Preparing for a taste of Ludo

The St. Louis band will play Oct. 16 at The Blue Note.

By Megan Suddarth

Published Oct. 15, 2010

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The constant sound of bustling leaves, skateboard wheels and chatty students fill the town of Columbia every day. This weekend, however, the familiar sounds of electric guitars, harmonic moog keys and fanatical lyrics will also pack the streets with the return of the crazed alternative band Ludo to The Blue Note.

Ludo is no stranger to the stage of The Blue Note. It’s been playing at the venue for years.

“We’ve been lucky enough to be able to do stuff on our own,” Ludo’s moog player Tim Convy said. “Columbia was our first show, and about seven people showed up. That really mattered to us that those seven showed up and then next time brought their friends.That’s how our band got started, so even now with bigger crowds we still appreciate every fan that comes out.”

The band’s new album, Prepare the Preparations, came out Sept. 7. The album covers all genres of songs from melodic love songs to the spooky click-clack of marching skeletons to upbeat sounds of runaway robbers.

“The new album covers a lot of the same ground as our other albums, and there’s also a lot of new things that we’ve never done before,” Convy said. “We weren’t afraid to be Ludo and weren’t intimidated like maybe we were on our first major label album.”

Ludo’s new single, “Whipped Cream,” has a very similar vibe to its previous song, “Go-Getter Greg” from the group’s last album, You’re Awful, I Love You. The song has the same sort of creeper-in-the-corner type feel, which is what most Ludo fans crave from its mastermind songwriter, Andrew Volpe. Volpe also puts a slight twist in this album with more romantic love songs, such as “Manta Rays” and “I’ll Never Be Lonely Again.”

“‘Whipped Cream’ and ‘Go-Getter Greg’ are one in the same about the same type of obnoxious guy that we all hate,” Convy said. “We like to mock the creepy guys. With the love songs, Andrew tends to build a story around real emotions. So the stories and the characters may not be real, but the sentiment behind them definitely is.”

The band toured extensively in support of its last record. Convy said the band needed a break from each other at the end.

“We really got sick of each other,” Convy said. “It was crazy on the last record. Afterwards, we took time off to ourselves for a year and spread out across the country. We played in different bands and worked on different projects and it made us refreshed and ready for the new album and tour.”

What’s up next for the men of Ludo?

“(We’re) just going to get through the tour and support the album,” Convy said. “(Then) we’ll take time off and figure out what’s next. We’re looking forward to The Blue Note. It’s the second to last show on the tour, and this tour has been awesome.”

So this weekend, let the skeletons come out and roam the streets of Columbia. That is, the song “Skeletons on Parade” — a fun, Halloween-type thriller that’s perfect for this time of year.