Re: Dig if U will our live looping flame war

["Steve Lawson" <steve@steve-lawson.co.uk>]

> At the same time, I don't share his all-encompassing love for looping
> itself, and I don't perceive the same communal connection between all
> loopers that he does.  Some of the stylistic differences at gigs with him
> have been a bit disconcerting to me: I had a mild panic attack when
> Steve Lawson's poppy, major-key "Inner Game" followed Rick's set
> (which included an improv using nothing but clitoral vibrators in
> drinking glasses) during our Hollywood gig back in January.

I think this is a worry, but it's certainly not confined to looping. It's
not always a bad thing to give people something of great contrast, and it's
also vital in terms of developing new music to take risks. Some pay off,
some don't. I'm sure at the gig in Hollywood, there were people who thought
Rick's solo set was way too out, and others who thought my naive tunes were
too 'down-homey', but the overall vibe of the gig was one of four musicians
pooling their artistic stuff and coming up with something pretty vital.

The rest of the tour was equally intiguing in those terms. Some stuff was
jarring, some was highly compatible. And some was probably a load of shit.
;o)

You don't have to perceive anything to do it. A tour gets offered, you take
it, you make the experience as fun and educational as possible, and head
home. It's not a change of musical focus or career, just a chance to hang
for a few days playing odd music with odd people. Some big gigs, some small
gigs... etc. etc. All great fun. I have no long term aim to become the
loop-festival mainstay either. But I love heading over the Santa Cruz and
playing a few dates with Rick - it's a great chance to hang with Him and
Chris and Bill and Nancy, and the music is always new and interesting. Some
of it gets fed into what I do the rest of the time, but I'm not about to
start banging bits of day-glo green plastic together next time I play solo
at the Royal Albert Hall... ;o)

I love the idea of a looping community - why? cos I like belonging. I enjoy
solo bass events or NAMM shows or church for the same reasons. Hanging out
with a bunch of looping people is great fun. If it works for some gigs as
well, great - we're all trying to get gigs, whatever the angle. If looping
works, milk it. It clearly works for Rick. Whether the notion of
live-looping as a style or inclusive audience snare will catch on, who
knows. Who cares long term... I've never needed a label like that, and 
often
have labels applied to me that don't really fit but work for ease of use. 
My
EDPs are great tools. Great instruments. I play them, I play bass through
them. The end result is music, music that would sound very different 
without
either the bass or the loopers... If there's a bass fest going on, I'm in.
If there's a loop-fest going on, I'm in. If there's a festival of musicians
sartorially influences by Henson Labs, I'm there!

'Dre - you played some wicked stuff on the trio tour - a whole side of your
playing that had (at least in public) laid dormant for a while. You got
fusion chops to burn. It was GREAT to hear that stuff alongside your
EDP/FSU/IDM stuff. Keep wailing, hamster-dance-guitar-hero-maan!

Steve
www.stevelawson.net