If cassette tapes are on the rise again, K Records founder Calvin Johnson is just the guy to provide solid proof. As part of Pop Press International’s Northwest Week, we talked with Calvin Johnson and reflected on the cassette format, his 30-year career in music, and the nature of punk rock.
Calvin has been known to be a man of few words in the past decade, but he has no trouble crafting expertly written prose. His introduction to the tape he was commissioned to create for The Believer‘s music issue toes the line between humorous and musically political; it pulled me right in. As a long-time fan of all things K Records, I might have been an easy sell, but the staff of The Believer consists of a team of elite writers and critics, not exactly pushovers.
When I ask how he got connected with The Believer to curate the tape for this year’s music issue, Calvin’s answer is simple, “The publisher wrote and asked if I was interested in participating in their music issue.” Immediately, this embodies the heart of his personal ethos. K Records, which began as a tape-only label, is famous for eschewing contracts, instead relying on the handshake deal, and employing the “punk-rock split”—an arrangement where proceeds are split 50/50 with the artist after expenses are recouped. The very nature of the cassette tape—the ability to just turn it on and record immediately, in your own home—revolutionized the independent music scene with its direct and accessible nature. To get Calvin involved, you won’t need to navigate layers of red tape. Often, it just takes getting in touch. I’m reminded of Calvin’s approach to organizing the International Pop Underground Convention in the early 90s. If you believe his retelling of the events leading up to the convention, Calvin simply called people up and said, “Hey, I’m doing this thing.” Reportedly, everyone who was asked to participate did, except Galaxie 500, “likely because the band was in the process of breaking up,” surmises author Mark Baumgarten in his outstanding new book Love Rock Revolution—K Records and the Rise of Independent Music.
Although music seems to have changed irrevocably in the past three decades, Calvin does acknowledge that our current digital revolution bears similarities to the tape craze of the 80s, commenting, “Both are about technology allowing the music making and music distribution to be more accessible to peoples.” For Calvin, both approaches seem to embody the same spirit, even if the technology feels wildly different. Calvin doesn’t seem to see the digital revolution as much different at all, saying, “It is another tool, a method, a process.”
If the intent is the same, why change it up? With this new tape, the 50 year old punk rocker just stays true to his roots. The songs on the tape for The Believer aren’t put on cassette format for this release—they’re all songs that are available exclusively on tape. At least until now, since The Believer has made the songs featured on the tape available as a download. The liner notes feature commentary by Calvin, written in his own brand of casual, cerebral prose. He writes in-depth about a whole network of truly independent, underground bands that have likely never been heard by the majority of music listeners. He’s still bringing unheard bands to the masses, 30 years after the beginning of his label.
At a time when most “indie” lables are owned, at least in part, by majors, and “indie” music is used to sell products every day on television, K Records seems to remain fiercely loyal to their initial mission of “exploding the teenage underground into passionate revolt against the corporate ogre.” But Calvin doesn’t make too much of it. When I ask him about it, he’s cool as can be: “We’re just doing our thing, man.”
Just doing things your own way is a big part of punk rock for Calvin, but there’s something more, too. With K Records boasting one of the most eclectic rosters in independent music, Calvin’s choices for The Believer tape are unsurprisingly diverse. Calvin has always been about inclusion. It does not matter who you are, or even what your music sounds like. If you want to be involved, it’s up to you. Calvin exemplifies this on his newest album as The Hive Dwellers with the track, “Get In.” On the song, he sings a rambling list of freaks, misfits, and rulebreakers, inviting them all to “get in.” Though the song is brand new, it embodies the spirit Calvin has possessed for decades. I ask why he’s drawn to this inclusive model, and he replies as if it’s obvious, “It is what punk rock is all about.”
