Beat-Making, Animal Crossing & More: Loop Sessions Celebrates One Year in Quarantine
Pitbull has competition for his title as Mr. Worldwide, and it's Loop Sessions. The beat-making project has 19 chapters, including Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Windsor, Edmonton, Londrina, Bauru, Diadema, Paris, Toulouse, Brussels, Brisbane, Detroit, Milan, and Istanbul, to name a few.
Founded in 2016 by The Loop Pilots and Artbeat Montreal, the project ranges from pre-pandemic in-person events to their recent online expansion with their #StayHome events on Instagram Live and Twitch. IRL activities center around vinyl records, where participants have five minutes to sample their material, which they must use in the evening's production.
March 24th 2021, marks one year of their online event series, and they're celebrating their #PannyAnni with a month-long Animal Crossing-themed visual collaboration with Mags (aka one of our favourite artists). They're also doing a giveaway with the record store Aux 33 Tours, which features one of our Also Cool tote bags!
We got to chat with the Loop crew about their event series, community, and worldwide presence below.
Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: How did Loop Sessions get started, and how has it expanded since?
Mags: It all started with a trip to Brazil. Montreal producer and DJ Dr. MaD and his mentor and former high school English teacher, Lou Piensa (of Nomadic Massive), form the duo The Loop Pilots. They were on a sort of tour, where they discovered a weekly event, Beats Brasilis, which would serve as the inspiration for Loop Sessions, powered by Artbeat Montreal.
Magnanimous: They contacted us (Artbeat Montreal) and asked if we would be down to start a recurring beat-making gathering, and the rest is history. It has expanded very organically since, either from people who participated in Montreal and brought it back to their hometowns or people from abroad who reached out to us. We now have almost 20 chapters.
shmings: After the first ten or so editions, Mad was busy with law school, Lou was in the middle of moving to Brazil, and ABMTL co-founder SevDee was getting ready to be a father. I stepped in on the administrative side so Mark wouldn't have to carry the operation on his own.
In the time we've been putting on the event, we've expanded to almost 20 cities. The growth has been exponential, and we have more chapters preparing to join the fold.
Also Cool Mag: The Animal Crossing graphics are emblematic of this past year in quarantine. How has Loop Sessions allowed you to stay connected? Tell us about one of your favourite memories from this past year.
shmings: The concept came about when I was brainstorming with Mags, who I credit with coining the term #PannyAnni. As a way to commemorate the trying year we've all had, to reinterpret our flyer mascots as Animal Crossing characters is peak zeitgeist. Don't be surprised to see them go up as NFTs in the near future.
That we were able to continue gathering with our fellow creatives twice a month during confinement, albeit online, helped keep many people sane, myself included. I've only recently started submitting my own beats at Loop Sessions. I've been notoriously reluctant to share my amateur musical sketches, so to be able to do so among my extremely talented peers has contributed to pulling me out of my shell.
We have an amazing community, one that's supportive and celebrates people from all walks of life. It's beautiful.
Magnanimous: Our online editions have been an interesting way to get to know our community better. We get to have one-on-one conversations that were not as common in the IRL event format. One of my favourite Loop Sessions memories of the last year was when I decided to host with my hair down and sunglasses, which caused the participants to get really creative with their outfits.
Mags: Loop Sessions was very instrumental for me in staying connected to the beat-making scene, as well as the friends I made through it all those years ago (namely 2013). Because of my arduous immigration journey, I had only been back to Montreal from the US a handful of times, and only one of those times coincided with a Loop Session. I used to attend in person pretty regularly, having missed a few in the beginning. But then my LS contribution skipped from session 16 to session 31 in August 2019. When they announced they'd be going online, there was no way I was missing my chance.
I'd say my favourite memory has ironically been wiped from the web due to an aggy algorithm: it was at LS #48 for Halloween and I was the crate provider. This session saw the birth of a new alias for our then-host Magnanimous, who is now affectionately referred to as Spicy Mark. Now one of many new in-jokes, the spice emoji has become emblematic for the online Montreal sessions!
Spicy Mark
AC: Loop Sessions is seriously coming for Pitbull's place as Mr. Worldwide. How has the project grown to be so global?
Mags: Word of mouth typically. Most of the global chapters were founded before the pandemic, so lots of folks from other places had attended at least one session and asked to bring it back to their hometowns. Loop Sessions DMV is one of, if not the first chapters to be founded during the pandemic and debut online.
shmings: Loop Sessions was international from the get-go. One participant took it to Brussels; another brought it to Vancouver, and so forth. Before we knew it, we had chapters across four continents.
