Oxide Manifesto is intended as an audio sketchbook, which explores a particular method of creating music. It aims to link obsolete machines and experimental composition. In recording it, I embraced as many techniques of working with magnetic tape as possible. I gave myself the freedom to lean into the perceived flaws of tape as a recording format. Often we hear ‘it’s not about the equipment’. But on this album the equipment is in equal focus to the music.
Wow, flutter, wonky pitch, abrupt edits, hiss, rough tape loops, rewinds, half-speed, mains hum.
I started building an archive of sound-art experiments using the following method. Compose an idea and record it quickly. Deconstruct its elements onto tape loops or spools. Set up an equipment patch, then perform using reel-to-reel machines and effects. Record the result and discard the original idea. After collecting enough pieces, I began to edit and organise them into a structure. By this point I had fragments of music, linear studio experiments, structured and partially destroyed songs. The finished album serves as a sonic diary as I explored this specific way of working.
Use distinct stages in your process. Capture performances. Use limitations.
I recorded most of this album at my old studio on Hornsey Road. It was the smallest room imaginable. A former cupboard with a tiny window and no soundproofing. Inside temperatures ranged between 30 degrees in summer and 0 degrees in winter. Phantom radio interference came from the Post Office depot opposite. It made mid-1970s tape machines unusable. Thankfully, whatever components Akai used in the 1960s fared better.
Try to work fast when possible. Don’t be afraid to throw something away. Be patient.
Paul Cousins