Beat Manifesto since 1997. He’s also worked with The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Grace Jones, Therapy?, MC 900 Foot Jesus, Machines of Loving Grace, Hector Zazou, Mark Stewart, Lee Scratch Perry, Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder and Fishbone’s Angelo Moore.

Pistel explains, “Randy Gzebb called me about remixing one of the tracks off ‘The Line or the Curve’ EP. I was excited to do so, as we’d recorded some of these vocals at my Room 5 Studio in San Francisco. I chose to do ‘Velveteen’ as I already loved the track with its fantastic vocal melody and Stephan’s unstoppable guitar hook! I took on the track with pulsing analog synths and a slamming dance floor beat for the clubs.”

The A-side to this 2-track release, called ‘Nebula’, underscores the inevitable impermanence of all that is seen and unseen, known and unknown. Ria Aursjoen explains, “Nebula began as an experiment… I kept envisioning a sort of “last day at the end of the world” — what would the sky look like? Would we know and understand what was happening? There is this broadly Gnostic idea of the universe as unfolding and unfolding through what are called Aeons, essentially levels of manifestation, until we get this world we live in here. I imagined this world reaching the fullness of its life, that whole cycle ending — and then everything reversing, refolding back to the start to make way for the next universe.”

Octavian Winters’ members have a rich history of collaborating and touring with notable artists, including Nine Inch Nails, Killing Joke, Lords of the New Church, Savage Republic, Christian Death, The Frozen Autumn, Everything Goes Cold and Black Tape for a Blue Girl.

Both ‘The Line or The Curve’ EP and new ‘Nebula / Velveteen (Mark Pistel Remix)’ single are available everywhere digitally, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp. Tickets for Octavian Winters’ shows can be obtained at https://octavianwinters.com/shows.

CREDITS
Ria Aursjoen – Vocals / Keyboards
Stephan Salit – Guitars
Randy Gzebb – Drums
Jay Denton – Bass
‘Velveteen’ remix by Mark Pistel
‘Nebula’ written by Ria Aursjoen
‘Velveteen’ written by Octavian Winters
Recorded at OW studios San Francisco
Vocals recorded by Mark Pistel, Room 5 Recording, San Francisco
‘Nebula’ mixed & mastered by William Faith at 13 Studio, Chicago
‘Nebula’ produced by Octavian Winters and William Faith
Cover art Ria Aursjoen
Design by Eric Olson
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
Video by David Kruschke