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Mike Prezzato of Flesh Wave Tapes interview

March 9, 2014

Mike Prezzato of Flesh Wave Tapes interview

Mike Prezzato of Flesh Wave Tapes has been pumping out some
of the best DIY cassette tape releases out there since 2012, but I only became
aware of that after a recent interview with Sick Thought’s Drew Owen (Interview here) when I discovered that the then digitally released Selfies Bad Bloodalbum was not only another one of Drew’s many side projects, this time slated
for release on Flesh Wave, but that the guy who ran the label also played on
the album.  I really dig the scuzzy,
lo-fi, demo like quality of Selfies and had checked out a few of the other
bands on the label including Fake Surfers, Eroders and an insanely awesome
Timmy Vulgar tape, Center Of Saturn, which was recently repressed for the last
time; so take note fanboys!  I grew up
around 80’s punk zines and DIY cassette tape releases, so from the instant I
clicked play and started listening to the music, I was whisked away to a time
when people did stuff because they cared. 
They put music out because they gave a shit.  They did everything themselves.  They recorded the music, they dubbed the
tapes, they made the artwork and then usually they gave it all away to friends
or fans accepting money when it was offered to them.  It’s good to know that spirit is still alive
and kicking with labels like Flesh Wave around. 
Don’t get me wrong, Flesh Wave isn’t caught up in the 80’s or any era
really for that matter, but they represent the kind of label that typifies the
era to me.  A label that’s more concerned
with putting out good music that fits into what they’re doing and that they
enjoy, and will enjoy, listening to than anything else.  A label that represents one of those
intangible but always intelligible visions of self-expression and exploration
with little thought to the critical audience that might receive it.  Needless to say, I was sufficiently
interested in what the label had planned for the future and just how they had
gotten started.  By chance founder Mike
Prezzato, who turned out to be a super cool dude more than willing to give our
lucky readers a glimpse at where he’s been and just what Flesh Wave has in
store for the universe, popped up on my Facebook feed one day and that was
that.  So pop the top off a bottle of
beer, stick some sick punk on the stereo via the link below and enjoy the ride
because this is more lo-fi, Detroit punk in once place than most people find in
a life time!
Listen
while you read: http://fleshwave.bandcamp.com/

