The sound of Le Loup is characterized by haunting vocals, syncopated rhythms, and bass lines that embrace dissonance in all of their anti-Classical glory. The artist behind this solo production is 24-year old Louis P., who does everything from producing his tracks to recording live bass and vocals. His lyrics have a tendency to flirt with the dark side of life in surprisingly accurate descriptions. Subdued but quirky, Peralte keeps his electronically-based tracks shocking and mesmerizing, all while retaining an authentic singer-songwriter flair. Songwriting, for this Queens native, is a way to record his rapidly fluctuating emotions in everyday life. His style blends futuristic electronica with some rather surprising historical influences, conglomerating into a hypnotizing collage of sound.
Clarifications
The following interview was conducted over the phone on the evening of December 9, 2016. Originally written for the Fall 2016 course, HNR340: Inside the Words and Music.
-Ableton is a songwriting and musical production program that allows tracks to be created and edited. It is the preferred software of many electronic musicians.
-The description of Moondog is corrected from “Viking of Sixth Street” to “Viking of Sixth Avenue.” Moondog was also not homeless, but did busk regularly on the streets of New York.
Interview
I’ve heard a lot of the tracks you’ve recorded recently, and they’re all produced in Ableton. How much would you say that you have a vision of the song prior to using Ableton and how much are you just experimenting with the software at this point?
It’s not heavily rooted in the program itself. I think [Ableton is] just an easy way to get the recordings done, so usually it would just be me noodling on a guitar coming up with a melody, and I’ll go like, “Oh, that would go really well with something.” And that’s when I lay it down on Ableton. I’ll let that loop. I’ll start messing around with it in my head. It’s very physical. When I think of [the song], I start doing things with my hands, because that’s how I’m envisioning it. I’m thinking of it like...shapes, or I guess like a feeling. At that point that’s when it starts to become heavily rooted in the program because then I want to add to that.
Back to what you said about starting off with a short melody or a loop. Do you usually just hum or sing those melodies? Or do you hear it in your head? How does that work?
I almost always hum or sing in head voice. Like, it will always be like “hmmmm” or like a “doo dooo…” and then I’ll see what that feels like. So to me, [what I just sang] was like...a piano. So I’ll be like, “that’s gonna be a piano.” Usually I won’t envision anything when I’m playing the bass or guitar, I’ll actually feel those [instruments] out. I won’t think about what I’m going to play, I’ll just let my hands do it. And if [the phrase] is chordal, then I usually don’t imagine it all at once. I’ll start with the root and then I’ll do the harmonies however I see fit.
It’s interesting how you just let yourself play whatever on the bass. Are you afraid at all that it won’t sound good?
Not really, because a lot of it is muscle memory. For me, when it comes to playing the strings, it’s more rhythmic than anything. I don’t think very...melodically. I think that’s what I mean by “I’ll let my hands do whatever.” I’ll know where to go just based on the chord progression of the song. So it’s not like I’m just playing random notes.
Are you comfortable recording with instruments you may not necessarily have that much experience with?
Yeah, I do that all the time. If anything, that’s the most fun. For the most part, every song that I have is just an accumulation of happy accidents. That’s how I work. If I don’t know what I’m going to write I’m going to pick up an instrument that I’m terrible at. And I’m gonna play it, and I’ll be like, “Hey, that is cool. I will elaborate on that.”
So do you think knowing more about the instrument is actually a roadblock to writing with it? Because then the things you thought were cool...don’t become so cool anymore?
No, not at all. I mean if anything I always feel...what’s the word? Inadequate. I always feel really inadequate because I’m like, “I know that [what I’m doing] works for now, but what if I actually know my theory? What could this have been?” So I don’t think knowing more, or having more of a technical know-how, would be a roadblock when it comes to [writing with] these instruments.
Do you sit down and decide to write something? Or do you find yourself noodling or doing something else and then being inspired to open a program to record it?
Okay, so I only figured this out recently. But for the most part, it’s a compulsion. Like for me, [songwriting] is very meditative because I can focus on it and ignore everything else that’s going on. So if I’m ever sitting down and I don’t have something to do, I will just instinctively start doing something. I’ll either grab a guitar or I’ll open [Ableton] and start doing something there. Not because I want to, or I feel inspired, but because I have to. Because something inside of me is just itchy. And I need to scratch that itch. So there will be days where I’m not doing anything and I’ll just be going stir crazy. I’ll open [Ableton] up, and by the time I look at the clock it’ll have been been six hours. And I’ll have been doing that one thing.
