Fuzzy's interview with LOOT THE BODY is below. The band just released their 2nd album "The Barrier Peaks Songbook" on Bandcamp. This is a psych rock concept album based on the Dungeons & Dragons module of the same name, but you don't need to play the game to dig this incredible album. Loot the Body blends 70s psych with 00s indie rock to deliver an album with catchy riffs, floating vocals and melodies, and a flow that plays out in ebbs and flow just as any great concept album should.
Pop rock goodness, layers upon layers of vocals, and cleverness to the lyrics which only adds to the killer music. Some songs are more prog rock, some are more late Beatles pop, and every fan of psych rock will want to check this out. Highly recommended!
Fuzzy's favorite: "Robot Police" but mostly I play the whole album on repeat.
FFO The Lancasters and Mellow Beast (read Fuzzy's review here)
Follow Loot The Body on Bandcamp to keep up with their music and news.
Watch the new video for "Froghemoth" on YouTube:
INTERVIEW WITH LOOT THE BODY
FUZZY: Is your music only for D&D fans?
Honestly, no. I have found that liking D&D doesn't mean that you'll like the music. But I do think that the D&D connection makes it so D&D players are at least curious. That helps get some people through the door but in the end music has to be enjoyed on its own merits.
FUZZY: Why the Barrier Peaks? What's in this module that piqued your interest?
I am a big fan of classic fantasy and I'm a big fan of retro sci-fi. The idea that your typical Tolkien-esque adventuring party is making their way through a crash landed spaceship ticks a lot of boxes for me. And the fact that the module was written in 1980 means that all the technology is wonderfully dated. I'm still more inspired by an old Tandy computer than I am by nanotechnology. I actually didn't set out to write a concept album. I was working on my last album Random Encounters and I found that a few songs kept coming that were exclusively inspired by Barrier Peaks. After I had 4 or so I realized I needed to set them aside because they were becoming their own thing. Being a fan of old school prog-rock and psychedelia the idea of making it into a concept album was too much to resist.
FUZZY: Was it confining or liberating to get the music and lyrics to fit the theme?
It was liberating because it was driven by inspiration. I think if someone had given this to me as an assignment it would have been a drag. It was easy to figure out the set-pieces that would make good songs. This adventure has a very specific feeling in my mind. Writing the songs was a matter of getting myself in that place and trying to capture it in music.
FUZZY: You have a lot of great videos! What's your production process like?
One of the core principles of Loot the Body comes from the gaming term itself. You pick up something that was discarded and put it to use. In that way my process is very much like collage. I try not to be too literal. Instead I try to find contrasting or complementary images and fit them with the music. Sometimes this means using old archival footage, old movies or images that I've made myself. The video for Caught in a Gelatinous Cube from my last album was mostly me shooting D&D minis with a macro lens behind a greenscreen. All of the music is very visual to me so the video is almost an extension of the original inspiration.
FUZZY: What are your plans for the new album?
I plan on releasing videos for all or most of the songs. I'll be doing that for the next couple of months. Hopefully this will help people find the music. In the new year I'll submit the album to streaming services. Hopefully it'll help others find the music. When I do that I'll upload a songbook to my Bandcamp page as a reward to all the folks that found me there. It'll have exclusive art, lyrics and chords. I like the idea of having an actual Barrier Peaks Songbook.
FUZZY: Froghemoth VS Froglord -- who would win in a Swamp Royale? (This is only a thought experiment -- IRL, Froglord only attacks humans)
The funny thing is, this doesn't have to be a thought experiment. in the world of D&D every creature gets stats and it's pretty easy to tell who would win. Off the bat Froghemoth has a 14 Armor Class and 184 Hit Points. He is resistant to fire and lightning and his passive perception is 19. He's got tongue, tentacles and bite actions but he's not unbeatable. We may have to stat up the Froglord and let the D20 decide.
