This band gradually morphed into name, location and sound over the span of fifteen years. The four constants during that time have been 1) Curtis Leippi as drummer 2) Mike Luno as guitarist and songwriter 3) the songs, and 4) the drive to play music that challenges the musicians, technically and artistically.
This is not to say that the band has been playing exactly the same material for the last decade-and-a-half; but much of the material that the band developed back in the '90's still makes its way to the MLB stage on a regular basis. Meanwhile, the band adds new material to their repertoire regularly. Hungry musicians, indeed.
The band was formed with Leippi, Luno, bassist David Augustin and vocalist Jeff Starzenski in the Fall of 1996 with the express purpose of playing material that would be fun and challenging for the musicians. Jamming regularly in industrial settings in Victoria, BC, popularity, listenability and marketability were irrelevant concerns. Under the name Victoria Secret, the quartet put together a repertoire ranging from the Screaming Headless Torsos to Paul Simon, Joe Tex to Sting, and Joni Mitchell to the Dave Matthews Band. Meanwhile, Luno managed to sneak half a dozen original tunes into the playlist as well. His approach to writing luckily fit the playing styles of his bandmates to a T.
Much to the surpise of all involved, the band started gigging regularly around Victoria throughout 1997. By the next year, however, Starzenski and Augustin had moved on to other musical interests. The band recruited local school band teacher George Koenig for bass, gave vocal duties to Mike and changed the name of the band to Devil You Don't. With intermittent involvement from saxophonist/keyboardist/percussionist Wendell Clanton and keyboardist Chris van Sickle, the band released a baker's dozen tunes on 2003's "Better the Devil You Know...". Over the following years, the band was recognized locally at the Island Music Awards, with nominations for Best Producer, Best Song, Best Songwriter - and with a win for Best Male Vocalist.
Despite the local recognition, Leippi and Luno reached the conclusion that there would likely be a larger, more receptive audience to their music on the other side of Georgia Strait. The two re-established the band in Vancouver in 2010 under the name of Mike Luno Band (at Leippi's behest: he reasoned that a a solo artist name put more focus on the music than image). With the help of bassist Trevor Andres, the band began making an impression in a number of local live music clubs such as the Railway Club, the Princeton Pub and Comox Long Bar and Grill. They also put half of their newly recorded material into CD form: "Get Inside". Bucking the trends toward dense orchestration, instrumental primitivism or sleepy acoustic folk, the new CD emphasized the lean-and-mean energies of aggressive instrumentalists held almost at bay by multi-layered songwriting. Toe-tapping, thought-provoking, invigorating or disturbing - Mike Luno Band runs no risk of being mistaken for anyone else.