QR Music - Interview with Husky Loops: "Everything today is so mixed and confused."

On tour last month, a mix of overdriven art-rock guitar and trip-hop-esque percussion peppers the tracks on Husky Loops' setlist; a sound they make distinctly their own by underpinning it with an ambient DIY production - and chucking in a Beyonce cover. It shouldn't work, yet it blends seamlessly into their bass-heavy, quiet/loud teasing. After their soundcheck, I steal the London-based three-piece for a chat about how an unsigned band can acquire a cult following such that they can pull off a sold-out homecoming gig at East London's beloved, bourbon-infused Lexington. 

Before making London your home, where were you all based and how did the respective scenes influence your musicianship?

Pietro: We all grew up in Bologna, Italy.

Danio: As people, massively, 'cause we were all in bands before. I think the reason we play the way we play is because we were in that scene in Bologna. It was very much punk as well, I definitely started playing loud because people weren't listening to me in clubs in Bologna. 

Tommaso: Not only clubs, we were playing in schools, occupying our schools back then.

Pietro: It was like riots in the school. Our generation was really politically active, so they were occupying schools - it was crazy. 

Is that something you think is important, for bands and the industry to be politically active? 

Danio: I don't think there are any bands doing anything really politically active in England, but I do think it's very hard. Everything today is so mixed and confused.

Tommaso: I disagree, there are a lot of bands that do a lot of political stuff. It'd be nice to live in a world in which you don't need bands to be political, and to just have them thinking about the music, but- 

Danio: Who is it that's making music that's politically active? 

Tommaso: The punk scene is still trying and saving a lot of things, there's a lot of queer-pop and queer-punk things going on that are really strong. 

Pietro: Maybe not in the U.K, but in American there are quite a few. People like Princess Nokia, they have a message that's very clear.

Tommaso: There's definitely a lot more women coming into music. That's definitely political, and that's great. 

Mentioning the punk scene, is genre something you guys think about, and when you're writing do you base round a particular theme, especially when putting EPs or collections together?

We really try to go as far away from [genre] as possible. I don't think there's any big concept around what we do in terms of taking songs and putting them in a box, but there's always been a musical concept around things. EP1 and EP2 are definitely based around the concept of being able to loop and play riffs - like a machine would, in a certain way, which is why we're a three-piece - we like simple stuff, we base a lot around simplicity. Lyrically I don't write songs thinking about what I'm writing, I don't really conceptualise them. 

When I first heard some of your tracks- if you don't like genre you maybe don't like comparisons, but I  got a lot of early The Strokes from it [Danio: "I love The Strokes!"], very DIY. How does that work with you guys being unsigned, have you found difficulties in recording, touring, or do you prefer the freedom that comes with it in that respect?

Danio: I don't know, because we're not signed! It's definitely a struggle economically. This is why we have a pledge campaign, 'cause it's hard to survive as a band in 2018. I guess maybe we like being DIY because we can have total control over everything. I wouldn't sign with someone who takes that away. 

Would you like to sign with an independent label then, instead of a major label? 

Tommaso: I think today the boundaries are really blurred. The point is artistic creative control, and how much power you're given. 

How DIY is the recording process, is it home or studio production? 

Pietro: We go to different studios. We've been going to one studio in Italy for a while where we did the two EPs, and now we're trying different stuff with different producers.

Tommaso: It's not a home band.

Danio: We've done both - it's an interesting question, because a lot of people think DIY is connected to being lo-fi, and we really don't agree with that. I think you can do so much today with very hi-fi products and giving the best you can, which is what we are about. We want to be DIY while creating the best we can create, so the recording process and recording quality is very important. I will never record something at home unless I have a source of making it sound really good.

Tommaso: What comes from Danio is a very strong focus on production. Sometimes it feels like production comes first before songwriting, or is another form of songwriting, or something that informs it– in the same way that a beat maker would approach making music, rather than a traditional, pop composing process. 

Danio: I like it, that's good [laughs]. It's true, I'm just learning. 

Tommaso: It is true! By training, you started as a guitarist and then you write songs on top of it, but always with that very strong focus on sound. I think the sound is the first thing we focus on, and then you realise the meaning of the sound and the words come with it. Often, when you write lyrics its a stream of consciousness, like I just feel about this stuff, and I write about it, and then I'm going to go back in my sketchbook and when I have the right song for it, I'll find the lyrics for it.

It feels a lot more real when it's done that way. There are a lot of unsigned artists doing that, but there aren't many who have managed to sell out The Lexington, having done everything themselves. How do you guys manage, as you've said, on a self-funded budget? 

Pietro: We were given really good chances by people who believed in us, and we just kept doing it. And we worked our assess off. We found a lot of struggle economically, and managed to find ways of moving forward.

Tommaso: Luck helps the courageous. I've been gigging in London for years now, and I've done so many shitty gigs– you just practice. The more you do, and the more shitty things happen to you, you begin to realise when something is good and when somebody is going to keep their promise, or not. You move ahead if people like the music. It's tough in London. 

Pietro: The best thing for us is that we started from London, so we played so many shows here. It's hard to get out of it, and once we did it was amazing. We managed to actually gain fans touring Europe and find people who really, really like what we're doing and are now following us– the best thing was to be able to get out of this bubble. 

Tommaso: Touring so much outside of London, every time we come back it's like this build up - instead of a shitty gig every week, it's gigs every week everywhere, but then we play London and its the good show. 

Pietro: It's a big reward. 

Husky Loops' latest single 'When I come Home' is available now to stream on Spotify. Catch them on tour here. 

By Addison Paterson