JM Tapes is a label I've heard of for some time now, but have only recently got round to writing to Jupe and asking for a list of what's available. Well, JM (or Joukkomurha) Tapes has over 50 tapes out, mostly of a noise/hardcore/experimental nature, but there are other types of underground music on offer too. Bands/artists with tapes out on JM include Steve Andrews, Lord Litter, Fred Frantic, Cosmonauts Hail Satan, The Blubberheads, Etat Des Stocks, Aggressive Misery, Okaniwa Fumihiro, M. Nomized, Warser Gate, and a few others. I'll let Jupe tell you more about JM Tapes...
1. When and why did you start JM Tapes?
Joukkomurha Tapes has been going since 1989. In the beginning, I had no particular reasons apart from that tapes seemed a natural thing to do along with "zinesting" and the whole punk/DIY attitude. It was fun doing tapes, though at first there was no bands to promote, not many contacts. So, in fact JM started as a small distro trying to push on all sorts of records, tapes and zines, but later on the distribution side of it vanished, since there was enough good distros around, plus I couldn't deal with it financially, couldn't hold on to the cash flow, so the score was: I saved some money, bought a pile of records from abroad, then got pissed and went to some gigs to sell them. Next morning I would wake up and realise that I had sold out of all the copies, but I had no money left from it. So, due to my nature, I soon came to think of cassettes as the only appropriate medium for me.
2. Why are the first 15 tapes no longer available?
Well, I'm not quite sure what I've released back then myself! Some of the earlier tapes were pure bootlegs and stuff like that, just experimentations on the cassette field. Then some of them were so hard to listen to, lacking quality. Some masters were simply lost, etc, etc. Actually, the only decent release from that category is JMC-004, which is a good quality live recording of a punk event called Punk/Core Attack. Plus, the rest of the pile are tapes that were never issued or anything, I just xeroxed covers and sold 'em. From these tapes I still distribute JMC-007, which is 1888 And Other Tales Of Terror by the awesome UK band Canwll Corfe. I actually was corresponding with Jon Barraclough, so he was aware that I was duplicating their tapes and even printed my address on their following tape (which I have also kept on my list, it's excellent and timeless).
Then on, JMC-13 was a sort of homage to me by the two guys who did UFO & Antennia label, including a booklet with lyrics and an opening song titled Jupe Luoma. It was recorded drunk and is a messy recording with cover versions, etc. I don't promote it any more but it's available if someone asks. In fact I have only sold one copy of it which is the all-time record!
3. Do you specialise in releasing particular styles of music, or do you release any genres?
I don't really mind about the genre as long as it's not total bull! At first I was bound to release absolutely anything sent to me, but nowadays the most important thing is that the sound quality doesn't suck too badly, plus I try to avoid the mediocre and typical boredom acts. I have released music and sound from many fields of expression and will continue doing so. No barriers or limitations intended, I'm trying to stay as open-minded as is humanly possible.
4. Do you only release what you like, or do you release anything you're sent?
In addition to answer 3, I like (or have liked at some point) all the stuff I put out. Of course I have my utmost favourites among the various JM-thingies, but I can recommend all my releases. I'd like to leave off all the messy demo tapes, etc, since people already have a bad enough attitude towards the cassette scene. I want to release good tapes, preferably weird ones.
5. You also write poems. Tell us about these.
I do write poems when I feel like it. It's not a daily routine for me. My poems have been published in many zines, mainly rooting from the USA and the UK. Some poems I like, some not. My philosophy is not to sit around for ages to meditate on the birth of a poem, they just come to me, I don't need to think at all. It's not a reasoning process. I don't use words, they use me.
6. What are your views on underground cassette culture? Do you think there is any less interest in it nowadays than a few years ago?
Well, there is not too much interest towards cassette as an obtainable product. People rather go and buy CDs, which is a shame, since CD makes all music sound bad, leaving off a lot of high and low tones, which takes a lot of power off the listening pleasure. CD is a snappy format in a way, but definitely not for rock 'n' roll! I hate CDs!
Cassette is so unbelievably easy to use. It's much better than CD. But what is the problem, is in the attitude, in the minds of consumers.
Of course, cassette culture is not for the usual consumer in any way. They are quite happy buying their overpriced compact discs full of top-20 chart boredom, while it would be much less expensive to buy a blank tape and record the song off the radio.
Obviously the reason for cassettes being so unpopular and hard to sell is the same thing that makes it so handy: everyone has access to it, if you're not aware of the underground as a whole, you're not aware of the tape you're asked to obtain either. It might be total crap, you never know, cos anybody can make their own tapes. But these days, anyone can make CDs as well!
Networking is a wonderful thing, which is almost impossible to try and explain to someone who isn't doing it! Who needs record companies while you are surrounded by so much brilliant music you can't possibly have the time to listen to it all!
In my opinion, cassette culture today is even more versatile and stronger than before. After the slow death of vinyl it is something to be expected.
It is in a way a closed circle, people who are into the cassette scene are the ones who make tapes, buy tapes, exchange tapes and write about tapes.
Definitely it would be impossible to cope with on a big circulation, so I myself at least will stay on the grassroot level, because I do this thing alone. If I wanted to get instantly rich, I obviously wouldn't be doing this.
7. Anything else you'd like to add?
Thanks, Kim, for the nice interview! I might add that all people who do music, sounds or spoken word are encouraged to send their tapes to my address. Another Compilation Without A Selling Title is an ongoing comp tape series, plus new long play releases coming out all the time (now on 29/1/97 there is 56 releases out; our catalogue is available for one IRC!)
Keep up the good work!
Contact JM-Tapes, c/o Jupe Luoma, Palosaarentie 38 C 20, 65200 Vaasa, Finland.
P.S. "Joukkomurha" is the Finnish equal to "massacre" or "mass murder", just to inform you!
BACK TO ARCHIVE
|
