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Loopstock 2004: another eyewitness account



I also performed and loved being at Loopstock again this year.

I'm going to write stream of conciousness so forgive me that the order may
be incorrect but I just want
to put down some impressions of the day.

This was perhaps the smallest of all of the festivals but it had an 
intimacy
that was really wonderful. It was really great to have a long hang with
everybody...............we
played together,  talked about looping together,  ate really good
mexican food together, got nervous when the cowboys wanted us gone
together, played pool (or loop pool, if you will)
together...................lol.

It was also the most anarchic of the Loopstocks, because we got there and
there was no schedule of artists.  This bugged me at first, but it turned
out that the first half of the day
was characterized by a lot of inter-artist jamming which was really fun and
would not have occurred if Hans hadn't
planned/not planned it the way he did.   I ended up really enjoying that 
the
schedule
was so loose.  There was a really palpable sense that anything was 
possible.

  The second half was more about individual performances and the
aforementioned tussle we had with the bar owners because three locals 
wanted
the wierd
wanky ambient loopy stuff to stop so they could listen to ZZ TOP.     Hans
really handled the situation well, however and I noticed by the time I
played (and I had, by far, the furthest
performance away from the ZZ TOP paradigm with the
exception of Michael Klobuchars' earlier set) that a whole lot of the
regulars came in and and actually watched and enjoyed my shenanigans:   toy
pianos,   wind up toy
drummers,  brightly colored children's instruments, et. al.

*****************

As soon as Michael and I arrived at the Sweet Springs Saloon in Los Osos,
Stanitarium was beginning the first set of the day.
Stan loves to play loud and it was interesting to see all the loopers
hanging around
outside of the building listening in to his set.   The sheer volume of his
big guitar rig is amazing but the tones he gets
out of his big Fender amps is amazing (and probably could not be reproduced
any other way).
 Everyone I talked to commented on how much Stan's looping shows
have grown and I, for one,  just love his sense of melody.   He also got
Hans to add a subsonic synthesizer to
the metronome bass drum that he uses as his uber minimalistic bass drum.
Stan's music is ultra minimalistic
and I really dug it.   I'll bet he didnt' realize that everyone was rapt
with attention on the OUTSIDE of the club.........lol.

Max Valentino also played a really beautiful set of solo bass.   He really
is the most accomplished looper I've ever heard
on the Jamman.   He's incorporated and really mastered the Bob Sellon
software in that box and really stretches it
to it's full potential.   Anyone who wants to master that box should hit 
Max
up for a lesson.

Later, my brother Bill played a set that had every one rapt with attention.
He had decided to eschew his big Repeater
oriented rig for a very stripped down (for him) double Line 6 DL4 approach.
He then wowed us with some beautiful
playing on  his modern Weissenborn styled lap steel.  Bill is just the
master of creative use of the double speed/half speed/reverse
effects on his DL4s and I found his set to be the most sublimely melodic 
and
smooth of the day.

Lastly, our fearless leader, Hans did a very, very hip set that featured a
dub/hip hop approach utilizing really cool human beatboxing
combined with a dub bass sound that Aston Family Man Barrett would have 
been
proud of.   Earlier in the day at the end of Stan's set
Hans and I both beatboxed underneath Stan's version of Love Rollercoaster 
by
the Ohio Players.    My favorite part of Hans'
set was when he used some really lo-fi sounding beat box techniques (lots 
of
noise in his drum sounds) and then sliced and diced them
with two EDPs and a very hip old school rack mount analogue delay.    He
really gave me a ton of ideas for how to process my own beatboxing
in my shows and this pointed out the most important feature of all the
looping festivals:     I just learn a ton of new techniques and go away
from the event feeling extremely inspired every time I go to one.   That's
my definition of a successful musical event and we are all very
fortunate that Hans produced this one this year.   Thanks,  bro!!!!!

***************
It was also  a particular to treat for me to get to hang with
Michael Klobuchar, who flew out from Pittsburgh and did some
serious guitar mangling during his set.     It's always a personal thrill
for me when the Scoots-meister comes to Cali and I'm hoping he'll be able 
to
make it to Y2K4.    He is really inspiring to me in his concept of 
designing
sounds
for the guitar.  I always leave him wanting to buy a zillion stomp box
pedals (that Digitech Space
Station just rocks.....................Stanitarium used it really
effectively too).  He has such an interesting
way of playing a very inside piece of music and then morphing it into
outerspace before he is done.

It was also really great meeting a looping newbie,  Bernhard Wagner,  a
Venezulen/German all the way from Zurich, Switzerland.
Bernhard is not only a very talented guitar player with a fine rhythmic and
atmospheric approach (and EDP user for those who want to know) but he is
also a really great guy:
intelligent, funny, talented and really sincere.   I feel like I have a new
good friend.
Bernhard also is an excellent improviser and a real team player when it 
came
to the looping jams.

Another talented newcomer also played with Jon Wagner, David Giovachinni.
He used Ableton's LIVE on a laptop, synced to Jon's EDP and had an 
extensive
array of real and found melodic and percussive instruments.
The combination with Jon's wonderful multi-percussion looping aesthetic was
really great and I look forward to hearing more out of this
new duo.  David also has an extensive knowledge of Middleeastern music and
it was fun chatting
with him about a subject that I love, personally and hearing him 
incorporate
those influences into such a high tech approach.

  It's really nice to hear a couple of really talented fresh voices in our
'scene' and it was very fun to hear everyone participate in the myriad
jams that occurred during the day.

Bernhard and Michael drove back to Santa Cruz with us and hung out with 
Bill
and I for a couple of days and it was really a treat.   We all laughed our
asses off
the whole time.   The next night I went over and jammed in Mountain View
with Bernhard and Jon
Wagner (the Wagner Brothers?) at Jon's place and it was one of those
instances where I rue the fact that we didn't record our jam onto multi
track digital.

Well, that's it for my take on Loopstock 2004.

Rick


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