Re: Getting People to gigs. ..and WHAT gigs..?

[jprice@intcpi.com (John Price)]

I said somethin to this effect b4 a while bk.

Statement: Looping doesnât have a larger audience because
its simply tied to artists that donât move a lot of product
to a large and mass audiences.

Looping still is home to the overly analytical and cerebral types
of energy. Those folks do more damge than good to
music in any category cause they reduce music to
something less than the gifts it can bear.

Now There are tons o' people loopin but you still often tend to think of
them as cello or flute wielding, or quasi jazz/neo-classical,
improvisationalists/guitarists who have always
been an acquired tatse. ( though nonetheless an extremely important niche
in the bigger pic that reaches across a lot of generes ).

I guess Im praising and damning in some ways traditional loopers. Damning
The traditionalists type traditionalist for not changing or evolving into
areas that they arent usually comfortable with or usually seen as 
developing
and thriving.  ( All Based on the assumption that there is such
a thang as a trad. looper)

Trad. Looping often misses the danger, crudeness and visial stimulation
you'd say ( & this is just a very crude examlple for discussions sake ) you
could
find at like a cock rock show or better yet a Prince show.

Only a handful of loopers seem to be doing their thing where theres
that Pop Culture element of danger, Funk, trash...sexiness and
good ol' ego to it.


Anyone and everyone can be moody and edgy but
not many loopers aren't sexy looking or have star quality
young looks and fresh sounds that are easilly recognizable and
embraceable by the masses. Just an observation here ...
& not my personal opinion in the slightest. God knows Im an ugly
looking thing and my sounds tend to fall into the traditionalist
category!! I was just thinking bout this over the weekend an awful lot.

You always have to have a need ( a market ) or actively create a need
around something or someone who is visable and viable beyond
just the conceptual phase of expanding a concept amongst
an already sold audience.

Im always amazed when posters say gee
its amazing what this stuff can do and isnt this and that and so on neat
..and what about this feature of the technology.. great , Huh ???
And it comes down to .. its a shame no one is into this.

Most ( not all but most ) loop artists
forsake the Pop Culture ego for the "higher ground" and never
waver from a fixed perspective of performance and delivery which is often
rigid & rightfully uncompromising in principle. I think that devotion often
times
gets misinterpreted as conceit or moreover its outward perception is one of
a certain exclusivity which scares off a lot of folks who may be curious 
and
willing to
try or listen to a different perspective.

The biggest disadvantage to looping is that
Most loopers are still for the most
part a largely white/male middle class/age
thang that attracts mostly the same to all of its shows.
Thats neither good or bad rather its
a statement drawn from personal observations.

Also Word of mouth wonât bring looping any further than where it currently
stands today. Web Posting and Web Broadcasting in RA wont do it either
unless its tied to or part of a focused artist and or manufacturerâs or
Renowned Venue's Or better yet, a Well Financed Labels's marketing thrust.

Organizing can help somewhat but in the end it seems you only have
more people with you who are gonna be no better off than before... other 
than
the fact that you are together and have each other
as a psychologocal and social/creative means of support.

It wouldnât hurt to have someone Mix it up with big or widely
recognized people in key mags like musician, Gtr player, or
just about anyone of those DnB mags you can get from a local
book or record chain.

Matthew Sweet endorses Roland products in their
local user mag. Maybe a bi monthly or quarterly periodical which is
either paper and or web based devoted to looping would help
( from a manufacturers perspective )

Talk to the Music Mag publishers of significance
and see if you can get their backing for
your affairs/shows in book shops or chains that carry their
rags. All you want from the Mags is the Banner/logo and mention of you.

Better yet organize a clinic on looping thru Manufactures & Publishers
and or a combo of both.

Last, Loopers need to reach out to artists that are perhaps
on the surface appearing diametrically opposed to their being.

Get together with the Tupacs of your community or the dj shadows
or the Fresh Aire's or sonic youth's you can find.

Step outside of yourself
and you will always find a level of strenth and power
that was never present in your work b4 (IMHO).