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Re: WHAT COULD WE DO BETTER? proposal for a new thread



> 1) What could we do better?

write better music, rehearse more, polish our stage craft, same as every
other musician. I think it's dangerous to get too into a technical gimmick
and lose touch with the composers/improvisors craft. That's what the 80s
shred metal guys did, and most of them are now working in WalMart.

> 2) What would make our performances more fun or interesting to watch or
> listen to.

tell jokes, get some squirrels to dance while we play... there are a 
million
things one could do, that are the same as any other performer.

> 3) What are your pet peeves about looping shows?

that the 'looping' part becomes more important than the music part.

Looping can be a great tool for getting some press (as Rick has so
masterfully shown in Santa Cruz), but for the musician, if that takes over,
you're doomed. The root of it all has to be musical - if it's technical,
you're not going to find an audience beyond other people who do the same
thing. The general public ARE interested in how looping works, but not to
the point where they'll put up with shit music just to watch the button
pushing. Great tunes + clever technology x great performance = winning
combo.

> 4) What kinds of specific critiques do you have (but please don't mention
> individual artists so that we can keep this thing
> non-personal and positively constructive)...........and how would you fix
> the 'problems'.

no thought given to what the audience are meant to do during the building 
up
of a loop, poor set up requiring constant unneccesary tweaking throughout
the set, no actual tunes in a set that needs tunes (not talking about a
found-sound set that doesn't rely on tunes) - same complaints as for any
other kind of music - ie, most of it not being very 'good'.

> 5) What do you wish you could see people do that you think they have the
> capability to do (but aren't doing so far).

rehearse. play some great songs. Use looping rather than have looping use
them.

> 6) What kinds of things can you envision that would make a looping
festival
> more interesting to watch

great musicians. nothing more nothing less. The tag is there - loop 
festival
obviously works in Santa Cruz, and may well spill over into other
communities. Once you've got an audience, you've got to have great music,
otherwise it doesn't work. There's no 'mojo' to it...

> 7)  Do you think the whole concept of a live looping festival is complete
> and utter bullshit?

not at all. An individual might not like what they think it represents in
terms of the elavation of gear to headline status, but you've made it work,
Rick (though I have a suspicion that with your unhuman levels of 
commitment,
enthusiasm and positivity you'd be able to make a 'midgets juggling turds
festival' work - you're a whirlwind, my dear fellow :o)

> 8) Are you happy that there are starting to be more and more of such
> festivals

I think it's great - but I also don't hang any major significance on it.
Anything that gives people a place to play is cool. I think there's a 
danger
that people might look at some of the things that have happened in Santa
Cruz and think that it'll be easily transported elsewhere without factoring
in Rick's tireless promotion of electic music in the Santa Cruz area for 
two
decades, his place within the local music and alternative community, the
insane amounts of time and effort he puts in to promoting, publicising,
booking and arranging these gigs, and there not being a Rick Walker in 
every
town.

I think that a lot of the loop-fest things are as much Walker-fest as they
are loop-fest, and that is a testemony to the power of hard work and a
positive attitude. I for one am extremely grateful for the time and energy
that Rick has put into promoting the shows that I've participated in in the
Bay Area, and recognise that if I were going to be involved in putting on
some kind of loopfest in London, the model would have to be very different,
as I don't have the connections or the media network that Rick has
established over many many years in his area.

maximum respect - keep it up!

BTW, 'Dre - great post. Rick, great questions.

Steve
www.stevelawson.net