Tape Music Labels in Beijing's Hutongs: Interview with Nugget Records
This is one of the side stories in the "Walkman User's Guide 2020" series, which focuses on interviews with labels that release new tape music. The subject of this interview is "nugget records " from Beijing.
This article was first published in "BIE Others" , and here is the original manuscript before editorial changes, with a few extras. For reprinting matters, please contact " BIE Others ", unauthorized reprinting is prohibited.
Hello little piece of records,
As someone born in the late '80s, I often refer to this generation of my age as the "stuck in the middle generation." I say "stuck in the middle" because our generation has experienced things that are full of old times in the late 20th century in childhood, such as tape recorders, Big Brother, pirated Tetris machines, etc. At the same time, this generation is also the first in the world. People who embraced MP3 players, smartphones, and next-gen game consoles in their teenage years. It can be said that the rapid development of civilian computer and Internet technology and the growth of this generation are co-occurring. Therefore, the time span involved in "Old Fetish" is often the shortest in this generation, but the nostalgia may also be the strongest.
I really like the texture of the tape, for example, when you put the tape in the player, close the door, press the ▶ button, that feeling is very satisfying, and the sound quality of the tape is good enough in most cases . When listening to music on my phone, I can't help but play with other things on the phone. After a long time, I may not even remember what I just listened to. So three years ago I picked up the tape again. I'm glad to see that there are still music labels releasing tapes of new songs.
I'm curious, what's it like to run a tape-based music label today? Glad you could answer my question!
1. Please introduce yourself first
Tiny Records: What you describe about tape is exactly what we feel! We are Dave and Jen. Although it's been a year, we're not quite used to being called a record label boss. Dave currently plays for several bands, his main hit is "Nocturnes Drag". Jen is an illustrator who enjoys making art and collaborating with other artists. We formed this record label primarily out of a passion for life, but also to support the musicians we truly trust.
2. Can you briefly describe the history of your music label?
Small pieces: Dave took the Nocturnes on a European tour last summer. There we met a lot of small creative communities who were all doing unusual things. At the same time, we started to listen to some music from southern Chinese labels, such as the happy, lively and optimistic music from Qiii Snacks. We wanted to combine these experiences to do something lively in the traditionally heavier, cooler and darker music scene in Beijing.
Our members are "Three and a Half Heroes"! Dave is in charge of music, Jen is in charge of art, and Meatpie is in charge of Weibo. And our dog, "Bun", doesn't do anything, just eats and sleeps. Tape was chosen because we like physical media and value music that can be held in our hands, picked and played by hand. But vinyl records are too expensive, for listeners and musicians alike. Musician tapes are cheap and can be released in small quantities. A bedroom musician can record 25 EPs of his own and distribute them to friends for very little money. In general, tapes are more accessible to the people. In addition, for Jen, tape, a rectangular medium with portrait-scale proportions, allows her to have more artistic freedom on it, which is very different in temperament from the square CD/record jacket. Let’s stop here, I can write a book if I want to talk about it in detail!
3. Are there more tapes sold online or offline?
Small Records: Our brick-and-mortar coffee shop has just opened for two months, so we still sell more online, mainly on our micro-shop.
But recently more and more people are coming to our coffee shop to buy tapes because we have a lot of offline releases by musicians outside of our label that you can't hear online.
4. Are there still many people listening to tape music in your area? Do young people like this medium?
Tiny Records: Of course! The tape music scene in China is really big. In the past, it was mostly experimental music, such as Zoomin' Night and Nasty Wizard Recordings, but recently, many labels that focus on indie pop, such as Qiii Snacks in Guangzhou, WILD Records and Sango Coral Records in Wuhan Wait, they're releasing tapes. We did a charity tape release in March and sold over 600 tapes, and together we have sold over 3000 tapes! So I think people, especially young people, have really picked up the tapes. We feel that people are rediscovering the true value of music and looking for a more meaningful way to enjoy music than listening to NetEase cloud playlists.
5. How many tapes do you usually record for each album you release?
Small Records: This is the magic of tape, the release size is up to you! We usually start with 25 sets, and then we will reach hundreds of sets at most. In addition to in-label sales, our largest order was for 300 tapes for this year's abC art show.
