Those connected to the Pocatello music scene are surely familiar with the hip-hop fusion group LOOT, whose front man fearlessly leads in spite of a physical disability.

But for the first time since the five-piece band got together in 2019, Boise residents and some of the tens of thousands of people who attend the annual Treefort Music Fest every year had the chance to check out their insanely danceable beats, high-energy performance and smooth, rapid-fire lyrics.

LOOT, with a gig at Lost Grove Brewing on March 22, played its first Treefort alongside more than 420 other performing artists from 32 states and 22 countries that came to the capital of the Gem State for the five-day music festival. The event injects millions of dollars into the Boise area every year.

All five LOOT members recently spoke with the Idaho State Journal about what it meant playing at the band’s first Treefort, which artist they loved seeing most and what’s next for the group that merges hip-hop, funk and jazz with powerful lyrics and electrifying riffs.

LOOT has graced the Gate City area with irresistible funk-laden hip-hop for the past five years since the band was conceptualized by frontman Jesse Frey. The group was definitely inspired by The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Gimme the Loot” song when coming up with names for the band and also understood that the word Loot is commonly used and referred to in hip-hop music.

Initially, the band had four members, including Frey, drummer Shilo Murphy, Saxon Wheatley on the keys and a guitar player who’s no longer with the band.

“Saxon, Shilo and I started the band because we wanted to do some live-band, hip-hop music mostly because we had never seen it done live before,” Frey said. “It started with us three getting together and jamming out to hip-hop music before we decided to make it an actual band.”

A unique aspect of LOOT is that Frey lives with arthrogryposis, a term used to describe a variety of conditions involving multiple joint contractures, or stiffness. A contracture is a condition where the range of motion of a joint is limited. It may be unable to fully extend or bend.

“They don’t really have a reason, but they think that it happens when you don’t get enough movement in the womb so your joints don’t develop correctly,” Frey said. “For me personally, all of my extremity joints — my elbows, knees, fingers and toes — are all affected. I was born without biceps, and certain muscles in my shoulders I don’t have. It doesn’t really get worse over time so long as you keep up with the therapy.”

When he performs, Frey will constantly be moving about on stage, either pacing around a little bit or swaying side-to-side to get the weight off of his feet for a few seconds and provide a slight reprieve from the discomfort.

In spite of the disability, Frey leads LOOT fearlessly, feeling confident enough within his own skin to put himself in a vulnerable position. But that’s what makes music, often described as the universal language, so magical. It’s safe to say Frey knows his disability is more of an afterthought when he’s dazzling audiences with his dexterous lyrics and crisp delivery.

“A lot of my confidence comes just from growing up,” Frey said. “I had to teach myself how to do almost everything because people didn’t know how to teach me. I had to learn confidence in that way and learn that I do things differently than other people, but I can still get the same results.”

He continued,” It may look different and people may think it looks weird or funny but I realized that’s just how it’s going to be. I kind of take that into my music. I write what I want to say and do what I want to do on stage. If people don’t like it then that’s whatever.”

Frey, who played at Treefort once prior with a different Pocatello band known as Snoozy Moon, said he loved playing at Lost Grove for this year’s Treefort, adding that “the crowd was bigger than I expected and was much more responsive to our music than I anticipated. The venue was great and the sound guy was incredible.”

Frey said seeing Franc Moody perform at the Treefort Music Hall was the highlight of his festival experience.

Murphy, who had never played at Treefort before, said it’s one thing to have a decent crowd in attendance for their performance but “seeing them reacting the way that they did was pretty rad.”

The idea to start a hip-hop fusion band became clear for Murphy after he filled in for Pocatello funk-fusion band Hot Pursuit, during which Frey came on stage as a special guest for one song.

“I was like what is happening right now,” Murphy said. “Jesse’s cadence was hitting perfectly with the drums and at one point we made eye contact because of how well it connected. As soon it was over I was like, ‘OK, we need to do something with this.’”

Seeing Cimafunk, a Cuban funk band, at the main stage at Julia Davis Park was by far Murphy’s favorite from Treefort this year.

“They were so cool,” Murphy said. “That Cuban sound mixed with the funk and like that Afro-Cuban jazz was incredible. Every member of that band, and there were like nine of them, were so on point. Their performance was freaking awesome.”

Wheatley described playing his first Treefort as “kind of wild,” adding that it was “definitely one of the most high-profile venues that we’ve ever played.”

Wheatley said the evolution of LOOT is something that he’s proud of, singing high praises for Frey’s vocal range.

“It started out as we just wanted to start a hip-hop thing,” he said. “Jesse is obviously a very, very good vocalist, both with rap and singing. And then as we invited more people on it’s like we all have different backgrounds in music. I’m more jazz-based. Shiloh is more like rock and metal. With all of our styles combined, it sort of just naturally evolved into something more unique.”

Wheatley said seeing New Orleans band Video Age at the Neurolux in Boise was his favorite performance, adding that walking around the city with all his friends and band members was something he’ll never forget.

Soon after the band was formed it added Jorge Martinez on guitar and Caleb Rosenkrance on the bass.

The addition of these two members helped allow the band to explore its creativity more, said Martinez, adding that it took some time for each person to find their groove but once they did the band was able to incorporate elements from each member’s special skill set to elevate their overall sound and performance.

“I feel like our sound has changed since I got with the band,” Martinez said. “When I first started, I sort of felt like I was just there filling in space a little bit and having a solo here and there but over the last few months I’ve been able to help write with them and contribute some of my own songs to the band. It’s been great. We’ve definitely evolved.”

While Jorge also loved seeing Franc Moody the most, Rosenkrance said seeing Boise band Magic Sword at the same venue as Moody, the Treefort Music Hall, was the highlight of his Treefort experience.

“Seeing Treefort open Treefort Music Hall and labeling it after the music festival is super rad,” said Rosenkrance, who had played Treefort three times with Hot Pursuit before playing with LOOT. “Watching them come full circle to have some sweet real estate downtown is incredible. It blows other similar Boise venues out of the water.”

LOOT’s upcoming performances include the Meadowlark Music Festival in June. LOOT has also played Shady Grove Music Camp, the two-day music festival held at FMC Park in Pocatello every third weekend in July since the band was created in 2019.

Those interested in keeping up with LOOT can follow them on Facebook at facebook.com/lootpoky or on Instagram with the handle @LOOTpoky.