Godspeed You! Black Emperor and the Lost Demo Tape

Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a band originally formed in Canada in 1994. They’re an experimental rock group who has had quite a bit of success. Their most popular song is called East Hastings, and it was featured in the 2002 film, “28 Days Later”. Anyone who has seen the movie likely remembers that haunting song as the film’s protagonist wanders around a deserted city.

That’s not the only success the band has had though. Throughout the years, and despite the various drama that bands have with members leaving and hiatuses to pursue other projects, they’ve collected quite a cult following and they still produce music today. So while you may not have heard of this band, all you need to know for the purposes of this podcast are that the band is popular in many circles with rabid fans dying to hear their music.

In 1994 shortly after forming the band, they assembled at a small studio in New Brunswick to record an album. This album had a very small run. Just 33 copies of this cassette tape were created in total, and over the years all cassettes vanished. Despite the best efforts by the fans to track down the missing album, they were unsuccessful. The album was destined to be lost forever. Even the band didn't have a copy.