Catching Up With Loom at Oktoberfest

“I guess we’re gonna have to earn that beautiful beer here so we’re gonna play some rock n’ roll” 

This last Labor Day weekend, we caught up with Loom as they played Oktoberfest at Snowbird, and boy did they rock. The players today were Billy Rogan (guitar and vocals), Vince Di Michele (bass and vocals), Will Sangster (keys) and Mike Bailey (drums). 

Laney: Last time we spoke was at The Front. What have you been up to since then?

Billy: We’ve been doing a lot of personal travels actually. I was just in Florida, then Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire and then Maine with my new wife.

Vince: They literally just got married.

Laney: Oh, cute! Just married? When?

Billy: It was 8.8.24…

So that’s what I’ve been doing. I just got back in town last week, actually. We’re here at Snowbird and just getting stuff ramping back up again and working on new songs.

Vince: Since The Front, we played at Urban Lounge for the “Save Our Kings” fundraiser and then at Snowbasin SummerFest. And then after that mini Salt Lake tour, if you will, we leaned into a break. I was traveling, Billy was traveling, our keyboardist Tyler is still traveling. And local shows tend to slow down in the summer too; it’s a big festival season. It was a slow time for bookings everywhere so we took the time off and are excited to get back into it now.

Billy: Vince and I are going to be doing more leg work in reaching out to places and getting content out there. Writing songs and [hoping to find] some time to get into the studio soon…all the work we have to do to make it happen.

Laney: Awesome, sounds super chill. So, for audiences who may not be familiar with ‘Loom’ from our last piece, what’s your process of getting out there and playing music?

Billy: I think intention is the first thing that we talk about most. What our sound’s gonna be and what we’re trying to do. I think a good example of that is talking to Will and Mike this week with rehearsals. They’ve never played with us before, so [it was a lot of] communicating ideas and setting up intentions. 

Our last rehearsal we were driving up to meet with everyone and I was like “let’s try and get into more controlled chaos.” There seems to always be some type of foundation within the framework that you can always lean back into. Groove. Melody…and then inside of those things try to find your way with it and then develop and share some ideas that you’ve got a hold of.

Vince: It's like listening; shared listening. It’s funny, when we were rehearsing all this week we were practicing one of these Phish songs we played today, “Gotta Jibboo.” Every time we played it this week it got super dark and evil and we had never done it that way. But that’s just how it went. Then today it stayed more happy, and had a little evil in it. We didn’t say “Oh, let’s do it evil today” we just know that listening to each other is the key forward. 

Even if we had an intention like Billy and I had talked about before like, “oh let’s do an evil ‘Gotta Jibboo,’” and then we’re playing it and that evil thing isn’t happening; It’s not like I’m going to yell at everyone on stage and say “Make it evil!” No, I’m just going to go with what’s happening. 

Really letting go of the plan is our intention too. We have guidelines, but what happens in the moment and the feedback we get from the audience, the feedback we get from each other, the feedback we get from our instruments; sometimes you go for something and it doesn’t happen as you imagined it. Trying to force that when it’s not happening is the worst thing you can do. So, really letting go of your ego and what you want to happen and flowing with what is happening is our main process.

Laney: Yeah! I guess that kind of also goes along with playing with new people and getting a new sound: it’s always going to be different. Because it is so connected.

Billy: Yes, exactly. The other short version of that is practicing…getting in there and seeing what your strengths and weaknesses are. And focusing on your weaknesses, but in a positive way. 

Being honest with yourself is a really big thing. Like, for me, I have to dial in a lot of sounds and figure out what’s happening in front of me and by my feet. I’m still learning this thing that I built recently and all the sound effects…so that’s a big part for sure. What works where and how to use it… kind of basically everything. That’s everything.

Vince: And every new venue is a new place to learn that; especially with the bass tones. They sound so different out here than in a room. So, every time we come to a new place Billy’s always like, “get it done.” If you trust a venue you’ve never played before and you are expecting it to be the same, it’s not going to be.

Laney: Since you do bring up outdoor venues, do you prefer playing outdoors? Does it give you that inspiration from being out in nature, or do you prefer indoor?

