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Looper's Delight
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Folks, I just want to share my expierence playing last thursday in Italy with you.It usually takes about 5 to 6 hours to drive from konstanz Germany to Brescia Italy but due to a nightmarish eastern traffic jam driving through the city of Milano(and getting a bit lost upon arriving) it took me about 9hrs.! I got there just in time to basically connect all my gear,wash my sweaty face have a drink and a quick bite and start playing.I personally felt a bit exhausted and unconcentrated during my performance but somehow i got through it. But what made this a very special night was the support and hospitality of Luca Formentini and his lovely girl,they guided me,waited patiently for me,and made everything run smooth once i got there.He also made me relax before the show and made everything possible for me to get the best italian treatment! He is truly a wonderful host and i recomend anybody planning on playing in northern italy to get in touch with him. But basically the point i would like to make here is how he is organizing this movement in italy.He is bringing individual looper-musicians with press publicity,acomodations and freedom to perform your set however you want to present it.This give you also the opportunity to set all the gear you need to feel comfortable, and the audiece get a chance to recognize you better as an individual artist. The publicity that was made on the flyers by the Club owners described the show as unguitar,ambient and lounge music.Weather i accompish this, you should probably ask Luca who was in the audience,but is obvious that the club owners are using this terms to draw their people because unless there is an expanation of it,it is uncertain how people are going to interpret the term looping in a flyer. Anyway instead of going into a discussion of a term i would like to rather give a few suggestions and ideas i am buliding from personal experiences that might help our presentation: -make sure you get an idea in what kind of club you are playing i.e. a bar,Disco,theater etc. and find out what kind of audiences they draw. -Send your promo material describing what you are doing briefly and to the point simplified enough so that even your grandma can understand it;-)Remeber that a lot of times club owners might not exactly know what you mean and they wonīt risk putting an abstract term in there. The club hast to get the people in and make money.This is the reality! -make yourself flyers that explain briefly the concept of looping,history etc. so people start getting informed about what we are doing. On the livelooping website there was a very good description of this.Print it out take them with you and ask the club owners if you can just set them on every table. -Try to get them to send you the already printed out promo flyer description of your show.This may help you know what audiences have read about you and expectations and plan you concept better before the show. -Try if possible (and donīt kill me for this) to adapt your show to this audiences.If there is a word in the publicity that says "lounge" well what a hell, give it a try even if you didnīt plan on it or is not on your set list!(Luca sorry if i forgot this!) -Find out before you drive far away (or to another country) how the traffic is going to be there and what hours to avoid.Find out the weather conditions as well.Sitting in a traffic jam for an hour an a half with heat and exhaust gases from trucks cutting it close before your show can drive you nuts!(i Have learned my lesson;-) -Print out all telephone numbers,hotel directions, etc. and donīt go anywhere without a mobile phone! -prepare your gear for the least amount of hassles,xtra cables,foreign adaptors etc. -record your performances or ask the Soundtech to do it for you. And last but not least know that "success is piece of mind knowing you did your best" Cheers Louie > But that's where I think the "Live Looping" movement > got itself in trouble. > There is an aesthetic similarity, but I don't think > I've ever heard anyone > express what it is. This leaves us with "Live > Looping consists of people who > use loopers live". But that includes the > singer-songwriter with the DL4 who > doesn't think of himself as a live looper per se. As > Kim (I think) has > pointed out, it makes knowledge that something is a > looping event be about > as informative as knowing it's a guitar event or a > trombone event. > > So, to really be successful as a promotional tool -- > which I think is the > basic reason for trying to define a genre -- there > are a couple of things I > think should happen: > > 1. Someone needs to come up with a definition of the > aesthetics and > experience from an audience perspective. > > 2. The name needs some consideration. If there is > real audience knowledge of > live looping then that name may be worth keeping, > but it also carries with > it the problem that to use a looper live may not > make one a live looper per > se. Mark Sottilaro and I started toying with the > name "Cycletronica" last > time this came up. He seems to have done more with > it than I have. > > I've also been thinking about Loopstock and > wondering whether the > potentially anemic showing in Los Osos is > symptomatic of a bigger problem. > Maybe it's just that like me other people have > schedule conflicts. I'm > trying to resolve those conflicts, but I haven't > managed to do so yet. > > Or are Andre's frustrations taking hold at a broader > level? I've found the > festivals extremely valuable to me as a player > because without them I > wouldn't be playing publicly. But I've also found > them a bit frustrating > both as a player and an audience member. For > example, as a player, I become > paranoid about getting my rig into a form that will > set up and strike very > quickly. That probably results in some useful focus > and keeps me from > spending a performance playing with too many toys, > but it is also a bit > stressful. And I really would like a soundcheck > though the audience > presumably wouldn't. As an audience member, I find > it annoying when others > haven't worked as hard and the festival turns into a > festival of technical > difficulties. (As a performer, I can think "there > but for the grace of God" > but that wouldn't cut it if I were just an audience > member.) > > Is it time to evolve beyond the marathon festival > model? To what? How do we > keep bringing the community together without the > stress level burning people > out? > > Mark > ===== www.luis-angulo.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - File online by April 15th http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html