Did you know that Looptober is the month that follows Stomptember?
If you didn’t know that already, Rejyna is hoping to get you up to speed with her Looptober Mini-Tour and promo campaign. Her poster series combines witty wordplay with images that are intended to imbed the word ‘loop’ with pun-infused imagery like street signs, loop straws, Hot Wheels loop tracks and a well-known cereal brand. (Look in the ‘Photos’ section at http://facebook.com/rejynamusic)
How does the member of a progressive metal/folk rock band migrate to the world of solo live looping? “Accidentally…“ Following gentle urging from family and eclectic venue owners, Rejyna has re-discovered her solo-performing persona through the i/o of a looper, effects and a vocal harmonizer.
Ironically, Rejyna was surprised to discover there was a new home for her multi-genre style of music. “When I first started using the looper and harmonizer in my solo acoustic set, I had no idea there was a whole movement centered around live looping. I was simply trying to make playing solo more fun by adding vocal harmonies and lead guitar parts overtop of the basic chords in my repertoire. Although I had seen or heard about other artists using loopers, I was only exposed to the ambient, improv, noise and freeform loopists.”
Contrary to what Rejyna and others may think, the live looping movement is not focused on a particular style of music. In the ‘about’ section from Rick Walker’s (a veteran live looping artist and promoter) Y2K Loopfest website, it says: “To this day, in that community, there is no style or genre of music associated with the movement. The only thing that links thousands of emerging live looping artists is a strong and supportive sense of community and a love for the concept of looping live in public.” As one can tell by the ‘archives’ links on Rick’s site, the art of live looping is not a ‘new’ thing: “The annual Y2K International Live Looping Festival, was begun in 2001 by Rick Walker, himself a found sound/live looping artist. It is the first international live looping festival and longest running one in history.” (http://y2kloopfest.com/about/)
Let’s back up a bit for those who don’t know what ‘live looping’ means. Live looping involves the use of a device (there are many types from several MI manufacturers) that allows a performer to record musical sections in front of the audience and then replay that piece while adding other sound and effect layers to it. It may involve footpedals (stompboxes), computers, conventional and non-conventional instruments (trash can lids, wood saws, etc.), voice, silence and noise – stacked, layered, stripped, reversed, time-shifted. Anything goes EXCEPT that the use of anything pre-recorded is not allowed. This isn’t karaoke…
Being a loop newbie, Rejyna was surprised by the invitation to perform with the other live loopers. “While I admire those artists tremendously, I did not consider that my song-based approach to looping would fit into their niche. See, I use a looper to build organized musical pieces on stage, and while bridge sections in my songs do allow for freeform experimentation, I was nonetheless surprised, anxious and quite honored to be invited.”
Resisting her apprehension about fitting in, Rejyna accepted. “I told myself, they wouldn’t have invited me if they didn’t think my style would fit – so, I accepted invitations to live looping events in Portland, Seattle, Danville and Santa Cruz. I hope they like what I’m planning to exhibit… I’m calling this my ‘Looptober’ tour” and while my main goal is to share my songs, my guilty pleasure in all of this is that I will get to be inspired by the best-of-the-best in the looping community. I am certain that the music I release in the future will benefit immensely from the things I witness from the other artists on this mini-tour.
If you are familiar with the style of music that Citadel puts out, you’ll be surprised to hear how Rejyna takes those songs into the solo realm. Her set features a few Citadel songs re-done looper-style mixed in with her new compositions. She will be promoting her CD Solo Sojourn Live and is planning to release a DVD/Blu-Ray disc of the Looptober tour in December.
If you’re in or near one of these cities in Looptober, make sure to attend, unless you don’t mind behind left out of the loop:
Oct. 11th – J&M Café, Seattle, WA (https://www.facebook.com/events/381359998620826/)
Oct. 13th – Analog Café, Portland, OR (http://www.facebook.com/events/352601574838095/)
Oct. 16th – Meenar Music, Danville, CA (https://www.facebook.com/events/432590403522293/)
Oct. 18-20th, Y2K13 Loopfest, Santa Cruz, CA
(http://y2kloopfest.com/about/)
You can check out Rejyna’s music and videos by simply spelling her first name correctly in your search engine – she’s on CDBaby, iTunes, Amazon, ReverbNation, YouTube, SoundCloud, Facebook, Twitter – and her personal website reveals that music is only one of the mediums she calls her playground – http://rejyna.com
Maybe one of the next blog entries will give us a clue as to how all this solo indulgence has affected the upcoming Citadel CD…ahem?!?
Loop Straws make beverages taste better, so the same must apply to looped music? (One of Rejyna’s Looptober Tour pun posters – http://facebook.com/rejynamusic)
Citadel ® 
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