Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
One Outta Ten make music that sits comfortably in the mess… loud emotions, sharp hooks, and an honesty that doesn’t sand down the rough edges. Their songs feel lived-in rather than overthought, balancing vulnerability with a punch that lands fast and sticks around. As they continue carving their lane, One Outta Ten are less interested in perfection and more focused on impact. We caught up with the band for a Roll of the Dice interview to talk songwriting, momentum and what’s ahead.
“Distant Stars” feels deeply personal but also very universal. When you finished the song, did it feel more like a confession, a prayer or a release?
I think to me, Distant Stars is a plea to the universe asking me to give me the strength to live a full life with my partner. I think when I was writing it, Zoë and I just got back from a six-month trip in Asia where we were just spending every day with each other. It was super different from anything that I had done in any relationship, and pretty shortly thereafter we moved in together. I think having the time spent together made me realize that I love spending all the time with this woman, and I hope the life we share is a long one
We were just kicking around at home and I wanted to write songs for the new album coming up, so I started playing guitar with a capo in drop D (turning it to drop E flat) and I accidentally stumbled on the main riff for the song. From there, I wrote the whole song pretty organically and the lyrics and string-tapping guitar solo came last.
I started with the chorus, which was super inspired by the songs “Dulo Ng Hangganan” and “Mundo” by Filipino band IV of Spades. I just loved the idea of a long drawn-out held note by the singer. From there I was trying to sound like our friend in Tiger Really with the note delivery for the verses. I think to fit the emotional context of the song, I just wanted to have lyrics that were pleading with some powers that were beyond comprehension.
All in all, these steps made it feel like a prayer to something. I don’t believe in God or anything like that, but I was praying to whoever was listening to give me the strength to put in hard work into a relationship that we could call our own.
You’ve described the track as a mirror to “Two of Cups.” What did revisiting the same relationship from a completely different emotional angle reveal to you?
When I wrote “Two of Cups”, I felt younger and less sure in the relationship I had with Zoë, my partner. I want to say this was around 2022? At the time, I was pretty insecure about what we had, since we had only been dating for about two years. One day Zoë read our tarot cards. I had drawn the Two of Cups, and she let me know that she had also drawn the same card. I think it signifies deep connection and mutual love and trust between two people, which helped me feel better. I wrote “Two of Cups” entirely from her point of view, telling me to relax and let me know that whatever happens will turn out from the best. It’s out of our hands.
“Distant Stars” is the same story told from my point of view. I am still insecure, but so much has happened within the previous 3 years. My father passed away, we moved to Asia, we got into school… Throughout the entire time, we have been there for each other and done our best to support each other. We’ve started planning for the future, where everything will hopefully fall into place for the life that we continue to have together. I think the fire of an early, passionate love has been replaced with the steady burning embers of a stable, self-sustaining slow burn. To me, “Distant Stars” reveals that my emotional center stems from this beautiful thing that we have, and that even if the band doesn’t take off and reach fame, or (god forbid) we stop making music, I’ll at least have this wonderful thing to put work into. Yeah.
“Distant Stars” is positioned as a primer for the new album. In what ways does it set the emotional tone for what’s coming next?
Honestly, “Distant Stars” came together pretty quickly. We started with the idea of “Two of Cups”, which was a standalone love song. After that, JT joined our band during 2023, and he had these new song ideas we wanted to explore. We wrote and recorded “French New Waving Goodbye” in 2024, which has a more indie rock/midwest emo influence. After that, we took a long time to write again, because I left for Asia around January 2025, and we couldn’t write the way we wanted to.
After I came back, we started putting together whatever song ideas we had during mid-2025 and wrote and recorded an album shockingly quickly. We have thirteen songs ready to go, with all the previous singles we released centered around the tarot theme on them. When it drops, you’ll find that there’s quite a bit of the other guys singing on there, which I want to encourage. I think this project is such a great way for us to get some ideas out, no matter how personal or broad they might be.
In the context of the album though, Distant Stars is the last song that I sing main vocals for. I think my personal songwriting story throughout the album is pretty clear, even if I sing some songs that are not about my relationship. The other singers (JT and Tyler) have pretty outstanding character arcs on this album, and I think it really ties together at the end.
The band’s sound pulls from surf rock, indie pop, and shoegaze without settling into one lane. How intentional is that genre fluidity?
I want to write in as many genres as I can. The speedup and change into a surf rock sound at the end was on a whim though. I was just playing around with the tempo changes/envelopes in my DAW when I accidentally caused a pretty abrupt shift in the speed of the song, but I ended up rolling with it while making the skeleton of the song. I think it caused a nice exciting outro that ended up feeding into my desire to write weird songs.
I think in terms of genre fluidity, One Outta Ten as a unit loves to write songs that sound like the 2000’s and 2010’s indie rock. We all grew up on songs from that era that shaped the way we enjoy and write music. For Distant Stars I wanted to capture an early 2000’s sound, but I think when you hear the album all the way through, you’ll be shocked at what kind of rock we really pull from.
We’re still thinking about a punk album, a metal album, a western album… I don’t know. We have so many ideas that we’re trying to figure out.
As your audience grows, do you feel pressure to protect the intimacy of songs like this?
I am really lucky to know that the songs that we put out have different meanings to different people. Our last album had a big exploration in grief and familial love, and what it feels like when someone you love passes away. 2023 was an insane year for everyone in the band. I think the collective sadness resulted in some beautiful songs, many of which connect to people’s base instinct of empathy. Even our crowd favorite, “SCREAM!!!”, is an eight-minute sprawling indie rock banger that is ultimately about the days after my Dad passed away.
I think the intimacy that is revealed from my songwriting is part of my ability to process my life in general. If someone is listening and connects with it, I’m happy. I used to find it hard to write about life, because I kept telling myself “no one is going to care about what I have to say”. I think after a long time, I’ve realized that I have love and beauty in my life from my girlfriend and my friendships, and they do care about what I say. I can continue writing about these incredibly personal things and I know I’ll always have those supporters.
What else can listeners expect from ONE OUTTA TEN in 2026? Is there anything I missed that you would like to discuss?
We will have an album coming out in February. I am so excited to get it out there, and we’re still playing around with how the release will go, but it’s going to happen. We’ll have a music video coming out soon that’s pretty high production, and it’s going to be an insane one.
One Outta Ten has a lot of shows coming up, specifically in February, March and April, and we’re really excited to announce them. I think we are going to rock our first show since October at The Echo on January 23rd though. Going to play damn near half the new album.
Thanks for having us!
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/