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Cassette Culture

Cassette Culture

By: Cassette Culture & DIY Music
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The stories of the global underground movement that shaped experimental music and culture, told by the artists that were there…

For two decades during the '80's and '90's, the international mail system fostered a network of underground artists, exchanging cassette tapes of music and homemade artwork – all under the radar of mainstream media. Taking the DIY message of Punk as a jumping off point, we travel through the network to find the creators of the fanzines, the music, the labels and events.

2026 Martin Franklin | East Coast Studio Music
Episodes
  • No Words, No Titles, No Meaning - The World Of Alien Brains

    No Words, No Titles, No Meaning - The World Of Alien Brains
    Apr 5 2026
    The strange, uncompromising world of Alien Brains, the project led by Nigel Jacklin that helped define the outer edges of the early 1980s DIY cassette underground. Emerging from a school science lab, inspired by John Cage and nurtured by the fledgling cassette network, Alien Brains rejected conventional song structures in favour of pure spontaneity, raw improvisation and a deliberate embrace of failure as an artistic possibility. The DIY cassette scene of 1979, with its “it's easy, cheap, go and do it” ethos, provided the perfect outlet for these early recordings. Mark Lancaster of The Instant Automatons and Deleted Records recalls encountering Nigel, playing an early gig with him at his school, and releasing the first Alien Brains cassette “Menial Disorders”. The story takes a notorious turn into the heart of the British public school system. As head of the Rock Society at Oundle School, Nigel invites Throbbing Gristle and Monte Cazazza to perform in the main hall, a collision of avant-garde industrial noise and traditional boarding school culture. We find a recording of Cosey Fanni Tutti sharing her memories of the shock induced by the performance - to teachers and pupils alike. For some it was an outrage; for others, a transformative experience. The concert recordings were released by Industrial Records on VHS and cassette tape. Richard Rupenus of the New Blockaders recalls finding Deleted Records via an advert in the DIY Corner column of the music paper Sounds, ordering the first Alien Brains release and eventually joining the group. He describes the strange, semi-chaotic Alien Brains performance at The Basement in Newcastle in 1982, where the band added another layer to the experience by introducing pungent smells into the venue’s heating system. Nigel picks up the thread to talk about working with non-musicians such as Neil Purvis, echoing John Cage’s belief that people without formal training can be freer of inherited constraints. He describes recordings made in unlikely spaces – a disused Second World War water tower, an out-of-tune piano in a Women’s Institute hut – and a string of performances, including a sparsely attended but historically rich show at Centro Iberico on Harrow Road in London, a squatted former school where Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse had previously played. An excerpt from this performance would later appear on the “British Interiors” cassette, with members of Nurse With Wound among the few in the audience that night. Philip Sanderson of Storm Bugs and Snatch Tapes, recalls habits in the pre-internet era when people simply turned up at your house if they’d found your address on a tape insert. He remembers Nigel arriving at his place and joining in impromptu recording sessions that turned everyday spaces and objects – old school buildings, gas pipes, scraping furniture – into sound sources, a UK parallel to the kind of improvised noise later associated with acts like The New Blockaders. The network kept widening. A chance meeting at Rough Trade in London connected Nigel with the Dutch scene and led to a New Year's Eve concert in Amsterdam — the biggest Alien Brains ever played. Bendle of The Door and the Window became a regular collaborator, the two of them hanging microphones out of windows to capture street conversations, feeding urban collage into the Alien Brains machine. By the 1985, it was over. A final performance at the Architectural Association — a mess of equipment, wires and confusion for someone's degree show — Nigel takes a taxi home and that was the end of Alien Brains. Hosted by Martin Franklin. Theme music "This Is Concrete" by The Happy Citizen. DISCOVER THE VIDEOYou can find videos of cassettes, artefacts and unboxings from the cassette underground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast IN THIS EPISODE THANKSWe have benefited from the extensive knowledge of Richard Rupenus for many elements in this episode. Including sourcing of the recording of the message left by Nigel on the Industrial Records telephone answering machine in 1980. VOICESMartin FranklinMark Lancaster Philip Sanderson Bendle Cosey Fanni Tutti & Chris Carter, recorded at Rough Trade East in conversation with Luke Turner of The Quietus.Nigel Jacklin, read by Robert Hayes.Richard Rupenus, read by Tim Nice. MUSICAlien Brains, "Blatantly Nihilist" (Fashionable Trousers 1980)Alien Brains "Menial Disorders" (Deleted Records 1980) "The Preparation For The Corruption Ov Oundle Public School " Nigel Jacklin answer machine message, 23 Drifts to Guestling (Iham Productions) Throbbing Gristle at Oundle School (Industrial Records, VHS) Alien Brains "Live at the Basement "(Aeon/VLZ Productions) "Song" Nigel Jacklin, Snatch 3 (Snatch Tapes) Alien Brains "British Interiors" (self-released) Alien Brains "Der Blaunk Tepes" (self-released) Verdansgang "And It's There" (ADN Tapes) The excellent Alien Brains box set "It's All ...
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    29 mins
  • Snatch Tapes & The Storm Bugs

