Gray Area is the label and publisher for the musical projects of Gary M. Gray, aka Dr. Octojoculus. Doc has been active in the San Francisco Bay area music underground for over 35 years. In the 80's in Santa Cruz, he fronted Barnacle Choir and played with Jimmy Jesus of the Cross while booking hundreds of bands at Sluggo’s, a campus hangout. Relocated to Oakland, he spent several years with Naked Ape before assembling the Shellhead Mutants in 1992. All of these bands have several releases available through Gray Area. Recently, Barnacle Choir has reunited to release their first record in 33 years, and Doc also plays with the Bay Area band The Jammists.
Finding he had more material than players, Doc entered the studio in 1994 and recorded his debut CD “SPLEEN”, playing most instruments himself. Some of the songs were brand new; others were written for the various bands he’s played with.
In 1997, Doc finished “The octopop Project: Irritainment,” the follow-up to “SPLEEN.” More song oriented than its predecessor, “Irritainment” still delivers enough fat beats and twisted digital weirdness to satisfy the most jaded po-mo.
This was followed by the Gray Area/Lost Voice co-release “fizztabs,” new music from Doc and Anatol Sucher (from Twelve Tablets). Musical cohorts in Barnacle Choir in the mid-80's, they have taken ingredients from their old collaboration and blended their subsequent experiences to create a unique sonic medicine.
In 1999, the fizztabs project evolved into Brain Barrier and later Centuries of Slow Accumulation, improvisatory groups featuring Anatol and Doc. Around the same time, Doc, Corn Man And Rusty found another drummer named Dave and formed CornCorp, which terrorized Bay Area dives from 1998 through 2001. In June 1999, CornCorp released a special limited edition 8-song CD on Gray Area. “A Birthday Special” has more of a rock & roll band sound, with Doc returning to his punk rock roots and Farfisa organ. In 2001 they released the eponymous "CornCorp", eight more hunks of fabulosity from their artfully twisted minds recorded and mixed by Stikman at Polymorph Oakland.
2002 found Doc armed with a Telecaster and a truck dispatcher's microphone, with only a few special-guest ringers to up the musical competence level, retreating to his backyard to come up with "octorock," 15 diverse takes on a unique new sound.
In Summer 2002 Doc became increasingly outraged by the George W. Bush administration's doctrine and drumbeat of pre-emptive war, and found himself in a race against time to complete his howl of rage and frustration before the bombs started dropping. He was a little too late, and so "Dr. Octojoculus vs. Georgie Poo" was unveiled to the public the day after the unelected President declared "mission accomplished." The music is Doc’s most diverse, organic and accessible yet, featuring new toys like slide guitar, pocket trumpet and Fender Rhodes.
2008 saw the release of “flush.” Doc cleared the archives and assembled a collection of odd bits and loose ends, a garage sale grab bag of garage punk, prog, country, dub and more.
That same year Doc became underemployed and single, and naturally wrote a bunch of songs about it. the new normal, released in 2010, features a dynamic variety of new friends and old co-conspirators and was Doc's strongest, craziest, guitarriest rock and roll to date.
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Also in 2010, The Jammists established themselves as a Bay Area live attraction. This is Doc's hippie band with his hippie friends, featuring dueling guitars and extended improvisations. Their EP Travelin' was released in 2013.
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2015 saw the release of 2 new projects. Something To Say is a motley batch of accumulated songs from Dr. Octojoculus, mostly featuring awesome multi-instrumentalist Jason Babb. Fluff Bucket is a vision of musical coexistence featuring the songwriting and singing of Corn Man Pig, Lorraine Kline and Rebecca Ward, assisted by Doc and Anatol. A seriously happy throwback to the ‘80s with bonus covers from Crass to Rocky Horror.
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In 2019, Barnacle Choir rose from the dead with their first record in 33 years, pop punk candy with razor blade words. And more to come.
Doc currently runs Gray Area recording service from his home. He is always working on new material.
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