live looping/pros etc...

[Steve Lawson <steve@steve-lawson.co.uk>]

>>> So say I, get out there and book up some gigs - it'd probably help if 
>you
> had some sort of tape of the kind of thing you're doing, just so venue
> owners etc. know what they are getting, but if you're willing to play for
> free, you may well be able to find coffee shop stuff to get some
practice...

>???

>Steve Sandberg is a professional musician.<<<

>>>I also agree with the general attitude about doing several shows as
practice, and would agree with Steve's idea that a low-key coffeehouse
environment can be a good way to go.  I sympathize with David
Beardsley's comment about Steve Sandburg (or anyone else) being a
professional...<<<

...I had been a professional musician for about 7 years before I started
doing loop gigs, had played to audiences of up to about 6-7,000 all over
Europe with various bands, toured pretty much continuously for three years
etc. etc. 

when it came to doing loop gigs, it was like starting again. I had to
rethink it - it's almost like taking up a new instrument, or even a
different artistic discipline. And the approach changes. Being a pro 
doesn't
negate the need to get out and play in front of an audience. if you have a
'following' of sorts, that could even make it harder to do, not wanting to
f*** up in front of people who know you as a stunning [insert musical style
or performance mode here]...

No offence or devaluation of Steve's art was intended at all - with
improvised music, it seems to me that a new dynamic appears, and practicing
improvising, particularly as it relates to looping, is a whole different
area...

I'm still quite happy to play for free if the setting gives me a chance to
do something I wouldn't otherwise get to do - I express it by saying that
I'll never play for nothing, but what I get from it (or give to it) won't
neccesarily be financial...

big festive love 

Steve 
www.steve-lawson.co.uk