The Eighth Note is 8 quick Questions with Wellington Musicians. A chance for us to catch up with people & see what they’re up to, or introduce you to a new musician/band and their music. Up next is experimental Ambient-pop artist Todd Luffa, originally from Minneapolis, MN, but now based in Wgtn.
Who are you? Tell us a bit about your music:
I’m Todd Luffa, nice to meet you. I make pop music with elements of noise, drone, experiment. A lot of sad stuff but I hope it’s warm at the same time.
What have you been working on lately? Any new tracks or albums on the way?
I put out an album called ‘Ascent’ on Embezzlement Records in 2020. I didn’t really do anything during lockdown ‘cept sin and listen to disco, but I’m currently learning more about synths and sound design and hoping to make some greasy butt shakin tunes in the future. For real. I want to play at clubs for people on pingers.
Where is the best place people can follow you & find your music?
Todd Luffa at Facebook, Bandcamp & Instagram. Also a, currently-on-indefinite-hiatus, duo I am a half of is microgreens/Facebook.
What were the 3 most influential albums to you growing up?
1. Feels by Animal Collective.
Really all of their earlier releases. I was 15 and had never heard texture used like that.
2. ’77 Live by Les Rallizes dénudés.
I have never heard noise sound so beautiful. I’d like to die comfortably supine under dappled light when I’m older. but I hope if I die in a car wreck that I fly off a cliff over the ocean, under a full moon, and plummet in slow motion for the entire eleven and a half minutes of ‘Enter the Mirror’, and embrace those midnight waves right at its final peak brutal howl of feedback.
3. Plux Quba by Nuno Cannavaro.
I have never heard electronic music sound so organic and blooming with life. I think it’s about the birth of consciousness, but who knows.
Which other Wellington musician (s) would you most like to work with?
Lucky Jim, Strange Stains, Crone, Micro Soft Voices. No idea if we should or would work well together, but those are some of my favorite musicians in the city right now.
What’s your favourite Wellington venue to play in?
Pyramid Club hands down. The people that run it are wonderful and almost all of the best gigs I’ve seen in this city have been there. I always prefer a DIY space, generator show, or a living room, to any bar or for-profit venue. The shows are more intimate and the music tends to be more compelling.
In your songwriting or composing (or the band’s songwriting) how do the compositions and songs take shape?
I usually improvise or experiment until I have a small piece like a melody, loop, field recording or texture and build from that, figure out the direction and words last. Though I’ve worked with people that are much more concept-first.
Where/when is your next gig?
The Pyramid Club, this Saturday: Ducklingmonster, Todd Luffa and Jonny Marks.