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Looper's Delight
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George wrote:
"Zoe, I couldn't agree more. I like the idea of looping festivals etc.,
but were I to run one, I
would not bill it as a looping festival. I would find some other theme,
and then book
appropriate looping artists. The whole looping tag would be a secondary
detail, nothing more.
Something journalists could write about."
Ahhh, George, but that's the rub: I've booked successful festivals in
World Music,
Live Looping, Experimental Music, Found and Invented Sound, Voice and
Electronics, Emerging Local Electronica,
etc., etc. and what I've discovered was that PRECISELY because I used
the Live Looping angle and the fact that
we, as a community had a great breadth of style and musical genre while,
the whole time centering the festival
on the concept of live looping got me VASTLY more publicity than if I
eschewed that label.
I've never produced festivals that have achieved so much publicity
compared to the relative draw of the concerts
and most of that is down to me specifically pushing the live looping
movement as a brand name.
Additionally, there are a lot of people , me included, who find the
concept of a festival with many
different styles of music being presented around a central metaphor vastly
more intriguing and fun to watch than
a specific Singer/Songwriter Looping Festival or an Ambient Festival.
It is precisely because we HAVEN'T used tried and true , genre or style
specific methods of advertising and billing that
has allowed us to have successes in our local area with this concept.
Wanting to be on the cutting edge, journalists and DJs alike have
responded very positively to the
branding of Live Looping.
Besides, these festivals have been, specifically about looping. If
you want to learn more about it the techniques, philosphies, aesthetics
and gear that modern digital Live Looping affords one, there is no better
place to go than the
Y2K Looping Festivals.
Some of the world's most sophisticated artists who use live looping
predominantly in their music
tell me over and over that they learn something every single time they
attend.
I've been looping in public (and identifying myself as a found sound/live
looping artist) since 1995
and every year I learn a lot by not only the top pros who use these modes
of creativity but also from
some of the beginning beginners who attend the festival.
I'd never gain that knowledge at a specifically style oriented festival
that eschewed the title live looping.
*****
In the long run, of course, it is the music that matters, but
frankly, I personally get turned on
when I see someone who is not only very creative, but also innovative in
the ways that they used technology.
If that makes me a geek , so be it. If that doesn't attract a large
public audience who are not interested
in such a thing, great, but we have wonderful audiences of lay people
come to this festival too, and I'm constantly
gratified that when talking to them, they always mention how much they've
enjoyed it and how much they've learned.
What really turns me on, and this happens a hell of a lot, is when they
say, I'm going to go out and
buy a looping machine and get involved with this experssive technology
because of what they've seen.
Hell, I know two people who MOVED to Santa Cruz specifically because they
went to the festival and wanted to
be in a place that supported such a concept.
So, I say, more power to you if you want to create your own festival with
looping artists and
not mention the fact at all, but you should really come check this
festival out (and better yet, perform at it)
before you way in with your final opinion.
repectfully, Rick Walker