Episodes

Underground Goes Overground: Freakbeat, & Planet Dog

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,…

Third Mind, Fourth Dimension

Third Mind, Fourth Dimension

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,…

Wild Planet Sounds 1983

Wild Planet 1983: The World Gets Weirder

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…

Erotic Art, CDr’s and a Mystery Device from Hybryds

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:…

Universe Of The Wryd - The Cold Spring Story

Universe Of The Wyrd: The Cold Spring Story

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…

Contact Exchange document - The Story Of ND

Contact-Exchange-Document: The Story of ND

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…

The 40 Year Journey Of Satori

Evolution of Noise: The 40 Year Journey of Satori

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…

The British Library Calls

The British Library Sound Archive Calls

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…

Underground Zines And The Hunt For Lost Music

Underground ‘Zines And The Hunt For Lost Music

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…

The Package From Steve Arrives

The Package From Steve Arrives

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…

Cassettes On Radio

Cassettes On The Radio: Underground Broadcasting

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,…

Cassette Culture - Find The Others

Find The Others

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…

Join The Cassette Culture

Analog Connections – Join The Cassette Network

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…