    Snatch Tapes & The Storm Bugs
    Mar 6 2026
    A hard to imagine London of derelict warehouses and ruined public buildings birthed the short, intense life of Snatch Tapes, the late-70s cassette label founded by Philip Sanderson of Storm Bugs. Launched in 1979, Snatch Tapes became a focal point for electronic and experimental musicians pushing beyond conventional song structures and embracing the possibilities of electronics, tape loops and DIY distribution. Sanderson reflects on his early experiments with circuit-bent cassette recorders and transistor radios, the handmade oscillations that powered his duo Storm Bugs, and his time at Goldsmiths University’s Electronic Music Studio Central to the story is Sanderson’s playful subversion of identity. Through the invented electronic duo Claire Thomas and Susan Vesey, he provoked an overwhelmingly male scene and inadvertently attracted the attention of Cherry Red Records. When Cherry Red, via A&R figure Mike Alway, sought to develop the duo into a full vinyl release, the elaborate fiction began to unravel in a farcical chain of meetings and the eventual confessions. As Snatch Tapes gathered momentum, a loose but vibrant network formed around it. Contributors included Lemon Kittens, David Jackman, Nigel Jacklin, The New Blockaders, Cultural Amnesia, Beach Surgeon, N4’s, Alien Brains and more. Yet by 1981, after three intense years, Sanderson chose to step back. The label passed briefly to David Jackman before dissolving into the wider flow of 1980's cassette activity. Looking back, Sanderson identifies 1980 as both the peak of Snatch Tapes and a high-water mark for the cassette underground’s visibility. For a fleeting moment, it seemed possible that DIY cassettes might become a genuine alternative channel for direct music distribution. Featuring recollections from Philip Sanderson, Gerard Greenway and Nigel Jacklin, this episode documents a formative chapter in UK cassette culture. Hosted by Martin Franklin.Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen LINKSSnatch Tapes: https://snatchtapes.bandcamp.com/Goldsmiths University Electronic Music Studio: https://sites.gold.ac.uk/electronic-music-studios/Cultural Amnesia: https://culturalamnesia.com VIDEOYou can find videos of some of the amazing fanzines and cassette releases that drop through our letterbox on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast IN THIS EPISODE VOICESMartin FranklinPhilip SandersonGerard Greenway, read by Sean Holland (joinedupthink.co.uk)Nigel Jacklin, read by Robert Hayes MUSIC “Call” Orior, Snatch 3 (Snatch Tapes 1981)“Window shopping” Storm Bugs, Table Matters (1979)“Hodge” Storm Bugs, A Safe Substitute (Snatch Tapes)"N4s” N4s, Snatch 1 (Snatch Tapes)“Cultural Amnesia Dub” Snatch 2 (Snatch Tapes)“Ashes & Diamonds” Claire Thomas, Snatch 3 (Snatch Tapes)“Reprint 2” Claire Thomas & Susan Vesey, Reprint (Snatch Tapes)“Soley From” Storm Bugs, A Safe Substitute (Snatch Tapes)“Untitled” Alien Brains, British Interiors, 1982“Song” Nigel Jacklin, Snatch 3 (Snatch Tapes)“Under Press Of Sail” Claire Thomas & Susan Vesey, Snatch 1 (Snatch Tapes) 1980“Bright Waves” Claire Thomas & Susan Vesey, Reprint (Snatch Tapes) 1980 Many thanks to Jonny Zhivago and the invaluable resource for underground music that is Die Or DIY (https://dieordiy2.blogspot.com/) FIND UShttps://cassetteculturepodcast.com SUPPORTERSHelp us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who gift a small monthly contribution toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at:https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe Cassette Culture is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)Help keep Cassette Culture alive - Become a Supporter: https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    30 mins
  • Under the Westway: 1979 Portobello Punks

