DON'T GO, ANDRE

["loop.pool" <looppool@cruzio.com>]

A letter to Andre LaFosse:

you just wrote:


> It actually has something to do with a quote which I learned from Rick
> Walker, ironically enough:
> "There is no us and them; there is only us."
> So when I hear about - for instance - somebody using a DL4 to loop under
> a solo, who is "not a looper per se," it raises questions for me.  It
> makes me wonder where the distinction between the "them" of this
> DL4-touting singer-songwriter is made, to differentiate him from "us."
> It makes me wonder what the common defining traits are of the 500-odd
> people who are on this list, reading this thread right now, that would
> imbue them with a "true looper" designation, that's missing from our
> Line 6-soloing emmisary of the "them" delegation.

I find it sad, Andre, that your mind is so made up about these matters that
you wouldn't even read the response letter I sent to this list
as soon as I read your last post. My response posted before this response
did.  I'll quote myself briefly but you can refer to the whole letter if
you'd like ( WHAT's A LIVE LOOPER, ANYWAY?).

r. writing:

"I typed that rather hastily, 'Dre.   I should have said that he doesn't
CONSIDER himself a 'live looper', which would distinguish
him, in that sense, from someone who actively thinks of themselves as live
loopers, like myself or Matthias Grob or Per Boysen
or, perhaps, you.............It's a hair split of course and, as with all
categorizations, intrinsically
innacurate and made merely to make the point that live
looping techniques have insuated themselves into the live performances of
lots of musicians who, five years ago, wouldn't have used them."


My intent with that post was actually to say that I was excited that a more
mainstream pop artist has been influenced by all the energy that everyone
has put in here at Loopers Delight.   I had no intention of being 'Us and
Them' about it.  I was clumsy with my rhetoric so I'm sorry you missed that
intent.

Being a human being I am very, very far from perfect; very far from living
up the ideals that I try to live up to.  I'll be the first to admit it, but
this is historically clear:

 I have tried extremely hard in the last five years of my life since 
joining
this list and becoming enamored with the concept of a live looping 
community
to be as all inclusive as I could possibly be.    Everyone who knows me,
including you, my friend,  knows this to be true. At the risk of boring
people with details,   I've gone so far as to invite every single person in
our community and even rectuited young and  middle aged talented musicians
who have never even used live looping to be our 'newbies' at looping
festivals.   I donated my own looping devices to these artists in an 
attempt
to turn them on to the techniques that I've grown to love in live
performance.   I've produced festivals of Found and Invented Sound,
Live Digital Video Animation, Voice and Electronics.  I've hosted Festivals
for Emerging Electronica in my region..........played acoustic music at
Singer Songwriter Showcases; fought for the rights of Street Musicians in 
my
town...........argued with the mayor and city council to try to keep Arts
Funding from being eliminated in my community.......donated countless hours
trying to support the establishement of three music venues in this area 
that
would be open to ALL MUSICIANS and artists and all without every paying
myself a single red cent.      I did it, selfishly, so that I would have a
community that I could belong to.  I did it altruistically so that others
would feel better about being artists with some sense of emotional support
for what they do in a culture that practically spits on the concept.

To accuse me of being devisive in this community ("Us and Them")  is
complete and utter bullshit and after everything I have said and done in
print and action to support your own personal career it really hurts me,
personally that you would say it..............especially in public.

In many many conversations with you in person and in print over the years,
you have consistently refused to participate because you have been
uncomfortable with the category or the attempt at community building in the
so called Live Looping Community.   Because you are so intelligent and
creative and innovative and such an important artist in my mind,  that has
always been painful to me, but I have grown to accept it. however.

you also wrote:
 >It makes me wonder a lot of things - like why serious, intelligent,
> critical discussion, which can take into account the 40 or 50 years of
> historical precedent for the subject of the discussion list, always
> seems to make a bunch of everyone's collective undergarments in a forum
> made up principally of adult, middle-aged men.

This sounds a little ageist to me, my friend, and smacks of the same 'us 
and
them' mentality that you are accusing me of.     I can only sit back and
chuckle, patronizingly, as I realize that in a mere ten years you'll be one
of those middle aged men.  I've gotten my panties in a bunch a few times
myself (because I know I'm a drama queen at times..........lol) but it has
almost always been when I sensed strong injustice,divisiveness or meanness
in people's posts.

> For the time being, I don't want to be a negative vibe merchant -
> especially to the people whose work and music I've spent innumerable
> hours trying to be supportive and enlightening about over the course of
> eight and a half years.  So as wise man once said, "My work here is done.
Now, I must go."
> Perhaps I'll poke my head back in at some point.  In the meantime, those
> who want to know how to track me down.

I'm so sorry that your personal feelings of not belonging and being 
excluded
and not being recognized and not be supported financially by this community
have led you to this.

You are one of our brightest stars and, potentially, one of our most
inpspiring ones as well.   You have the capacity with your intelligence,
your articulateness and your brilliant command of your instrument to guide,
instruct, inspire and , even more importantly
to nurture the people at this list.   This is a gift my friend.............
a gift that I wish you would not throw away because you are feeling
alienated presently.

Don't go, Andre.    This little community would be the worse if you did.

yours,   Rick