by Eric FitzGerald
DANCE duo Le Boom have built their reputation on incredible and energetic live shows. The love shown to these two friends from Navan at their Electric Picnic show was heartwarming and well deserved.
Two hard working musicians, Aimie Mallon and Christy Leech, formed Le Boom in June 2016 and, since then, have brought their electro-indie-house-pop show to cities such as New York, Reykjavik, Cork, Belfast, Galway and to their home base of Dublin.
The live shows are best described as a “frenzy of glass-bottle beats, layered loops, catchy vocal hooks and sweaty fans who dance like no other fans dance.”
Aimie plays drums, Christy plays synths, guitar and sings. It is infectious, bouncy indie music that is irresistible on the dancefloor.
They can write great hooks and choruses too. The debut single ‘What We Do’ received airplay on both US and Irish radio. It featured in TV and ad campaigns including one for Absolut Vodka.
Since ‘What We Do’ caught so much attention, the duo have hardly stopped for breath, writing tracks on the fly between shows and playing everywhere that will have them. The longest break they have had, so far, was a few weeks.
But that is all about to change.
After the current tour which comes to Limerick, Le Boom will take a long break.
Christy Leech helped Limerick Post with our urgent queries.
“After this tour we are going to go on a little break. We have been gigging so much, the longest break between gigs was three weeks in the last four years.
“It been pretty much go, go, go the whole time. We both have got to the stage when we feel like a step back from it would do us good personally just to get a bit of perspective and grow as people a little bit outside of the band.”
The duo exhibit such an intense bond on stage and give so much to the live shows, you can see the physical effort on the drum kit from Aimee, and it is a joy to watch and wonderfully addictive.
The good news is that this is not a farewell forever tour.
“I know when some bands say they are taking a break and it is code for they are not getting on anymore – it is totally not that.”
Le Boom want time to write an album. An album not necessary full of live bangers but to take time out and not be concerned about the next gig.
“We have so many ideas that we don’t get to work on when you are on the road all the time.
“We want to take it up to another level.”
“Ninety per cent of our energy goes into the live show and the music we release is what we can do when we are not gigging. We want to put a bit more time into that.
“We couldn’t keep going as we were going. We only release tracks that go down well live.
“We don’t want to create an album that is an album of ten banging dance tunes. If we brought out an album and it was crap, we would say ‘why didn’t we take some time over it!’”
Le Boom are not putting a date on a possible return. They will first take a couple of weeks and not think about Le Boom. They will step away from social media and the constant hamster wheel of always posting about your own stuff.
Like many acts today, the always-on-stage grind of being your own PR and promoters gets to be a distraction from creativity and developing their own identity.
But before all that happens there is a tour to complete. It will be a must-see show. It culminates with a show at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre, the iconic venue for legendary Dublin gigs.
“Yeah – even my grannie knows where that is!” laughs Christy.
“It is about to sell out. It will be a milestone in our lives.”
Their Limerick gig promises to be an epic night out too. They are very much loved in this town. Christy was surprised by how many knew about Le Boom and turned up at their last Dolan’s show.
“We didn’t know there was fans in Limerick. The place was absolutely jammed, an incredible buzz. The crowd were amazing. A lot of people that were at that gig have come to other gigs.”
Le Boom play Dolan’s on Friday October 18.