Where are you
originally from?
Mars,
probably.  I grew up in suburban Detroit
and lived in the city in recent years. 
Currently moving to Austin in March.
What was the music
scene like where you grew up?  Did you
see a lot of shows when you were growing up or get very involved in the local
music scene?
Yeah, a lot of
local shows.  We’d go to any show just to
have something to do.  Most of the time
shows in the burbs were pretty crummy but there were a couple all ages joints
at least.  I’ve been involved with one
music scene or another actively since about 1998, whether it’s just going to
shows, doing art for bands or putting stuff out.
What was your
house like when you were younger?  Was
there a lot of music around you?  Were
either your parents or any of your relatives musicians or extremely involved or
interested in music?
Nothing
overwhelming music wise growing up.  I
had to find out about all the weird music by myself, as my parents interest in
music didn’t exactly go too deep underground. 
My dad’s cassette copy of Billy Joel’s Glass Houses really stuck with me
though.
What was your
first real exposure to music?
Real exposure
to music, or to “real” music?  Something
that I remember being a moment of hearing “real” music, something that seems to
me to have some semblance of heart and balls, was hearing a cassette of Dead
Kennedys In God We Trust Inc.  Raw,
quick, funny and fucked up.  It was a
mess and I dug it.
If you had to pick
a single defining moment of music, a moment that opened your eyes to the
infinite possibilities of music and changed everything for you, what would it
be?
There isn’t
one.  It’s not that simple, it’s more of
a load of experiences that happened slowly over time, and even that shouldn’t
be bothered to be sorted out or defined.
I grew up around a
fairly sizable collection of my dad’s music and I was encouraged to check out
anything that I wanted to when I was young and enjoy the collection.  I would snag stuff off of these enormous
shelves of music that never seemed to end. 
I’d stick it in the player, kick back in the beanie bag, read the liner
notes, stare at the artwork and let the music transport me off somewhere
else.  Having something physical to hold
in my hands, something to experience along with the music always offered a rare
glimpse inside of the minds of the artists that made it and made for a more
complete listening experience, at least for me. 
As a result I’m a little bit obsessed with the rush that comes along
with listening to physically released music and don’t think I’ll ever fully get
over my “addiction” to it.  Do you have
any such connection with physically released music?
Yes and
no.  I sort of hate owning too much
stuff, so my collection of music, and everything pretty much, has downsized a
lot.  Plus I had some music stuff stolen
from me, including a ton of cassettes, so that kinda made me say, “fuck
it” as well.  I want to start
getting some of my favorite stuff back on vinyl, as I do enjoy the physical
product, but I listen to a ton of music on the computer, because hey, it’s the
future and it’s really damn convenient.
As much as I love
my music collection digital music is amazing. 
Not only has it allowed me greater access to my music collection but
when you team it with the internet, that’s when things get really interesting.  I’ve been exposed to an entire universe of
music that I would never have been exposed to and they seem to have somewhat
levelled the playing field for independent artists and labels willing to
promote a good online presence and really interact with their fan base.  On the other hand illegal downloading is
running rampant right now and it’s getting harder and harder to get any sort of
following or anything in the chocked digital jungle out there.  As the owner of a label during the reign of
the digital era what’s your opinion on digital music and distribution?
I mean, personally,
if I listen to it online or if I download it, and I really like it, I’ll buy
it.  I think that’s sort of the common
mentality with people who appreciate underground music and labels.  It’s hard to pick up everything cool though
because, who has the money for it? 
Honestly, in regards to my label, I just appreciate people checking it
out, even if they get a download and don’t buy anything.  That’s how it goes.  I hope they would buy something, but I’m not
gonna be pissed off if they downloaded it or anything.  Sure I’d rather they bought it, but ya can’t
control those things. They dig it, they’re listening to it, and that’s cool in
itself.
When did you first
decide that you wanted to start releasing and recording music and what brought
that decision about?
The thing with
this label, as far as the tapes go, is that my goal from the get go was to
release all the tunes my friend Ian Swanson and myself had recorded from
2010-2012.  I had enough material, plus
that of other local bands, to release. 
It expanded to bands like Fake Surfers, Eroders, Timmy Vulgar, and so
on.  Always keeping with being demo-ish
recordings.  And that’s fine, it is what
it is, and releasing ‘em on cassette fits that aesthetic well.
When did you start
Flesh Wave Tapes?  Do you run the label
on your own or do you have any help from anyone else?
Flesh Wave
started as a zine in 2005-ish that came with a tape compilation of Detroit
hardcore punk bands.  I started doing the
tapes just recently, in 2012.  Ian was
part of it until he moved to New York City. 
I’m running it now with help from my brother.
Did you start
Flesh Wave Tapes with any certain goals in mind or in hopes of accomplishing
some sort of goal?
Just to release
all the tunes I was sitting on, like I said before.  Just releasing them was the goal in itself.
Where does Flesh
Wave operate out of?
The basement of
that sleazy Chinese restaurant on the corner of Caniff and Campau.
Is there any sort
of creed, code, ideal or mantra that the label runs by?  Do you have any basic manifesto you founded
the label upon?
Just to create
my own little mutant media.  I don’t care
about art as entertainment, but at the same time I don’t spend my energy hating
on it.  Do your own thing and have it be
for something, not against anything else.
What does the name
Flesh Wave Tapes mean or refer to and how did you come up with it and go about
choosing it as the name for the label?
It’s a takeoff
of a line from a Henry Rollins book.  I
forget the exact quote and what book it was from, so I’ll let you find it
yourself.  That plus, “it sounds cool”
would be my most honest explanation, as I don’t feel like searching for too
much meaning in it.
Do you give a lot
of thought to the visual aspects that represent the label like logos and
artwork for the label and its releases? 
There’s a cool unifying theme that seems to tie everything together
without everything looking like it comes from a cookie-cutter cloning machine
or something.  Do you have any artist(s)
that you usually turn to for those kinds of things?  If so, can you tell us who they are and how
you originally got hooked up with them?

