Stendek – 2010 US Looping Champion. To call 2010 U.S. Looping Champion Stendek a solo artist, is merely part of the equation. His talent is looping, a very complicated art form involving equal parts dexterity and creativity.
The concept is as follows; He takes a guitar, drum set, keyboards, turntables, and vocal microphone, runs them into a recording device called a loop station and makes songs with it. The loop station enables him to record one instrument playing a short passage of music, then it plays it back instantly, allowing him to add more layers over it until he eventually emulates the sound of a full band.
While the concept of live looping isn’t his invention by any means, he definitely puts his own unique twist on the process by utilizing the vast array of instruments at his disposal. He’s also put a high premium on efficiency, often layering two instruments simultaneously to save time. This process makes playing almost unbearably stressful, but the end result is live looping that sounds like a full band. As far as a genre of music to pigeon-hole him into, Phil is most comfortable with Reggae and/or Acoustic-Pop, although he delves into many different genres in between.