To me, the most important move we made internationally was having Beat Brasilis rebrand their event as Loop Sessions São Paulo. It was important for that association to be cemented because we've always credited the original source. By adopting the name, they acknowledged us.
I'm still holding on to the hopes we'll be able to tour this global circuit we've assembled. Fingers crossed!
AC: Can you tell us about the newest chapter, Loop Sessions DMV. What are the differences between the two?
Mags: The main difference I've observed is that, because Montreal is already so small, many of the participants, even from the beginning, knew each other or had at least heard of each other. The online version allowed for a more one-on-one focus (over the IG sessions) with the chat serving as an amicable peanut gallery. It's allowed us to get to know one another on a more personal level, not just artistic. Whereas with the DMV chapter, it's almost all new to everyone! Many of the participants had not experimented in sample-based production before, which allowed them to step out of their comfort zone.
On top of that, many of the artists don't know each other at all! So this is allowing us to bridge a few gaps in the underground music community of the DMV, which is something of a tri-state metropolitan area, so it's a pretty wide net we've cast. Our host B. who is also new to Loop Sessions does a great job of encouraging folks and really enjoying all the different beats. It's been really wholesome so far, and you're all invited to the next session on April 2nd!
AC: What are some of the ways that Loop Sessions keeps the scene connected?
Magnanimous: Since 2020, we are doing two online events each month, which provides the space for the community to exchange and interact, both musically and personally. We also have a Discord where people can connect between events.
Mags: With the online editions proving to be somewhat more intimate, people have been less shy about striking up collaborative partnerships and even friendships through the web. A few recent examples of this are the new song and video released by MC Kayiri, produced by Sabrina Sabotage. The original beat was created at LS 50 and selected to be part of a cypher at the Hip Hop You Don't Stop festival in late November 2020, of which Kayiri was on the bill. More recently, a beat produced at LS 48 by Rekha made its way to Télé-Quebec just a few weeks ago on the new music competition La Fin des Faibles.
AC: Tell us about some of the artists you've worked with for the project.
shmings: The most crucial addition to the Loop Sessions team has to be Shogo. He's responsible for our wholesome visual style. I can give him a theme, a colourway and a silly reference, and he'll turn in this vibrant, playful artwork that's really a lot of fun. Working with him is a pleasure.
Magnanimous: The list is very long, about 40 to 60 beatmakers from here and abroad that submit beats each edition. Salute to every one of them!
Each second event of the month, we have a guest crate provider, and in the last year, we had the pleasure of having people like DJ Kemo from the Rascalz, Scott C and Urban Science.
Mags: As the founder of Loop Sessions DMV, I enlisted the help of my dear friend S. Sweet, bandleader and bassist of DC-based band Black Folks Don't Swim?, as well as Richmond-based collective Grimalkin Records (of which Backxwash is a former member). Sweet is the one who pointed me in the direction of Bliberation (B. for short), a producer, DJ, and craftsman. I went with my gut feeling: out of three or four names I was given, I chose B. simply because they had Hua Li as a mutual, the only one with a Montreal connection, however small. It was a sign I couldn't ignore, and I'm so glad I didn't because everyone loves him!
AC: How could someone get involved with the project?
Magnanimous: Check our Instagram and Facebook pages for the next event, sign up and get involved! Follow us on Twitch @loopsessions, where our events are now being broadcasted.
Mags: Follow your respective chapters on Instagram (the one platform each chapter is presently on), come participate or sit in on a session, and if you're so inclined, hit us up if you have a cool idea for a crate! If there isn't a chapter near you, everyone is welcome to attend any of the chapters; it's a global community after all, and the pandemic has only emphasized that by virtue of the online events.
shmings: Loop Sessions are open to the public. Whether you make experimental electronic music or '90s boom-bap, all styles are welcome.
The aim is to have as many people experience the joy of making music and sharing their work in a communal, non-competitive atmosphere. We all have to start somewhere, and for many, Loop Sessions was the first time they manipulated vinyl records or sampled. Some even made their first-ever beats at a Loop Sessions event. The online iteration of the event makes it that much more accessible. No matter your skill level, our community will receive you with open arms.
AC: What's the best way to support Loop right now?
Magnanimous: The best way to support is to participate and tune in to our broadcasts. Follow us on social media and spread the word!
Mags: Follow us in the DMV on all our socials at linktr.ee/loopsessionsdmv, we're also currently accepting donations to support our SoundCloud at streamlabs.com/loopsessionsdmv
shmings: Check out our #StayHome playlists on SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/loop_sessions), where we've amassed over 1200 productions for the Montreal chapter alone. Share the music you love with the people you love, and when you're ready, come make a beat with us.
Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media specialist, currently based in Montreal.
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