For sure.  Fake Surfers, Eroders, CANE! and Timmy were
the only tapes I didn’t do the art for. 
Ian and I came up with the punky skull logo.  Yeah, I like the “cookie cutter” thing like
you said, but with each uniform product having its own unique voice.  I’m an artist first and foremost so of course
I’ll take care of it myself before I turn to anyone else to fill in the
blanks.  Jimbo Easter, from Pirahnas and
Moon Hairy, did the excellent art on the Timmy tape!  He draws Timmy in that weirdo cartoony way a
lot, I love it.
How would you
describe the local music scene where you’re at now? 
It’s way
cool.  Can’t go through every band but
check out these labels, Urinal Cake, X Records and Gold Tapes.  Protomartyr is my favorite local act
currently.
Do you mostly draw
from local bands for your releases or do you release anything that catches your
ear and you think fits the label well?
It’s mostly
based on if it really catches my ear. 
Don’t care too much beyond that. 
The only non-Detroit bands I’ve put out so far are CANE!, from Italy,
and Deformities, from Baltimore.  I’ve
had a lot of bands send me their stuff asking me to put it out, but nothing
really vibed with what I was looking for.
Do you accept
demos and if so where’s the best place for people to submit stuff?  I know you said you haven’t released anyone
outside of Detroit except for two or three things but with the upcoming
expansion to vinyl, are you looking to expand your roster of artists outside of
the Detroit area or do you plan to continue concentrating on local bands?
I’m always down
to check stuff out, but getting a tape out now won’t happen until possibly
further down the road at this point. 
mikefleshwave@gmail.com is the best place to get in touch.  I never confined myself to say that I’d only
put out Detroit stuff, it’s just worked out that way, obviously being from
Detroit and digging some bands from the area. 
I’ll put out whatever I like, from wherever it is.
What was your
first release for Flesh Wave?  What are
your memories of releasing that first cassette? 
Do you do everything yourself? 
Was it very a very stressful thing for you?
Astral
projection, Klaus Kinski in Cobra Verde and eating a cheeseburger in Ann Arbor
come to mind.  Nothing too
memorable.  The first release was the
Fake Surfers 6 song tape.  I did
everything myself, because who else was gonna do it?  It’s not stressful, I enjoy working on, and
making, these kinda things otherwise I wouldn’t have a functioning label.
Can you walk us
through the typical process of putting something out briefly?
Well it usually
involves a lot of emails or text messages with the band member I’m talking to,
to square away what we’re gonna do. 
While this is going on, I work on a tape insert on photoshop and print
‘em up, as well as order tapes.  When I
get everything in one place, I dub tapes, fold inserts and apply stickers.  Then I’ll send ‘em out for review to a couple
of mags/online places.  Nothing fuckin
nutty, y’know.
What do you think
you’ve learned since you released your first cassette in general about running
the label and putting stuff out?
Probably just
the reinforcement of do what you love to do. 
Why are you not doing what you want to do?  Who cares how frowned upon or underpaying it
is.  DIY or cry.
How is everything
going for the label right now?  Is
running Flesh Wave a fun, pleasurable experience or more of a labor of love for
you right now?
I’m getting
weird music out there, making some cash, which goes right back into the label
usually, and meeting cool people because of it. 
So I can’t complain.  I’ll usually
throw in some free pins and an extra tape in mail-orders because I want to see
stuff get out there.
I know you just
released a slew of tapes as well as your first repress that I’m aware of, Timmy
Vulgar’s Center of Saturn.  What all just
came out (February 2014)?


Fake Surfers
and Timmy are the only ones that have been repressed so far.  Recent releases (out this week as I type) are
Selfies, Sex Objex, Flat Black Animal, the Timmy Vulgar repress and a
compilation called Yes Future featuring Surfers, Eroders, CANE! from Milan,
Italy, and Deformities, from Baltimore, which is another one of Drew from Sick
Thoughts (Interview here) side project. 
Each press has a run of one hundred copies on three different colored
tapes.



