Being the recent accessibility of rare vinyl and cassette music via blogs, as well as the digital backlash which is driving more people to crave the tangible - most of these minimal wave releases are hand-numbered vinyl editions, which adds another level to the listening experience. They can listen to an LP and it's there for them to look at, examine its cover art, and hold whilst buying and downloading music in digital form remains such an ephemeral experience.
Veronica VasickaWhen I reissue these Minimal Wave Record songs, I also re-master them. With Oppenheimer Analysis, it turned out that the band still had the master tapes. So, Martin Lloyd from the band and I baked the tapes to restore the quality.
Veronica VasickaIt's a very satisfying feeling for everyone involved into giving bands a new life - for me, the artists, and the audience.
Veronica VasickaI don't really like the bands that think they're still in 1982. It's boring. When retro sounds are combined with a modern approach, it can be great.
Veronica VasickaI had been DJing a dance night in Brooklyn and witnessed the response people had to "The Devil's Dancers" - Oppenheimer's one hit song. All these young people were dancing to this amazing song, completely unaware of whether it was current or not. It was from 1982, but sounded very current. It made sense that a physical record should exist for this song again. It seemed the obvious choice to represent what Minimal Wave was going to be.
Veronica VasickaI was really into what is called "minimal synth" - music made strictly on analog synths, and also cold wave, basically a more synth-based version of European post-punk, at that point. So, I decided my own show Minimal Wave was a good way to combine the minimal electronics aspect with the "wave," where guitars come into play.
Veronica Vasicka