Interview with Loupe.
Written by Laury Verdoux
We got to chat with Amsterdam indie rock quartet Loupe around the release of their new single “It’s Getting Wild Getting Older” taken from the upcoming debut album Do You Ever Wonder What Comes Next.
Nick Helderman
What's the story behind the name Loupe?
We took a trip to Berlin to do our first photoshoot and meet with our Berlin based label Sinnbus, and one night we just hung out at a bar and wrote down a lot of different possible band names. The name ‘Loupe’ stuck with us because we simply loved the letters and the sound of the word.
How did the band come to be?
Jasmine, Annemarie and Lana had already played together in a previous project and decided they wanted to continue writing music together and form a new band. Luckily they found Julia pretty soon, who was a great addition to the group.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your new single, "It's Getting Wilder, Getting Older"?
Sometimes you suddenly see everything in a totally new perspective. That can be because you go through something big but it can also be as simple as standing in a huge stadium full of drunk football supporters. You can just start wondering what it’s all good for and if the things you do in life truly make a difference. The simple things you struggle with on a daily basis versus the things you hear on the news, it can all be a bit numbing.
The lyrics for ‘Getting Wild, Getting Older’ are pretty dark while the music is almost careless and breezy, which is exactly the contrast that this subject reflects on.
What was the creative process like for this single? How did you approach the songwriting and recording?
Our writing process differs from one song to the other, but for this particular song it started with a drum/guitar jam session. Jasmine and Annemarie recorded their jam and sent it to Lana, who then recorded some bass, and then Julia wrote the melody and lyrics. This was all just the verse part, I think we wrote the chorus with all of us together in our rehearsal space, and then fine tuned it with our producer Arne van Petegem.
How would you describe your unique sound? Are there any specific musical influences that have shaped your style?
We all have a very different taste in music and we all bring our own influences to the table in songwriting, ranging from disco to contemporary pop to shoegaze.
A lot of songwriters sit down with some lyrics to build a chord progression around the vocal melody. This is something we rarely do. I think we all try to create a melody of our own that fits the original idea. I think that makes a big part of the Loupe sound, roomy, alternative pop.
What can listeners expect from your upcoming Do You Ever Wonder What Comes Next? 13-track album?
Even though we recorded two EP’s before our debut album, it somehow felt like the first REAL recording. The previous EP’s were more ‘live-sound’ based, whereas the album is more produced and has many more layers to it.
The album contains 13 songs, and is pretty diverse. We released a couple of singles from the album already, but they don’t necessarily reflect the sound of the entire album; for example, there are couple of 5 minute songs that are a lot more alternative, or intimate.
In Do You Ever Wonder What Comes Next? Julia talks about making decisions in life, not knowing if you make them out of fear or choosing them very carefully or maybe not choosing anything at all. If we dare to jump aren’t we actually falling? These questions usually rise when you feel like everything is moving very fast and you’re losing control. Which also leads to feeling small and meaningless in this big world like Julia describes in “Getting Wild, Getting Older”.
Could you share some insights into the production process of the album? What was working with producer Arne van Petegem and mixer Beau Sorenson like?
We met with Arne in the summer of 2022, and we immediately had a connection with him. We decided to do a series of pre-production rehearsals to finetune all the songs, and make a final selection of all the songs we wrote for the album. In the studio we first recorded the drums, bass and guitar together, and then added more guitar layers, key parts, noise and then vocals. Arne, being a key player himself, was a true master in making sounds and noise. Julia had a very strong vision about the sound of her vocals and backing vocals as well, so she and Arne created their own recording and vocal editing workflow.
We never worked with Beau before, but Arne introduced us for the mix of our first single “Lonely Dance”, and we were very happy with the results, so we were very excited to be working with him for the entire album.
Looking ahead, what are your goals and aspirations as a band? Is there anything specific you hope to achieve with the release of your debut album and future projects?
With our debut album we simply hope to really set the tone for what Loupe sounds like, as a beautiful starting point for our future. It would be amazing if this release will result in some opportunities for us to grow, and play some nice shows.
Luckily we already have quite some great live shows ahead, doing the support tour for LoveJoy in September, followed by our own headline tour in the Netherlands in October/November.