Other than the
upcoming shift from cassette to vinyl are there any major goals that you’re
looking to accomplish with Flesh Wave in 2014? 
What do you have in store for 2014 so far with the recent slew of
releases are you going to sit on those for a little while or do you have a
bunch of stuff already in the works?
Yeah, more
shirts, pins, weirdo art books, and whatever other disgusting art shit we come
up with, like 7“ singles!  The tapes are
gonna hit a stand still because I’ve put out all the rough stuff I’ve been
sitting on, so I’m gonna move on to another format.  I’m not ruling out ever doing tapes again,
but I do have some great things lined up for the vinyl releases.
Now that you’re
moving on from the tape cassette releases will there be continued reissues of
some of those tape titles or should anyone interested make sure and pick them
up now as you shift gears to start putting out vinyl?
Yeah, as the
tapes sell out I’ll do at least one repress per tape.  But I’ll be more focused on the vinyl in the
future, so buy ‘em now, suckers!
With the decision
to move into vinyl, is there going to be any radical shift in the sound of
Flesh Wave Tapes or is it just kind of logical progression that you’ve known
was inevitable since you started the label?
I will be
looking for more established bands than most of the ragtag bunch I’ve had on
the tapes.  That’s not to say anything
against Fake Surfers, Eroders or CANE!, it’s more of a shift from just
releasing all my side projects.  It will
be more focused on established bands.
I know you said
that you had a couple of vinyl releases in mind already, can you share any
details about any of those releases? 
Who’s going to be putting stuff out and possibly when your first vinyl
pieces will start being produced?
After I move to
Austin in March I’ll get ‘em going.  Sick
Thoughts will be one, Timmy’s Organism is another.  There’s another probable one I shouldn’t talk
about yet that I’m really excited for (hint: Memphis).  I’m thinking of a three song singles series.
Where’s the best
place for our US readers to pick up copies of your releases?
Bandcamp.  And I always toss in extras, since I really
appreciate everyone who takes an interest in the label.
With the absolutely
insane international postage rate increases over the last few years I try and
provide our readers with as many possible options for picking up import
releases as I possibly can.  Where are
the most inexpensive places for our international and overseas readers to pick
up Flesh Wave’s stuff?
And where’s the
best place for our readers to keep up on the latest news like upcoming releases
from Flesh Wave Tapes at?
DISCOGRAPHY
(2012)  Fake Surfers –
Fake Surfers – digital, Cassette Tape – Flesh Wave Tapes (1st pressing limited
to 100 copies, 2nd pressing limited to 100 copies)
(2012)  Fuck Eyes –
Complicator – digital, Cassette Tape – Flesh Wave Tapes (Limited to 100 copies)
(2012)  CANE! – Cum In
Your Heart – digital, Cassette Tape – Flesh Wave Tapes (Limited to 100 copies)
(2012)  Flat Black
Animal – Strictly Nocturnal – digital, Cassette Tape – Flesh Wave Tapes
(Limited to 100 copies)
(2012)  Various
Artists – Side Effects Compilation – digital, Cassette Tape – Flesh Wave Tapes
(Limited to 100 copies)
(2013)  Eroders –
Eroders – digital, Cassette Tape – Flesh Wave Tapes (Limited to 100 copies)
(2013)  Timmy Vulgar –
Center Of Saturn – digital, Cassette Tape – Flesh Wave Tapes (1st pressing
limited to 100 copies, 2nd pressing limited to 100 copies)
(2014)  Sex Objex –
Unprotected Sex – digital, Cassette Tape – Flesh Wave Tapes (Limited to 100
copies)
(2014)  Selfies – Bad
Blood – digital, Cassette Tape – Flesh Wave Tapes (Limited to 100 copies)
(2014)  Various
Artists – Yes Future Compilation – digital, Cassette Tape – Flesh Wave Tapes
(Limited to 100 copies)
Interview made by Roman Rathert/2014
© Copyright http://psychedelicbaby.blogspot.com/2014
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