6. Whether it's someone trying to pick up tape again, or someone discovering the medium for the first time, what's the biggest reason to keep people from listening to tape today?
Tiny Records: The biggest problem is finding a player! Since tapes are retro tech after all, finding new players can be difficult. We generally recommend that people go to Xianyu to find second-hand Walkmans, but they are all at least 20 years old and have various problems. So we made our own player called Pocket Nugget! It's super cute (like our music and illustrations) and you can buy it in our microshop! Our purpose is to promote the people-friendly nature of tape, we want to make tape happy and easy to be embraced by musicians and fans.
7. What is the biggest challenge you have encountered while running your label?
Little Piece Records: Haha, there are so many difficulties! There are many ancient techniques involved in recording tapes. If it's hard to find a good used Walkman, it's even harder to get a working tape duplicator! Our equipment always takes a lot of time and effort to maintain.
There are also difficulties in opening brick-and-mortar stores. Our store is located in a beautiful hutong near Beiluoguxiang in Beijing. Our neighbors have lived here for many years, and we are not quite used to what kind of cultural venue we two foreigners have come to open here. We feel like it's a learning and adapting process for all of us, including us, and we feel like in the end we'll all be more open to living together in this wonderful place.
8. Do you have any cooperation with other local or foreign music labels?
Tiny Records: Yes! In March, we cooperated with the Wuhan Small Animal Protection Association to organize a charity sale of "Love Tapes" to get through the difficult times of the epidemic together. During the event, we united at least 26 musicians and dozens of music labels. Also, we often work with off-label artists and other labels because people can trust the quality of our tapes and their understanding of the music.
9. Many western media such as NME, Pitchfork and BBC have reported that tape sales have increased or even doubled in the past three years or so. As a tape label, have you also observed this phenomenon? How are tape sales in your respective countries?
Tiny Records: The new generation of tape culture is still relatively new in China, we haven't been around long enough to see growth, but people have been super supportive and interested since we started.
10. The vaporwave movement seemed to have a somewhat positive effect on the "tape renaissance" in the mid-2010s. As those of you who release more original music, how do you see the impact of vaporwave and related tape DIY music on tape sales?
Tiny Records: We love vaporwave , and it's a vital genre for pushing older music storage media like tape. After learning about some recent vaporwave physical releases, we thought about doing a special edition release using floppy disks as storage media. Not sure if it will be a success though, haha!
Regarding music genres, Beijing has a lot of great punk, rock and alternative rock labels. Two of our favorite labels are Modern Sky and Soldier. We wanted to do something different, so we mainly focused on pop-oriented indie music, but there are exceptions!
11. In the past 10 years, there have been many entertainment works that show or recreate the 80s, such as "Stranger Things", "Desperados", "Hotline Miami", "Darkness", etc. There is also retro Synthwave in music. A popular genre of non-mainstream music. Whether or not they lived in the 80s, people seem to be celebrating the 80s. As a retro-related tape label, how do you feel about this phenomenon?
Small Records: We are all post-90s, born at the beginning of the Internet age. A lot of people were interested in the 80s probably because people's lives weren't immersed in the Internet at that time. It was a time when you needed to really connect with things, listen to physical music on tape and vinyl, watch physical movies on VHS tapes, meet physical friends.
It used to take time to do anything, but the results were also more meaningful. You need to dedicate part of your day to a new album that interests you, rather than rushing to stream a song like you are now. Now we have a lot of time, and our lives are fragmented, jumping between different things, all wasted, and never really getting a deep connection to anything.
12. As a tape label, how do you see the tape music scene in your city and the indie/underground music scene associated with it? Does your city have something that other cities don't?
Tiny Records: Beijing has one of the best music scenes in the world, and that's why Dave was able to move! There are so many great bands here, from budding musicians who pour out every note in their hearts for five audiences on a Wednesday night, to those who sell out tickets in no time and play in front of hundreds of people Big name band. We think the most connecting thing here is that everyone is down-to-earth, enthusiastic, and welcoming. When we feel depressed because of the state of the world, thinking about the people we meet and the friends we make here can give us hope for the future.
Thanks to Tiny Records for sharing their story!
To learn more about Little Pieces, please visit their:
Poppel Yang
Original on 2020-10-04, modified on 2020-10-24
poppelyang@gmail.com
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