Interview with Metro Music Connection
This ran in May or June of 2001
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Interview with Artist of the Month Joe Herbert of Indoe Loop
by Blake Gregory of Metro Music Connection ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

METRO MUSIC CONNECTION: How would you define your music?

JH: Groove-jam oriented alt-folk. Or good lyrics put to sometimes jammed out music.

MMC: What is Indoe Loop? Where did you find a name like that?

JH: That's just a name I came up with while walking thru a parking lot at RFK a few years ago. Some folks were playing this really cool techno music, and it drew me in. They had some T-shirts there, one of which said "Indoe" and another said "Loop", which was an old rave spot out of Baltimore I think. I put them both together, and there it is.

MMC: If your music is Jam Music, where do you see it fitting in todays music scene?

JH: Well, I'm not sure I'm looking to necessarily "fit in" with today's crop. I mean, there's alot of strangely popular music out there that I don't feel I want to be a part of. Whenever I hear someone coming out and singing something from the heart though, I usually tune in and listen. As for being jam music, while we do jam out, I think what separates us from some of the jam bands is the strength of the songs. It's always fun to stretch them out, but they also stand alone, stripped down and quiet.

MMC: Where do you see Indoe Loop Going?

JH: I'd like to start opening for more established acts who we admire. The festival circuit also seems to be open to our style of music. Obviously, the recording end of it continues. We've got quite a few tunes that still haven't been laid down properly, but it's coming along. I'll leave you some scratch copies of a few of them.

MMC: Describe the New CD you have just produced.

JH: The one you have is sort of 'part II' of what we have on the street right now. 'Part I' has more structured tunes on it, like "Truth", "5/4", "Heaven", "Nothing to Say", and "Small". Part II is much more jammed out, with a lot of improvisation taking the listener into the next song.

MMC: Who are your musical influences.

JH: Let's see.. Dylan, Clapton, Neil Young, Rush, Old jazz, stuff like Coltrane and Miles. I love that stuff. Ben Harper...a guy named Nick Drake. I like a lot of world music. Stuff from Thailand, Egypt, Turkey, Afghanistan, China. I'm also up on hip hop, acid jazz, trance, even some of the pop material like Madonna or Macy Grey. The other guys have just as diverse backgrounds. Folks like Todd Rundgren, Yes, Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Grand Funk, the Dead..I mean, the list goes on.

MMC: How did you produce such a live, flowing, sound on the CD?

JH: We taped all of it live, direct to ADAT over two days. Then I went in and added vocal overdubs and pretty much kept it as is. The first 47 minutes is just a seamless jam taken from day two. Only 'so far' was taken from the first night. That's actually the first time the guys are hearing that song, with me showing them how it goes, and just taking off with it. I like that first version. It's got a lot of energy. We could have done a lot of 'punch ins' and 'punch outs', but we like the live feel, and it seems to represent what we sound like now.

MMC: What's next for Indoe Loop?

JH: I'm doing a solo acoustic set this Saturday night, (October 20th) opening for the legendary Todd Rundgren. Man, I can't tell you how psyched I am about that. Also, we'll be there again on October 24th with the full band. We just finished up the live CD from a festival we played down near Charlottesville. That weekend went real well. We played our entire set with a keyboard player, which added to the mix and was a lot of fun. I'm also working up a solo acoustic recording to have on hand at the smaller gigs. Also, some benefits we've agreed to perform at are coming up. So things are lookin' good.



To contact Indoe Loop, visit their webpage at www.indoeloop.com. It's got lots of MP3's, lyrics, band info, directions to upcoming shows, and any other information you might need.