On tour part II: The stylistic frontier

[The Man Himself <altruist@shoko.CALARTS.EDU>]

('scuse the header...)

On Sat, 5 Apr 1997 mgsam@wave.net wrote:

> Andre, I forgot to ask, what is it you play -- I mean besides the 
>loopers...

Oh yeah...  *that* issue.  ;-/

Do you mean equipment-wise or stylistically?  Gear will probably be the
following signal path: guitar - ebow - whammy pedal - echoplex - vortex -
stereo guitar amp - two 2-12 speaker cabs, with a seperate feed going into
a "straight" guitar amp, i.e.  whatever I can cram into the trunk and back
seat of my Chevy. 

Genre?  Good question; I'm still figuring that one out myself.  Pretty
much everything from abrasive, confrontational shards of sound to subdued
"ambient" meditations and pseudo-Indian drone dealies.  I'm also edging my
way slowly but surely towards a "cut and paste" approach using the
multiply and insert features on the Echoplex.  In my eternal inability to
go BEYOND FRIPP, I subscribe to the notion of taking the time and localle
of a performance into account, so you needn't worry about my subjecting a
coffeehouse crowd of small-town Oregon citizens to a sensory overload of
abstract atonal industrialisms whilst I holler forth various and sundry
selections of my favorite Edgar Allan Poe and William S.  Burroughs
writings atop the whole cacophonous din, guitar splayed face-down on the
floor all the while (unless you think that might be a good idea, of
course). 

Part of the reason I'm interested in more public performance, be it a
summit show or a tour, is that I want to see where my own looping work
fits in alongside other people's.  I've just finished compiling some solo
recordings, and I'm stymied by the fact that I have very little idea how
it rates in terms of other loopists' efforts.  All I know is that it
doesn't sound (very much) like Fripp or Torn.  So a big part of my
interest in more multi-artist gigs is in seeing other people doing their
thing, and getting a better sense of how many different ways the same
fundamental technique can be varied depending on specific instrumentation,
stylistic background, etc. etc. 

So again, Kevin, if this is a quiet, sedate sort of gig we're talking
about, I won't go spewing sonic gunfire all over the audience.  I'll save
that for a downtown LA gig... 

--Andre