Starting as just a solo project, Loch Lomond has now developed into an orchestra of intricate sounds all laced together with the common goal to create lively music. After three and a half years and a grand total of twenty-eight members past and present, lead singer Richie Young decided to actually become a band. The name originates from the actual location of Loch Lomond, Scotland. While the group was recording, they ran out of 1 inch tapes and ordered more online, and after receiving them noticed the location from which they had been shipped.
Loch Lomond have no set genre or direction, as Young states “everyone has such a different background that there are so many different influences from classical, jazz, pop weird indigenous music that it all melts into one. As for direction, we’re changing, evolving… it’s a natural thing. Maybe in the future, we’ll write something more upbeat.” The current six members of Loch Lomond play a total of about ten to twelve instruments. This combination done by anyone else could cause a total chaos of sounds but instead they blend effortlessly and create a musical masterpiece.
Loch Lomond’s newly released “Night Bats” EP takes you on a journey through the peculiar mind of Young and the dreams within it. He would leave a tape recorder beside his bed and record thoughts and ideas, and the rest of the group would then fill in the gaps and make it their own. While interviewing them all, I saw first-hand the band as a whole, so very different but still managing to blend in perfect harmony.
Perhaps it’s because this band joins us from the Portland, Oregon scene, where as Young puts it, “the Portland music scene is very good up there; it’s the absolute lack of a music industry so people don’t battle for music label attention, so its just music, so its very refreshing.” Through out Night Bats, Loch Lomond show their love for music, and attention to details. You can especially see this on “Wax & Wire,” the EP’s last song. Richie has the special ability to go from a gentle whisper to a raging demand instantly. From xylophones and clarinets to banjos and violas, it’s a gentle waltz to end the evening. There is even a cover on the album; “Holiday” is from one of their influences, The Bee-Gees.
All in all, Loch Lomond are not out for the fame or fortune. They just create real, beautiful music and love the new experiences. They combine sounds and genres everyone loves and makes them into their own. When asked to describe themselves in one word they came up with “Awesome!.. Distressed…really slowed down pop music, to take an old Buddy Holly song and slow it way down and then add string and all the instruments we use and it would sound very similar.” To find more information on them, go to Hush.com. To listen to some of their music, visit iTunes or Lochlomondmusic.com.
Photos by Marv Watson.
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