Musicians from all over the world will join together for two days for a love of looping. “Loopers” are musicians known to mix instruments with technology and other software to create an avant garde sound—a sound similar to what Trent Reznor became famous for when he released Pretty Hate Machine under his band, Nine Inch Nails, in 1989.
Noah Peterson, a San Antonio musician otherwise known as a looper in his closer circles, is spearheading the five-stop tour throughout California in the hopes of creating a West Coast showcase of national and international talent.
This will be the first time Peterson brings a collective of loopers to Long Beach as part of the International Live Looping Festival.
“[Long Beach] has a creative culture, and I got to see Mark [DiPiazza]’s venue and we like the all-ages thing,” Peterson said. “I like that it has a great rep and sound. The parking seemed like a good fit and it’s right outside of Los Angeles which is great for traveling artists.”
Originally, the Looping Festival began in Santa Cruz in 2001 with Rick Walker. The event has been around now for 14 years and has expanded to other cities and countries. Peterson was invited by Walker to play at his festival one year, and both now share artists and resources to help each other cross promote.
Long Beach resident Sander Wolff, who will also be performing on Wednesday, has been looping for over 30 years.
One style of looping, Wolff explained, is known as “Frippertronics,” a style that will repeat anything played into it and following each repetition, the sound will slowly fade out; this allows a musician to create harmonies or melodies. Wolff said he would perform Frippertronics looping for the festival.
The other style is based on repeated music at a specific interval without fading out. Musicians can then create new chord structures or percussion patterns that can add depth while the musician sings or plays another instrument.
Since the looping scene in California is relatively new, Peterson reached out to artists in seven different countries to put on the festival. He guarantees the 19 artists set to perform in Long Beach are some of the top notch loopers from the world and include well-established loopers such as Japanese looper Mandoman, Cian by way of Mexico, and Stockholm-based Per Boysen.
“The big thing about looping is that the nature of it being a one man band, we tend to do it all on our own,” Peterson said. “These communities are brand new, so we’re definitely reaching out around the world. I try to find those that are avant garde, those in the community that come from a specific group—I try to pick a variety of musicians—expect to be amazed.”
The first annual SoCal Loopfest will take place on October 22 and 23 at 6PM at DiPiazza’s, located at 5205 E Pacific Coast Hwy. For those unable to make the event, click here to view the livestream while the event is occurring.
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