14 April 9 - 15, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents 20 Years of Foiled Longtime Texas pop-rock band Blue October found break- out success nearly two decades ago, now get- ting to enjoy it. BY ALEX GONZALEZ W hen Blue October first hit big, lead vocalist Justin Furstenfeld had already spent the previ- ous decade putting feel- ings of heartache into words. Chronicling his struggles with addiction and depression, Furstenfeld and the band found community in small venues across Texas. It was around this time that he was in the midst of a tumul- tuous relationship, which inspired much of the band’s music. Amid these battles, the band broke through in the mainstream with its fourth album, Foiled, released 20 years ago this April. To date, Foiled contains the band’s most successful singles, including “Into the Ocean” and “Hate Me,” both of which have been certified platinum by the RIAA. At the time of the album’s release, both songs were anomalies in the pop land- scape. Rhythmic pop and hip-hop domi- nated Top 40 radio. “Hate Me” detailed the dissolution of a relationship that fell victim to drug use and depression. “Into the Ocean” featured Furstenfeld detailing a desire to end his life. As Blue October’s star continued to rise, Furstenfeld was grappling with feelings he hadn’t fully processed. But two decades later, he looks back at this time fondly, feeling grateful that Foiled has gotten to live on as it has. This fall, Blue October will hit the road to celebrate the al- bum on the Foiled 20th Anniversary World Tour with two nights (Nov. 27 & 28) at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory. We chat- ted with Furstenfeld on the phone shortly before Foiled’s 20th anniversary. Having been sober for 13 years, Furstenfeld feels he can breathe new life into these beloved songs. Congratulations on the 20th anniversary tour. What are you most looking forward to about being on the road again? I would have to say playing these songs with celebration in mind, instead of playing the songs because I’m going through what the songs are about. They’re such personal songs, and back then, there were a lot of things going on, and I wasn’t able to cele- brate the fact that [Foiled] was succeeding. So it seemed like the bigger the album got back then, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that means we’re just gonna have to keep on go- ing with this.’ Now, being sober, being in an amazing place in life, having kids and see- ing just how big the impact of that album was for me and my life now, I’m finally able to go out and celebrate its success. As I play the songs, I’m not going to be sitting there going, ‘Boo hoo for me.’ I’m going to be go- ing ‘20 years later, and you guys still love this.’ It’ll be a feeling of celebration and gratitude. Let’s take it back to 2006. At the time, pop and hip-hop were dominating the landscape. Fer- gie, Nelly Furtado, Rihanna and Justin Timber- lake were all in heavy radio rotation. Were you surprised when “Hate Me” took off? I still can’t believe it. I was always under the impression that I would always have one of those cool underground careers, where we were maybe as big as the Cocteau Twins or the Pixies, and maybe sell 200,000 copies. But when “Hate Me” took off, that’s when I was like, ‘This is crazy! Are they even al- lowed to play songs like this on the radio?’ I’m still surprised that “Hate Me” and “Into the Ocean” were the big ones. I don’t have a song that I wrote that got big that I hate. I love these two songs because they’re so hon- est, and they’re so brutal. They’re little pieces of furniture. They’re little pieces of art — little beautiful paintings that really were good paintings. So when they took off, they took off for a good reason. They didn’t take off because they were fun for the sum- mer. They took off because people wanted to hear it, and they gravitated towards it, and that makes me feel, to this day, really special. Foiled was your fourth album, and this was when you finally hit it big with these songs. Was there ever a point before your big breakthrough when you had felt defeated by the industry? Not necessarily defeated, but just misunder- stood. I kept hearing bands like Papa Roach, Three Doors Down, Nickelback and all these bands singing these rock songs, and they were love songs and confidence songs. But the subject matter didn’t ever really touch me in the way that Radiohead or Coldplay did back then. So I was always wondering, ‘Am I writing too personally? What am I doing wrong? Why is it not as good as theirs?’ But I was also under the as- sumption that I was never really gonna be big. So it never stopped me. It just fueled the fire of ‘Well then, I’ll just do it myself. I’ll stay on the road. I’ll buy another van, and I’ll just keep touring.’ Did you always imagine these two as the big singles? Or was there another song on the al- bum you imagined would have the same suc- cess? I always thought the song “Calling You,” be- fore “Hate Me” and “Into the Ocean” came out, was going to be it, because it kind of just skated into a nice feeling and made every- body feel good. I knew “Into the Ocean” was going to be a single because the label had told me. But I never thought “Hate Me” was going to be, because it was a six-minute-long song. As you mentioned, the album version of “Hate Me” is six minutes long, and this is largely due to a voicemail at the beginning of the track. What is the story behind this? That’s my mom. Back in 2005, I kind of ran away from the band for a little bit and went and lived in California with a good friend of mine named Chuck Reed. He let me write music at his house and live there. I hadn’t spoken to anyone in a while because I just kind of wanted to disappear. And there were a lot of people on the Universal [Mu- sic Group] staff that were like, ‘Well, you need to sell some records.’ My heart was saying, ‘Well, I’m an artist,’ and there was a conflict in my heart. I felt like I needed to kind of get away and just write what was going on in my life, which was serious ad- diction. I went and wrote for quite some time in 2005, and when I finished writing all the songs, I knew I had something dif- ferent, eclectic and weird. All I wanted to do back then — Can I be honest with you? — was just beat Bright Eyes. It was like 50 Cent and Kanye for me back then. It was me against Conor Oberst. And I don’t even think Conor Oberst liked me or cared who I was. I just wanted so badly to come out on top. Because I loved Conor Oberst and I loved Bright Eyes, that’s who I wanted to be in a ring with back then. This was years before Spotify. What would you say was the most significant driver for “Hate Me” and “Into the Ocean.” Was it radio play? MySpace? Or MTV? It was radio play, definitely. And with my manager, Paul Nugent, and with Universal’s radio staff, once “Hate Me” got on the radio, it just spread. It was just crazy. And we just stayed on the road until, of course, some things happened, and then I had to get off the road. I was never really able to tour for this album consistently to celebrate it be- cause of some health stuff that happened. So now that we’re going back out 20 years later, it’s such an amazing feeling. Your music was in heavy rotation on 106.1 Kiss FM here in Dallas. And as Houston natives, how would you say the Texas fans were instrumen- tal in the album’s impact? The Texas fans were a bit like us. They were like, ‘When’s this gonna happen? Why aren’t y’all giving them a chance?’ And then when it did happen, it was like their favorite soc- cer team finally won. It was such a neat thing to celebrate with Texas. But then at the same time they’re sitting there going, ‘Oh my God, wait, what is he singing about? He’s singing about drugs and suicide. I hope he doesn’t really feel that way.’ I remember Doug Morris, the president of Universal Re- cords, calling me at rehearsals one day, ... and he goes, ‘Congratulations, you got your- self one. But if this stuff that the songs are about is true, take care of yourself, because we want you to last long, be good to your- self.’ He saw it, you know, which was special, that he kind of didn’t see it as a new car that they’re selling. He saw it as something a lit- tle more special than just a love song. Courtesy of Blue October Native Texans Blue October will go on a 20th anniversary tour, with two dates in Irving this November. ▼ Music