Billy: I mean, this is crazy.

Vince: It is pretty nice to play out here.

Billy: This is a truly special day. It’s just absolutely incredible. We’re all super thankful.

Vince: I mean, they both have different inspiring features.

Billy: I like indoor better. Because indoor at night: the music with the lights in that setting just lends itself to a bit more experimentation.

Laney: Yeah, and it just brings that psychedelic factor.

Billy: Exactly. And you can feel the band open up more and the crowd is pulled in more. They’re both very hand in hand.

Being in a natural environment [for a daytime show], albeit very beautiful, having night time shows and getting the lights going is the next step for us.

Laney: Fair, fair. Going back to our conversation about summer, I know you guys were a part of a competition. Did you receive results?

Vince: Ah, the Rolling Stone contest. So, it was “America’s Next Top Hit Maker” and we made it to the quarter finals and we had to be the #1 artist in our group to move on from that. We ended up being #2 so we did not move on. But, because we were #2 we made it into a wild card round. 

This contest is very long, it will go until the end of the year, so we’re waiting for that wild card round to come back around. The thing is, that’s a tough competition because everyone gets one vote a day, but you can also buy votes…we don’t know if someone for another band donated $1,000 and totally bumped their votes. 

It was a great thing to be a part of, it was great exposure; I think people behind the scenes at the contest are now familiar with us which is really cool. It was just cool to see us move forward in that as many times as we did. The contest isn’t over yet, but we are in the wild card round. Be on the look out for voting for ‘Loom’ in the wildcard round. It’s a really cool opportunity. We would win $10,000, be featured in the Rolling Stone and then get to play at the Rolling Stone Hit Maker concert in Austin, Texas.

Laney: It’s definitely a huge honor as far as you guys did get. That’s really awesome.

Billy: I was actually surprised. We’re new, it’s only been a year, almost to the day. I remember I was sitting on the hillside right here, watching a band play and then thinking, “this is what we should be doing.” So, to be here a year later and then getting the call to play the Grand Oktoberfest Celebration for Labor Day weekend… it’s the busiest day. It’s cool, it’s catching on and people are gravitating towards it and liking what we’re doing, we’re thankful for that. We just want to keep it growing and moving in that direction. Being here on this day means a lot.

Laney: That’s so precious. So, you’ve played Snowbasin and now you’ve played Snowbird. Which one’s the better venue?

Vince: Different, different. So, Snowbasin had a massive stage. Really cool, because we haven’t been able to spread out that much and then also separate the frequencies on stage with the monitors. We use in-ear monitors, half-in half-out for smaller venues and rooms. At Snowbasin we didn’t even have to use them and we could hear each other so well. For us, doing the improv thing: it’s really important to be able to hear each other. Especially if I’m trying to pick up on where Billy’s going with an idea, he’ll trail off in volume at the end of a phrase; that’s a good thing that’s an important thing but I need to know where that phrase ends to know where the next note is coming from.

So, Snowbasin was awesome because of that. We had great sound there, the field was awesome, it was a little flatter so there were more people dancing up front. My parents were there which was awesome. Sue, Billy’s wife, was there which was really cool.

Laney: Definitely. You guys were shredding. 

As part of the local jam scene are there any dream bands that you would like to play with?

Billy: That’s a tough question. For us and how we play the set, I’m thinking about how people out there are seeing it and not so much what I would like. So, I think for me if we’re playing something that’s like that, [my answer would be] playing with a band that’s completely different from us. Like a dub-reggae band.

Vince: Or those bluegrass guys. I got to see Theoretical Blonde recently. I really enjoyed them and I think that would be a great pairing. Those guys are great players.

Billy: I love the guys in Lapdog, that would be great.

Vince: I love the guys in Lapdog too. They were super fun to play with at Urban Lounge. We got to play with 1001 at Urban Lounge too, and they were great. 

But to Billy’s point, I do agree; just something a little different. We played with this dub-reggae band out in Denver called the Giant Walking Robots. That was a really great pairing because people were interested in both types of music but it wasn’t the same the whole time. 

