When I released my latest (a.k.a. only) cassette back in August under the name Stoner Components, it was in hopes of keeping my lo-fi electronic experiment on the down-low. After all, I had recorded the album under the influence of THC and, thus, barely remember writing, much less performing, recording, or mixing any of it.
In fact, it was downright spooky some days to fire up the ol' Pioneer Toraiz SP-16 sampler that I was using as a sort of PC-less DAW and hear the results of what had been recorded the night before. For those of you who might be just a wee bit sick of your own sound after decades spent writing and recording your own music, I heartily recommend going this route, if for no other purpose than to surprise yourself at what sounds might fall out of your head when you remove yourself from the equation.
Truth be told, after four albums of heart-wrenching melodic pop tunes about love both won and lost, I needed a fucking break from myself.
When it came time to release the results of six months of cannabis-fueled creativity, I asked myself which format I should utilize, if any. These days, one can upload just about any musical brain fart to the interweb in mere seconds and become the next Chocolate Rain, but that's never been my game.
In fact, when my first album, 1988's Darren Robbins Steals Your Girlfriend, was looking for a label, I signed to the only one willing to release it on CD only. Considering that cassette was the leading format at the time, this was a huge gamble because most folks didn't even have a CD player at the time.
The gamble paid off, though, as most indie acts were still going the cassette route, causing a glut of cassettes piling up at every rock publication, music venue, and radio station. By releasing my album on CD, I differentiated myself from the other newbs and gained major traction.
My label also had a commercial running on MTV 24/7 which helped a lot, too, but the point was made: Darren does shit his own way.
Fast-forward 30 years and the cassette and CD formats have literally traded places in the mind of the consumer. CD's by every band on the planet are piling up on the desks of the few remaining print publications, music venues, and radio stations that cater to rock music while cassettes are back in vogue due to their quirky retro appeal.
When I realized that I had never issued one of my releases on cassette, I knew what I had to do.
Even so, I ordered a limited run of cassettes because I wasn't going to bust my hump promoting this release. Nor was I going to be buying airtime on MTV.
So when I wound up matching the sales figures of my first CD in a mere four months time, I was as shocked as anyone.
The lesson I learned was "When an L.A. associate asks to use one of your new songs in a San Fernando Valley lesbian vampire porn flick, do not under any circumstances say 'no'."
Of course, when said associate winds up using two other songs in two other "adult productions" without asking, 'tis better to forgive when cassette sales suddenly spike.
Which brings us to the holiday season and the announcement from yours truly that a short run of an additional re-order of 50 cassettes have arrived and are now being offered for the lowly sum of $7 (1988 pricing, yo). Keep in mind that these are the last cassettes to be pressed up for this release.
Can you say "collector's item"? I knew you could.
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weird wild stuff