Written by Mackenzie Manley, Content Specialist, Downtown Main Library
This post is part of a larger series that spotlights local music acts performing at the Meet Me at Main Music Festival. Check out our website for more interviews with performers leading up to Saturday, July 11.
Nine music acts will take over the Downtown Main Library on Saturday, July 11 for the inaugural Meet Me at Main Music Festival: a family-friendly, multi-stage, multi-genre showcase of local music, including two after-hours performances. The event coincides with the second anniversary of Downtown Main Library’s reopening. See the full lineup and read more artist interviews.
Catching up with Fruit LoOops
Now based in Chicago, Fruit LoOops — made up of Jackie Switzer, Patrick Apfelbeck, and Kevin Hall — first formed in Cincinnati.
The deliciously weird experimental noise rock outfit melds high theatrics with punky, propulsive soundscapes to deliver a one-of-a-kind sonic experience.
We caught up with the band ahead of the fest to chat about how they’ve evolved over the years, their upcoming album, and their boundary-pushing performances.
The interview is edited for brevity and clarity.
Mackenzie: You’ve performed together for nine years. How have you seen the project evolve since first collaborating as a band?
Fruit LoOops: The project has evolved quite a bit. We formed the band to bring to life a dream that Jackie (vocals) had about performing a set with fruit implanted with contact mics. That quickly turned into semi-improvised beats over spoken word poetry. The next several years saw us grow the music into a large wall of sound with wind-synth, vocal pedals, and other extreme, microtonal, and dissonant textures, while also expanding the theatrical aspect into a dedicated member of the band. In the past couple of years, we have contracted back into a trio (drums, synths, and vocals), and while the sound is still aggressive and dissonant, there is more focus than ever before on danceable rhythms and propulsive songs.
Mackenzie: Your sets blend live music with performance art. Can you talk a bit about pushing those boundaries to create a set that goes beyond the typical?
Fruit LoOops: We like to create images and moments that are just as off the wall as the music. The performance art element serves to heighten the surreal and dramatic nature of the band, but also to provide some grounding, a thing to latch onto. We find that some noise or otherwise extreme music can be quite dour and humorless; the theatrical aspect provides a way to inject levity, comedy, and some fun into the show.
Mackenzie: You're working on a new album; can you tell me a bit about it? How does it work alongside your discography as a whole?
Fruit LoOops: The new album is us coming out of a transitional time (heard on our EP Everything Is Clear to Me Now) and focuses on breakneck juke and four-on-the-floor beats, clearer melodies, and even a major key moment or two. It is still very damaged, manic, and unhinged, just on top of a deranged dance skeleton.
Mackenzie: What part does the Library play in the larger local music scene?
Fruit LoOops: The library represents a great sounding board and platform for left-of-center ideas as well as a bastion for DIYers. Much of Cincy's music scene owes a great debt to the MakerSpace for all the poster-making, sticker-printing, button-creating, etc. that the library facilitates.
Mackenzie: Is there anything you want to highlight about your upcoming performance?
Fruit LoOops: Our set will be about the miracle of creation. Prepare to open your hearts.
Catch Fruit LoOops at the after-hours portion of the festival on the Social Stairs at 7 p.m.
Meet Me at Main Music Festival is made possible by The Johnson Foundation and The Thomas W. Jones Fund of the Library Foundation.
Mackenzie Manley is currently reading “Room to Dream” by David Lynch and Kristine McKenna.
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