Mike Stax talks Loons in lockdown

As The Loons prepare for their Feb. 19  appearance at The Casbah San Diego for A Che Underground Midwinter Masque, lead singer Mike Stax reflects on how he and the rest of the band — Chris Cancelliere, Chris Marsteller, Marc Schroeder and Anja Stax — have kept their collaboration fresh despite pandemic pressures. 

Navigating the lockdown as a band was strange.

I know some other bands were anxious to stay “relevant” and felt the need to release new music or new videos to remind people of their existence. We never felt compelled to do that.

We figured that everybody was preoccupied with a potentially life-threatening global pandemic — that raised uncertainty about their income, their health, their families, their futures — and the last thing on their minds would be whether or not the Loons had any new music to share. So we went about our lives, and took care of our families and didn’t fret about staying “relevant.”

Friday was always the Loons’ practice night, so during the lockdown Fridays nights were Loons Zoom meetings. We’d spend two, three, four hours hanging out on camera, having some laughs, catching up on the previous week’s news and of course talking about music. So even though we weren’t playing music, we still felt bonded as a band.

Eventually we were able to meet up for occasional socially distanced practice sessions — 10 feet apart in our backyard in La Mesa. We have cool neighbors. We practiced the set, kicked around a few new song ideas — some of which became new songs. We played a couple of Casbah shows during periods when the Covid numbers were down. Those two gigs reminded me how much it means to have an audience watching, listening and responding to our music.

That connection is so important. It’s what motivates us to play and to write and to reach higher with what we do.

A few months ago we went into the studio and recording four tracks that will be released by a Scandinavian label as a 7″ EP. It’s part of a series of different bands covering “moody garage” songs from the ’60s. We did songs by the 13th Floor Elevators; The Bush; The Unrelated Segments; and the Second Helping — Kenny Loggins’ 1966 garage outfit.

Recently we completed new batch of original songs that feel stronger than anything we’ve written in a while. The clouds of uncertainty are starting to lift and we’re feeling more focused again. We’re looking forward to recording a new album and to playing live again — starting with the Che Underground show in February.