LE LOUP on Myspace
Le Loup creates music heavily laden with intricate patterns and swells, edging towards dramatic, sweeping movements. Everybody in the live band sings, and all instruments work together to weave an overall sonic tapestry; some voices surface and shine occasionally and briefly, but ultimately sink back into the larger schemes of the songs; thus, each voice supports the other, and each player is vital. Between the July of 2006 and the January of 2007, Sam Simkoff spent countless hours holed up in whatever house or apartment he was living in at the time, recording songs and sounds into his laptop computer. He didn't have the money for studio time, or many instruments other than a smattering of toy glockenspiels and an old banjo, or even a better microphone or recording software than that which was already in the computer. Nevertheless, within a few months, he had pulled together enough amateur recordings to post online (via the wonderful/hateful Myspace).
After receiving notable amounts of positive feedback, Simkoff sent a few tendrils throughout the Craigslist community looking for bandmates; May Tabol, Jim Thomson, Nicole Keenan and Mike Ferguson joined up in October of 2006, while Robby Sahm and Dan Ryan jumped aboard a little later, around January of '07. Everybody had been contacted via Craigslist. By advertising and garnering support through various online forums, they worked up enough interest to book a few live shows within a matter of months. Here, then, was a project indicative of the digital age: constructed and organized in the space of a laptop, advertised and marketed entirely through the worldwide web, with minimal cost or expertise.
If Le Loup owes a significant amount of credit to the miracles of modern technology, it owes just as much to the artistic community of Washington, DC and the surrounding region. The enthusiasm with which the project has been met by our peers has been–quite literally–the driving force behind the music. Songs from the band's demo (available for purchase in the BUY section) were recorded at highly discounted prices by friends in DC's recording sector; publicity photos and graphic designs were offered for free by talented DC artists with a little spare time on their hands; marketing, web design and administration were conducted by friends in the trade during their non-working hours; live shows were made possible by friends familiar with the DC venues.
Seen in this light, the musicians of Le Loup constitute only one limb of the project. The band in its entirety includes anybody within the DC area or without that poured inordinate amounts of energy and goodwill into the project for minimal (if any) profit. The band is not so much a group of musicians as it is a collective of talented young artists and entrepreneurs scattered across the East Coast.
Le Loup is:
Sam Simkoff – Banjo, Keyboards, Vox
Christian Ervin – Computer, Guitar
Mike Ferguson – Guitar, Amp, Vox
Dan Ryan – Bass, Percussion, Vox
Robert Sahm – Drums, Percussion, Vox
Jim Thomson – Guitar, Amp, Vox
