Cassette Culture

From the worlds of mini-comix to independent music, D. Blake Werts is the creative force behind the fanzine, Copy This Cassette.

Martin Franklin and co-host Jerry Kranitz sit down with Blake to share the surprising story of how he discovered cassette culture only a few years ago, and how that discovery inspired him to launch a new publication devoted entirely to underground cassette releases.

He explains the philosophy behind Copy ...

3D glasses at the ready, we speak with Richard Allen, editor of psychedelic magazine Freakbeat, founder of Delerium Records, and Michael Dog of Club Dog, Megadog and Planet Dog Records.

Together, they helped define an era of fanzines, home-recorded cassettes, underground parties, and independent music distribution.

This episode, we’re hearing the inside story of a telephone call to Timothy Leary, the artists behind Freakbeat&...

Armed with fanzines, cassette tapes, and a fierce DIY spirit - two teenagers from Herne Bay helped shape the UK’s underground music scene.

In this episode, host Martin Franklin traces the journey of Gary Levermore, founder of Third Mind Records, and Richard “Richo” Johnson, the force behind Grim Humour fanzine and Fourth Dimension Records. From their early days frequenting a local record shop to trading zines and ...

Tales of handmade 'zines and the cassette underground with two key figures: Martin Bowes of the electronic-industrial band Attrition, and Alan Rider of the Adventures In Reality label and fanzine.

We trace their trajectory from the early days, as local Coventry fanzines "Alternative Sounds" and “Adventures In Reality” evolve into bands and cassette labels and build grassroots distribution networks that span the World.

B...

From the provocative performances of Throbbing Gristle at the Lyceum to Einstürzende Neubauten's infamous stage-demolishing concert at the ICA, this episode captures the moment when musical boundaries were not just pushed, but completely obliterated.

The Wild Planet column, written by Dave Henderson started as a cut-out-and-keep centre feature in Sounds, the UK’s biggest music weekly, but soon became a focus for the new ...

Amazing artworks, CDr's and a mystery device. The full unboxing experience of the package sent to us from Belgium by Sandy from the Hybryds.

This is the Bonus version of the recordings which opened Episode 8 "Universe Of The Wyrd: The Cold Spring Story" - just for our curious listeners who want to hear more.

Episode contains these tracks from CD:
"Euthanasia" Rabbits Wear Boots, No Style No Rules
"Why Are you Hear?" Rabbits W...

At the forefront of Industrial and dark electronic music since the 1980s, Cold Spring Records emerged from the cassette underground to become a significant independent record label.

We unpack the story of label founder Justin Mitchell, an underground music dot connector who started in the UK tape trading and mail art networks, and working within  the influential Temple Of Psychic Youth.

Cold Spring stayed close to it’s u...

DIY passion, artistic discovery, and the power of community. This is a story of the kind friendly networking that typified the cassette scene and it shines through in this episode.

We dive into the fascinating history of the ND fanzine and influential label, founded by Daniel Plunkett in Austin, Texas.

ND became a hub for the international mail art and cassette culture scenes, connecting artists from around the world through its fa...

With a pile of scrap metal and a disused railway tunnel nearby, unemployed youths Dave Kirby and Rob Maycock began recording sounds that they’d use as material for their Throbbing Gristle-inspired noise project, Psychopath.

Forty years later, on the eve of his international tour we speak with Dave about his early cassette scene releases and continued artistic evolution in Satori. Touching on his motivations, artistic confiden...

We share the news of the preservation of the Cassette Culture podcast by the British Library Sound Archive and talk about some upcoming interviews. 

Coming Next: Psychedelia in the Home Counties with Richard Allen of Delerium Records, and Texas' ND fanzine and label with Daniel Plunkett, plus the evolution of experimental/Industrial music with Davie Kirby of Satori.

Our new "Cassette Culture" stickers get unboxed ready for dis...

The Vital fanzine evolved from hand typed, xeroxed pages to pioneering online distribution, and connected artists from the USA and Europe.

We dive into an interview with Frans de Waard, creator of the Dutch fanzine Vital and the Korm Plastics label to talk about his journey of collaboration in the underground cassette scene. Covering his early zine projects like Nul Nul, growing his label network, work with renowned record store an...

Unboxing a Cassette Time Capsule sent to us from Steve Gears in the UK.

We find a treasure trove of rare cassette culture artifacts from the 1980s and 90s. From handmade fanzines and photocopied flyers to quirky cassette releases, this episode transports you back to the DIY underground music scene of the pre-digital era.

Martin and Hudson unpack the goodies sent from The Happy Citizen's Steve Gears in Manchester UK and talk through...

1980’s cassette networking branched out into independent radio shows, physical meet ups and gigs. For 14 years Sandy Nys ran his radio show on Antwerp's Radio Centraal, amplifying and connecting the scene. Through these connections, he ran his 3RioArt label, launched Belgian EBM influencers, The Klinik and later, electronic ritual collective, Hybryds.

Mindscan Tapes label owner Rob Maycock talks about quickly building interna...

Steve Gears (Pharoah Chromium Sound/The Happy Citizen), Richard Talbot (Marconi Union) and Tom Gibbs, (Infinite Expanse) take us further down the rabbit hole in this episode. We even got hold of some archive radio recording from “On The Wire” on BBC Radio Lancashire in 1989.

Cassette-era music comes from:

Sirius B, Basie V. Webster, Marconi Union, Richter Band and Omega Ensemble

First, we talk to Steve Ge...

A decade before the widespread adoption of the internet, a group of artists and musicians established an underground network to share their work with kindred spirits via the mail system.

Starting our story from a dark, isolated UK in the late 1980's, with mass youth unemployment. We take a journey with some key figures from the Cassette Scene, who provide a firsthand account of the collaborative spirit and sense of discovery that p...

Taking the DIY message of Punk as a jumping off point, our travel through the underground cassette network departs from the bleak 1980's Thatcher-era UK, community radio and fanzines, and all points in a journey to a thriving self sustaining culture.  Communication was valued over commerce.

For two decades the international mail system fostered a network of underground artists, exchanging cassette tapes of music and homemade a...