Composer, chronicler and publisher Frans de Waard will be our guest on Thursday, May 14, at 23:00 CET in the 5th installment of our programme Re:lightabout the rise of Dutch cassette culture.
In this series of programmes, we dive back into the first DIY (Do It Yourself) era.
As early as the beginning of the 1980s, De Waard sent his first and only music cassette recording to the VPRO’s Radiola Improvisation Salon. It was the start of a long career in underground experimental music.
Initially, De Waard worked solo under the name Kapotte Muziek. Later, he began collaborating with others under names such as Beequeen, Goem, and Zebra. In 1984, De Waard started his own label, Korm Plastics. The label released mainly cassettes and occasionally records. It was not until around 1992, when De Waard started working at Staalplaat in Amsterdam, that the releases consisted primarily of records and CDs. The period at Staalplaat is now a thing of the past. Since then, Frans de Waard has increasingly focused on documenting, collecting and describing adventurous, artistic and experimental music. His online review magazine Vital Weekly even celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. In his spare time, De Waard also writes books, makes music and gives concerts.
Click here to listen to the programme.
In this episode, we go back to the period when De Waard’s interest in cassette labels was born. He talks about his fascination with sound processing and how he started experimenting with it himself.
For more information about cassette culture, its history, the music, and previous radio broadcasts in this series, please visit: diggindemos.nl/cassettecultuur
