Demo Universe
by Jim Santo
by Jim Santo
A universe of strange and wonderful music is as close as your local post office box. All you need to do is let it in.
For seven years now, I've been exploring the world of self-released music, and while some may cringe at the prospect of wading through mountains of "demo tapes," my experience has been consistently and deeply rewarding.
Most people get their music from a recording industry machine that delivers its product carefully groomed for maximum market impact. Commercial music comes laden with pop-culture baggage fashion, videos, celebrity gossip a process that inevitably iconizes the musician and creates distance from the listener.
Self-released music, by definition, comes directly from the musician to you. How can I explain the rush that comes from knowing that the artist who made the sounds I'm hearing was the very same individual who wrote a personal note to me, stuffed and sealed the mailer, licked the stamp and posted the package from their neighborhood?
Don't let the word "demo tape" mislead you. Advances in home-recording technology have greatly improved the fidelity of most home releases (of course, many are done in professional studios too). What's more, this universe of music is available to you at a ridiculously low cost. Eager to be heard, bands will often send you their tapes for free, asking only the cost of postage.
The variety of music you can get in the mail is truly awesome. As an indication of what you can expect, I've assembled an international sampler of recent arrivals. Check it out:
Zagreb-based Vegetable Soup just sent me their latest cassette, Gone
With The Window, along with a tape by some friends of theirs, So
Shine! by the band Don't.
"Soul Rotation"
Long (320K/ au)
Short (120K/ au)
More straightforward but no less furious is Don't, a punk foursome fronted by vocalist Katarina Pavlek. Reminiscent of America's Slant 6 and England's Elastica, this 13-song cassette includes covers of Jagger-Richards' "Child Of The Moon" and Jacques Brel's "Seasons In The Sun" (Don't, Miklinovec 25, Koprivnica 43300 Croatia)."God Is Her Father"
Long (320K/ au)
Short (120K/ au)
