Locals Only: Looch
Equal parts grit, rock and heart, Looch are proof that mates make the best bands. With new single ‘SHOO’ on the horizon, guitarist Matty Ranger opens up about growth, gratitude, and the beautiful chaos of community.
Interview Millah Hansberry // Image Gabi Rankine Creative
Congrats on your latest single ‘SHOO’, coming out on November 21. You’ve been playing this track live for a while, and it has picked up a lot of buzz around Adelaide. How are you feeling on the cusp of its release?
I’d say we’re feeling quite good about it! We’ve been sitting on this one for nearly a year now, so it would be nice to finally have it out and be able to focus on new songs we have been working on.
The track carries a lot of emotion and says a lot within its poetic lyrics, yet leaves a lot unsaid. Can you tell us a bit about where ‘SHOO’ came from and what it means to you?
It’s about being surrounded by a lot of talent and greatness and feeling overwhelmed by it. It was written about these feelings when someone’s always comparing themself and their capabilities to others, or at least the way they see it. I get these feels at times, and it’s not a great light to put oneself in.
On November 7, you’re hitting the Adelaide Unibar stage to say farewell to your mates Weekend Rage on their final show. What energy are you going to be bringing to this stage?
It’s going to be a bittersweet show for sure – we’ve had a lot of great memories with those guys. Our first show at Unibar was, funnily enough, supporting Weekend Rage. As for energy, all we can say is we’ll do the best we can, in love and respect for those homies.
How important is it to you all to support your mates within Adelaide’s music community?
We all live by supporting the ones closest to us. Through bands and gigs, you slowly find those people that you have been looking for your whole life, like-minded folks who are trying to make something with what they have. Adelaide’s community seems to feel so close where you find everybody is super friendly to each other. We’re super lucky to have what goes on here, and cherish the friends we’ve made along the way.
You were all mates before Looch was formed. How did the band come together, and how do you think that bond shapes or influences the music you make now?
Being good friends before the start of Looch made everything happen so naturally with the music. It went from hanging out to watching Coby and Benny jamming together at Coby’s house. Eventually I joined on bass, and nothing ever felt forced when we got into the same room together. Later on, when Jayce joined, we evolved so quickly with an extra flavour to everything. The bond we all share makes our creative process super easy to throw any of our ideas out there without judgement. It gets stronger the more time we share together.
This year you’ve supported a heap of Aussie favourites, including Sophisticated Dingo, TOWNS and Good Sniff. What have been some standout or pinch-me moments from those shows?
We have been super lucky to be supporting some of these huge bands, and are really holding out to play with Camino Gold. We’ve always had such a soft spot for TOWNS, it’s always a treat to watch them play live and lose your voice to their catalogue. It’s been such a privilege to have gotten to know those interstate groups like Sophisticated Dingo and Good Sniff, and seeing how nice and cool they were to all of us. To have been opening up for them let alone getting to call them our mates is something we’ll be pinching ourselves about for a very long time.
What does 2026 look like for Looch? Any big plans or goals you’re already dreaming up?
With six songs in the bag, we’re looking to release into an EP in the near future. All of these songs were recorded in Melbourne with Tim from Wrangler Studios, and are some of our favourites in our setlist at the moment. We’d also love to get out a little more and hopefully get a tour going! But we definitely want to keep pushing more songs out, we are always showing each other all our half-baked ideas and trying to flesh them out, so plenty more of that!
Listen to Looch’s latest track ‘SHOO’ via all good streaming platforms.