On the flip-side of that, to be selfish, we’re also trying to do our own thing a lot of the time. There is something to be said about when you bring in another band, you lose time. You split set times, you split the audience, people may come for one band and leave for another. It’s no diss to any bands in the scene because that’s why Salt Lake is so awesome right now. There’s so many great bands. But, we’re just definitely leaning into doing more shows that are more impactful.

Laney: That’s very cool. Very mindful. Do you have any final thoughts to leave with our audience?

Vince: Uh, Laney Hansen is the best.

Laney: Oh, thanks.

Billy: Thank you for coming up and doing this. For us, playing in front of people, I think sometimes about the way in which people perceive music. So, for whoever’s watching this interview or that’s out seeing a band: if you like what you’re hearing the best thing that you could do, without spending a single red cent, is just go over and say hello if you want to. Or follow them on social and Spotify. Because what we’re trying to do and what every band out there is doing, it’s just a whole thing you’ve got to do. You gotta build awareness.

The more that you can do to say, “Man, I like that.” “What’s your Spotify?” “Where can I follow you?” Because all the stuff that we’re trying to do, people are asking those questions. Like, “What’s your monthly listener?” “How many people are following you?” This and that. 

Y’know, so much is at your fingertips now. Where, for me, growing up you had to go to the record store and read the back of the record; who did it, who played it. And then you’d talk to your friends, “Did you get the record?” “Did you listen to the thing?” “Do you know the thing?” And now it’s kind of like, “Yeah, whatever.” So, my point being is if we can get more actively engaged with all of that. It’s difficult. Because I think what we’re doing is cool.

Vince: That’s part of what I was going to say is: listen to us with headphones on. I think people who throw it on a phone or a bad bluetooth speaker and not get the full impact it’s like, we spend a lot of time mixing the stuff that we put out so that when it’s played loud on a good sound system it really creates an experience. It draws you in and you have this good, textured sound. So, if you are checking us out and listening to Loom: headphones, good stereo. I promise it’s worth it, we spend a lot of time to make sure it is worth it. 

Shout out to Billy Rogan on the production. His producer name is “No Plug-ins.”

Laney: No plug-ins. Noted. Anything else?

Billy: I think explaining to anyone listening at home that we pride ourselves on the most is we go up there, a lot of jam bands will do that, and we’ll say “Let’s do the set this way.” But the room might be different, the vibe might be different, the whole structure might be different. What we do is intentionally throw it out the window. Because we know… that in those moments that’s where all that magic is. We really just want to keep charging through that and we know that makes us better musicians, better players, more attentively aware. 

So, I think if you’re following us, you’re new to us or you’re thinking about coming to a show, I guess keep that in mind. It’s really just raw. We don’t plan or resort to anything…as a player, each player resorts to certain fills or tricks.

Vince: I definitely did a lot of the same stuff.

Billy: And, that’s just how it is. Y’know, form is form and function is function. But, we’re trying to figure out, “Well, where’s the next thing.” And today was a great set.

Vince: Yeah, it was a great set. And I think a good example of what Billy’s talking about is The Front show. We went into that second set with a plan and while we were jamming out in the first song, Billy leans over and goes, “New plan.” And then after that song he was like, “New plan.” And we made it work and it was really cool. Because, it was all these songs, if you’re looking at a setlist for jam bands it’s like the full arrow into the next song…we didn’t stop playing and we built it into the next song which was really cool.

We did that great with Shake Down today.

Billy: Yeah.

Laney: Yes. And your flow in and out of riffs is so clear and so good.

Billy: Thank you.

Vince: Yeah well Laney’s the best listener out there.

Billy: Yes, you were actually. I love that, thanks for that.

Laney: Oh, yeah. I get locked in so quick.

Vince: The feedback is so important. We knew today, no hate on the Oktoberfest crowd, this hill is pretty slanted. People were gonna be coming over to have a break from the tents. We knew there were gonna be a lot of people sitting down. But to have you right up by us just like, “Oh. Yeah.” It’s so important.

Billy: We should have done a German Polka.

Laney: Awww, yeah. Next time, next time. Well, thank you for interviewing and thanks for inviting me today.

Vince: Yeah, until next time.