    Under the Westway: 1979 Portobello Punks
    Jan 26 2026

    Emerging from the squats, free gigs and improvised studios of late-70’s Portobello Road, F*ck Off Records operated at the volatile intersection of hippie idealism and punk DIY. Active between 1979 and 1982, the label released copied-to-order cassettes alongside a small number of vinyl EPs and LPs with music by Alternative TV, The 012, Danny & The Dressmakers, Here & Now, The Instant Automatons, The Androids Of Mu and their many collaborators.

    Founded by Kif Kif Le Batteur and Jonathan Barnett in a period when Portobello was dense with creative possibility: vacant houses, squatted venues, free festivals and heaps of talent.

    We join Jonathan Barnett to trace the roots of the label through the influences of Sniffin’ Glue and Mark Perry to Here & Now’s free-music ethos and open minded approach to supporting others. Central to the label’s emergence was Street Level Studios, a low-cost recording space that allowed bands to record without compromise, and the cassette as a format that made duplication, circulation and autonomy possible.

    Hosted by Martin Franklin.
    Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen

    KIF KIF
    We would like to dedicate this episode to the memory of Keith Dobson aka Kif Kif Le Batteur, who passed away in July 2025. His influence runs through the whole scene that we document in Cassette Culture, and joins many dots in my own life. We are proud to be able to tell at least a small part of his story and so sorry that we just missed him.

    (https://www.eatsdrinksandleaves.com/rip-keith-dobson-1956-2025/)

    LINKS
    Portobello Film Festival (https://www.portobellofilmfestival.com/)

    “Floating Anarchy” Here & Now documentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsg8cMdYtuM)

    Good article on the late-70’s Punk/DIY scene by Bob Stanley:
    Birth Of The Uncool (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/mar/31/popandrock1)

    VIDEO
    You can find videos of some of the amazing fanzines and cassette releases that drop through our letterbox on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

    IN THIS EPISODE

    VOICES
    Martin Franklin
    Jonathan Barnett
    Keith Dobson, aka Kif Kif Le Batteur
    Mark Automaton

    MUSIC

    “The Ballad of F*ck Off Records” The 012, Weird Noise EP (F*ck Off Records 1980)

    “Allez Alibaba” Planet Gong, Floating Anarchy 1977 (Charly Records 1978)

    “Terrified of Dogs” Alternative TV, Back To Sing For Free Again Soon compilation (F*ck Off Records 1979)

    “Pretty Nun” Androids of Mu, F*ck Off Demo Tape (F*ck Off Records 1979)

    “Too Big” The Instant Automatons

    “Drop Dead” / “Don’t Make Another Bass Guitar, Mr Rickenbacker” Danny and the Dressmakers, Back To Sing For Free Again Soon compilation (F*ck Off Records 1979)

    “Total Disregard for Greenwich Theatre” ATV/The Good Missionaries, Scars On Sunday (F*ck Off Records 1980)

    Fish From Tahiti — The 012, Weird Sampler (F*ck Off Records 1981)

    Asbestos Lead Asbestos — World Domination Enterprises, Let’s Play Domination (Product Inc 1984)


    Many thanks to Jonny Zhivago and the invaluable resource for underground music that is Die Or DIY (https://dieordiy2.blogspot.com/)

    FIND US
    https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

    SUPPORTERS
    Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who gift a small monthly contribution toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at:
    https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

    Cassette Culture is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

    Help keep Cassette Culture alive - Become a Supporter: https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    27 mins
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