October Babies

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primarily via the Internet and long-distance phone calls. In 2005 Shiiki moved to the United States to be with Santos and study photography. The move also led to the creation of the popular local band October Babies.

October Babies technically started as a birthday present. While biking to class, Shiiki often entertained herself by making up songs in her native tongue and recording them by singing into her cell phone to send to herself as voice messages. The origins of the band took root on Shiiki's birthday, October 14, in 2005, when Santos arranged music around one of her lyrics. "I thought it would be really different and cool," he recalls.

The result confirmed what he expected and surprised Shiiki. Santos continued to record music around her lyrics, and in October 2007, after they had married, they released the album Ao-zora Radio, named after Shiiki's monthly podcast, under the October Babies moniker. The name October Babies was derived not only from the band's birth but also from the birthdays of its two founding members (Santos' birthday is October 21). That same month October Babies played their first gig, with Shiiki on lead vocals and Santos on bass, along with two musicians Santos met while hosting open-mike night at the now defunct TC's Speakeasy in Ypsilanti: Dale King on guitar and Ben Lorenz on drums.