Do you think part of it is having manic tendencies?
It’s definitely part of it. You know I started taking anti-anxiety meds, right? That’s a recent thing. I’m just comparing the way that I do things now to the way I did things when I last saw you. I’ve put out so many recordings so compulsively because of my anxiety. I feel like I have to do it. I have to produce something and to make my time worthwhile. A lot of that stems from the anxiety. I didn’t know until I was able to look back at my habits before taking meds.
Do you think that taking the anti-anxiety meds actually stifles your creative process?
Somewhat. It’s kind of sad, actually. I don’t know if it’s just because I started working, and I don’t have the time to write, but I don’t have the compulsion to sit down with the software, so I haven’t been doing that for three weeks now. But on the other hand, there are so many tracks that I’ve started but never finished because I was like, “This isn’t perfect, this isn’t perfect…” I have a few that I’ve written since I started on the medication and they’re a little looser, in terms of the quality, but they’re coming out with more ease.
So when do lyrics actually get written in your songs? Do you ever, instead of humming a melody, think of lyrics first?
I almost always do lyrics last. Because the song is generally a feeling I’m thinking about when I’m writing it. I’ll start out with the intro, and there won’t be any words for that. There won’t be any words for [the verse]...then I get to the chorus and at that point I have a feel for the song. So let’s say the feel for the song is…”I’m falling through the floor.” Then, the whole time I’m recording the rest of the song I’m just thinking of that one thing; “I’m falling through the floor, I’m falling through the floor.” I’ll quickly record everything still with just this one thought in my mind, and by the time I have the skeleton of the song down, I’ll go back and I’ll write the lyrics down.
I know that you also do a lot of creative freewriting. How come you don’t start off with lyrics from your writing?
I have a lot of poetry that I want to turn into songs but once I have the words down and they’re like an entity in and of themselves. I can’t find the right feel or tone to express it. Because they already have their own tone. So I feel like any music that I set to it wouldn’t actually match the right way.
On average, how often do you complete your songs? How many have one verse down, and how many have two verses?
I have this thing that I call the first verse curse. I’ll have the song. I’ll have the format of it like I told you, and I’ll have all this space to fill up [with lyrics]. I’ll come up with a really solid first verse, and then anything after that just doesn’t feel like it amounts to what I set up in the first verse. So all the good intentions and all of the good details, that’s all in the first verse. But then after that, it’s like how do I keep putting out this content? That’s the first verse curse.
How is it different to write solo as opposed to in a duo or in a band?
When I’m writing in a band, there’s a lot of “I don’t want to step on toes, I don’t want to tell you what you’re doing is bad, or I don’t like this.” Then there is also not wanting to be too overbearing and being like, “Well I wanted it like this.” So it’s a lot of judging your balance and territory. Writing solo is like, “Well, of course I’m going to do this. Of course I’m going to do that. And well, there’s that thing that I already know what to do.” So like, I don’t know, I get kind of bored with the stuff that I do sometimes, but writing with somebody else, it’s like, “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Do you feel like that process diluted your original intentions for the songs?
Definitely. Because it’s like, “Oh, you kind of took away from what I meant, from what I felt.” I guess I didn’t really realize that I had such a deep connection between the intent of the song and the words of the song, the feel of the song.
Where do you hope to take your songwriting?
I want to start my own band. I want to see what everybody is able to make. I guess it’s kind of like reading someone’s diary. That’s how I use songs. They’re like my diary entries. I feel like everyone should have an opportunity to put [himself/herself] out there. So...long term, yeah, I want to start a band, I want to gig, I want to put my music out there, put the music I write with other people out there. But for me...the most fun is recording.
Who do you respect the most as a songwriter?
I have a few. I have Moondog. Moondog was the Viking of Sixth Avenue. He was this blind hobo in New York in like the 1940’s. And he was writing from the ’40’s up until like the late ‘60’s. His stuff is so weird. And so future. He would make his own instruments, and he would play them.
Who else?
Danny Elfman. His stuff in Oingo Boingo. That’s the band he has with his brother and some other people. If anything has the most influence on my approach to vocals, so if you were to put on a track by Oingo Boingo, you’d be like, “Oh, that’s why he does that.”
Those are all the questions I have. Thank you for your time!
