Looper

Stuart David, then the bassist in Belle and Sebastian, originally launched Looper as a casual outlet for his downtime. He put the group together for a one-off appearance at the Glasgow School of Art in 1997. The samples-based indie electronic project quickly assumed its own momentum once Stuart’s wife Karn David and his brother Ronnie Black entered the picture, with Karn directing film projections and constructing sculptures while Ronnie handled photographic projections. A U.S. contract from Sub Pop Records arrived soon afterward, leading directly to Stuart David’s departure from Belle and Sebastian. Looper surfaced publicly with the Sub Pop single “Impossible Things” in mid-1998 and followed it with the album Up a Tree the next year. Extensive American tours, one of them in support of the Flaming Lips, accompanied the release; multi-instrumentalist Scott Twynholm joined the lineup, and Karn David together with Black began performing live on samplers, guitars, keyboards, and vocals. After the tours ended, Stuart David brought out his debut novel, Nalda Said.

The Geometrid, Looper’s 2000 album, took shape through a more collaborative process that incorporated writing and playing from Twynholm, Karn David, and Black. During the ensuing road trip the band invited its bus driver, “Evil Bob,” onstage as saxophonist. A brief hiatus followed, during which the group’s profile rose after Cameron Crowe placed the song “Mondo ’77” in his 2001 film Vanilla Sky and additional tracks appeared in other movies and video games. The four-piece version of Looper made its recorded debut in 2002 with The Snare, its first release for Mute Records. Disappointed with the label relationship, Stuart David began posting new material for free on Looperama.com in 2003; several songs later surfaced as EPs over the next three years. Another extended break ensued while Karn studied animation and Stuart devoted himself to literature and writing, publishing his third novel, A Peacock’s Tale, in 2011. After the couple relocated to the countryside and rekindled an interest in recording, the Davids assembled two projects—a career-spanning box set titled These Things and the new album Offgrid:Offline—both issued by Mute on the same day in April 2015.