photo:Santana Ilhamnur Fadli
We plunge into the deep dark chasm that is Looprider to find out more about the band.
Looprider started off as a solo project for guitarist and vocalist Ryotaro Aoki but evolved into a band with a fluctuating line up before settling on a trio, the others being Ryo7 on drums and Haruka Sato on guitar & vocals. Haruka left the band in early 2025 having been involved since 2016 and, although searching for new second guitarist has continued, the band have played live as a two piece and are currently ensconced in a Tokyo studio making the next album.
I caught up with Ryotaro and posed a few questions.
KM: Tell us about where you are from and where you are now and the inbetween bits.
R: I live in Tokyo and I grew up in the US. Basically I’ve spent half my life in each. I like to think that I subscribe to neither and float in between the two spaces constantly.
KM: How did forming Looprider come about?
R: I’ve been in bands since I was a teenager, but I wanted to do something that would let me cover all my musical interests in one project. It started off as a bit of a solo project, but then it evolved into being a band and now I’m not really sure what it is. But the interest has always been in songwriting, distortion, volume and dynamics. Being able to explore abstract soundscapes and
noise but also being able to write songs with elaborate arrangements and melodies, within the context of a rock band format.
KM: You are known as a guitarist, but do you play any other instruments or any you would like to use in the future?
R: My favorite instrument to listen to are the drums probably, but I don’t play much else besides the guitar. I mess around with modular synths from time to time.
KM: Any particular band or musician you have been particularly influenced by?
R: Some of the more obvious ones are Boris, Sunn O))), The Melvins, Earth, My Bloody Valentine, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Melt-Banana. I’m also a huge, huge fan of the Smashing Pumpkins. Their musicianship and versatility still continues to amaze me. The Japanese band Luna Sea is another big influence. Metal has always been a big part of my life. Slayer, Entombed, Carcass, Bolt Thrower… Less obvious influences are probably like Alice Coltrane, John Abercrombie, Merzbow, Slint, John Zorn, Oren Ambarchi…there are so many.
KM: Favorite band, musician or album?
R: Today it’s “Ride The Lightning” by Metallica.
photo:Josh Lee
KM: Looprider's music so far has been quite diverse, will the next album be similar to Metamorphose or take a completely different direction?
R: To us it’s always just an evolution of what we’ve been doing, but maybe it will sound very different to the audience? We always try to bring something new to each album though. Everything with us is always in progress.
We spent a lot of time working on the tones and arrangements for this new one, there is more detail. I hope people see us in a “higher resolution” so to speak.
KM: How would you label your music? I hear heavy rock, Grunge, Psych and drone... maybe metal too.
R: Heavy rock? Or maybe “Downtuned guitars go brrrr….” I think we are a weird band that sits in between many things. I am interested in things that are caught in limbo rather than things that are clearly defined or sit on one side of the fence or another.
KM: Will the recent line up change make a radical change to your sound?
R: We have been experimenting with performing live as a two-piece, but the interplay between the two guitars is a big interest of mine, so we will likely find another guitar player. Honestly the creative process hasn’t really changed. I usually come up with some riffs and then I hash it out with a drummer and then we layer more parts on top and then we edit and pull it apart and then layer stuff on top some more, rinse and repeat. Recording wise, as long as I have a drummer I can play everything else, which is how we are doing our upcoming one.
KM: How did an English guy like Ryo7 end up in Looprider?
R: We posted an ad and he responded. To be honest, him being English wasn’t really a consideration, we shared similar tastes and he was open to how we worked as a band.
KM: Bass players. Why do you not have one?
R:We’ve had several bass players in the past, but it never really worked out. At one point I just said let’s try and find another solution, so I tried plugging into a bass amp and guitar amp at the same time and it sounded amazing. I also started playing baritone guitars. So the combination of the multiple amps and baritones have come to really define the sound of the band. A lot of our choices are a result of trying to find a solution to a problem.
KM: Interests and work outside of music. Give me an idea what you get up to when not working on Looprider stuff.
R: I don’t have a life beyond music, really. I like to build Gundam plastic models and play Pokemon cards from time to time. I also enjoy watching films. Most of my free time I spend listening to records and looking up guitars and studying pieces of gear. Still chasing the riff…
photo:Santana Ilhamnur Fadli
Metamorphose is Looprider’s newest album, released on Call & Response records in Japan and is available on 12” vinyl in our store, we also have stocks of the previous release, Ouroboros, on CD.