When Chordblossom came into existence, it was always our aim to shine a spotlight on the artists and bands that make up the music scene in Northern Ireland. We’ve been doing it for over ten years now and one of our favourite methods is our Introducing feature.
Put the kettle on, curl up on your sofa and and join us for a quickfire Q&A with some of our favourite new musicians. Who knows, maybe you’ll even discover your new favourite artists.
This iteration of Introducing features the musical talents of Von Loop who just released their latest single ‘Folklore’.
What was the inspiration behind your artist name?
We recently changed our name to Von Loop, our former band name was Trigger Lilies. We changed it because we were writing songs that felt different to the style that Trigger Lilies played, it came from Luke making a recording of some lyrics on his phone, he misspoke and said “Von Loop” – he brought it into the band as a suggestion and everyone was on board.
You’ve just released a new single. How did it come about and what does it mean to you?
The song has always been our collective favourite. The bulk of the song came from a jam session with just drums and vocals as that’s all that we had on that night. Within the next few weeks, we added the guitar layers and then finally bass, giving more structure to the song. It is a memorable song for us as we feel it was a big step in defining our sound and how we approached writing songs. We are very proud of the song.
Have you any more releases or studio time lined up for later in the year?
We have another session we are waiting to book for our fourth single, we’re unsure now when it will be, but there will be more music from us later in the year.
Tell us about your song writing process.
It varies from song to song. Usually, we will start out bare bones, working out the rhythm section first so we know how many sections we are going to have in the song. We’ll then decide if it will have Andy singing on main vocals, or if Luke will rap over the song, whichever fits best. Then, we’ll add more layers with lead guitars and backing vocals while everyone refines what they will be playing and throwing in any new ideas along the way.
Who were your favourite artists/bands growing up? Have your influences changed over time?
We all have an eclectic background when it comes to this, it ranges from musicals like Hamilton to Aphex Twin, The Smiths, Broken Social Scene, Pavement, Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana, to name a few. Our influences have changed a bit, but the core of our influences has remained.
The 2022 NI Music Prize has just concluded, what’s been your favourite album and single released this year?
We loved the single from Modern Rome “The Masquerade” – they are a fantastic live band to see. The favourite album would probably be “Jettison” by And So I Watch You from Afar, it felt similar to “The Race For Space” by Public Service Broadcasting. It has a great depth to it and flows seamlessly.
If you weren’t a musician, what line of work would we find you in?
Probably the jobs we are in now, wishing we were musicians being well paid to play.
If you could collaborate with one artist or band from NI, who would it be and why?
It would be fun to collaborate with someone completely in the opposite direction like Bicep or Space Dimension Controller to see what comes out, that and they are extremely talented.
It is intensely difficult to be successful in the music industry. What does NI need to do to invest in/develop to boost your chances?
To have more connections outside the UK which will have more focus on unsigned acts and will take them overseas.
What does success look like for you?
Being able to earn a living by playing our music to people who are happy to hear it. It can mean a lot of different things, of course, but to be able to state that we are earning a living from this and leaving something for people to enjoy again and again we would consider success.
You’re going out on tour and can have anything you want on your rider, what would we find on yours?
Leafy Greens, of course!
Where and when can we next catch you live?
At the moment, our next show will be on 08/04 in Hop House, Bangor. Please come down!
If you enjoyed this feature and fancy discovering some more new artists, we suggest you jump on over to our archive of Introducing pieces.
If you are a band or musician based in Northern Ireland interested in taking part in our Introducing feature, we recommend submitting new music to us via our Contact page and if we enjoy it, you’ll no doubt hear from us.
