Loop Sessions, an event series founded in Montreal in 2016, is coming to Garden Grove Brewing and Urban Winery in RVA by way of the DMV on Saturday, 18 February 2023.
Washington D.C. is an international city, and the music of the DMV travels. Look no further than the founder of the DMV chapter of Loop Sessions, Mags, an interdisciplinary artist whose upbringing as the child of diplomats prepared her for bridging the gaps between Montreal and Washington D.C., and now Richmond.
Loop Sessions was created by DJ and producer Mahdi Saoula (Dr. MaD) and Lou Piensa of Montreal hip-hop group Nomadic Massive, who together founded beatmaking duo, Loop Pilots. While on tour in Brazil, the two stumbled upon Beat Brazilis in São Paulo which became the foundation for Loop Sessions.
In this segment of CBC Radio Canada program “Homerun with Sue Smith,” Dr. MaD explains the format for the event:
“The concept is that everybody is using the same vinyl record that’s selected by a different DJ at every session. Once you have the record you have between 5 and 10 minutes to listen to it and record parts of it, and you have the rest of the evening, or the afternoon and the evening to create, and exchange with other people.”
So, this event began its international expanse even before being hosted at 180g café – disquaire in 2016 and has since found its way into chapters spanning more than 18 cities. While Mags’ involvement with Loop Sessions began in 2016, in 2022 she produced the first inaugural live event at The Village Café in NE DC, hosted by Bliberation. Now, the team heads to Garden Grove Brewing and Urban Winery in Richmond, VA, partnering with Grimalkin Records, an RVA-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit and record label elevating the voices of the BIPOC and LGBTQ communities. The label’s founder Grim, who performs as Spartan Jet-Plex, shares how this latest event came into being:
“Mags reached out to me when she decided to found a Loop Sessions chapter in the DMV. She was hoping to add more diversity to Loop Sessions, and since Grimalkin is also a community-based organization, it was a perfect fit. I assisted with reaching out to people in the Grimalkin community about Loop Sessions and we’ve had members participate by providing a crate and through participating in the monthly sessions since its beginning. I personally very much enjoy the monthly challenge and I have met so many fantastic and talented people through Loop Sessions and it’s led to several cross-over collaborations inside and out of both the Loop Sessions and Grimalkin communities. “
Loop Sessions DMV: The 2nd Anniversary Live Edition
Saturday, 18 February 2023
Garden Grove Brewing and Urban Winery
3445 West Cary Street
Richmond, VA 23221
Tickets are free via registration through Eventbrite.
Daniel Warren Hill is an American musician, writer, and motivational speaker. He is best known as the frontman for Washington DC area Alternative Rock band YellowTieGuy, as co-founder of Capitol Groove Collective, and increasing the exposure of artists on a global scale through his work with Alchemical Records.
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