It's an incredibly difficult time right now, but Blue October's Justin Furstenfeld just wants to spread positivity.
Furstenfeld went live on iHeartRadio's Facebook account to perform for fans, as well as answer any questions they had, while at Updown Studios in San Marcus, Texas. As he explained, "I truly believe that you can put a positive on anything. And right now in this world, I think we need that. A lot of people are in the mind frame of everything is pretty down and out, but I like to put a positive twist on everything. So, what I want to do for you guys today, is I want to spread some smiles out there."
Justin performed "Into The Ocean," "I Hope You're Happy" and "Oh, My My" in between answering fan questions in real time, and we learned a lot!
Furstenfeld has written quite a lot of songs over his career, but one of his favorites is "Fear" from Blue October's 2013 album Sway. He said, "Probably my favorite song that I've ever written would probably have to be 'Fear.' It's because I wrote it with a great man named Blue Miller; the late Blue Miller. He passed away last year and [it's a] huge loss to the world. But what an amazing way to live through that message. And I didn't really know how to live in that message, until I wrote it with Blue."
With a new album on the way this year, and nine others under Blue October's belt, fans have heard a lot of lyrics, and Justin revealed a few of his favorites during the Facebook live:
"There are a lot of new ones on the new album that I'm so in love [with], but which lyrics do [I] like the most? I would have to say 'I might have been gone, but I never walked out' [from 'The Worry List'] is a great, great line. There's so many. I love 'Sway,' I love 'I Hope You're Happy.' The whole sentiment of 'I Hope You're Happy is Great.' I love the lyrics and how simple they are. 'With your Dr. Pepper eyes and your bubblegum hair.' I love that line. By the way bubble gum hair is when a girl wears her hair up on top of her hair and it's just messy, like she don't care. It doesn't mean it has be pink, blue or bubble gum-y, it just has to be on top of her hair and messy, like she just don't care. Messy hair don't care."
Furstenfeld also revealed that he plans on doing more "Open Book" events. He explained, "I love the show because it's just acoustic and I know it has a lot to do with recovery, and living positive, and showing them that positivity really works in the world." He added, "I learned from each one of them, and I grow from each one of them and the show grows. I mean, when it started out, I believe in 2012, the show was like an hour. And now it's like two and a half hours, and I've got to start cutting stuff because it's approaching three hours, and that's a long time for someone's butt to be in a seat. You know, I get to get up there and shake my booty."
Watch Justin Furstenfeld's full Facebook Live session above, and learn more about his 2020 tour, forthcoming documentary "Get Back Up" and more.