A Belated Post About ZAP Records: RIP ZAP 2015-2020

This post has been a long time coming and I feel bad about delaying it this long.

Some of you may or many not remember when I debuted Dystopian Futures’s latest music video for “Space Junk”, but I mentioned that ZAP Records closed down. This bummed me out since the founder Dave Emmerson was one of the few people left in the DIY music scene that I still respect as well as him being a great friend. I thought it was amazing with how he managed to get bands and singers from multiple countries involved with his record label. I was exposed to great music that no one else was making and I managed to get involved with the label even before “Ospreyshire” (the spoken word project AND the blogger you see today) was a thing. Not sure if I mentioned this, but I was able to help out with press releases, bios, and I even made music videos for some of the bands. Dave himself has a record in my filmography portfolio since I’ve directed three music videos for him between two of his bands. The first music video I ever made in my life was for his old band The Old-Timers (no pun intended) and it was a major international collaboration since Dave at the time was living in South Africa while I was still here in America, yet we were able to make it work. That really gave me confidence and he encouraged me to do some recording of my own.

While Ospreyshire (the spoken word project) was all me with my poems, acousmatics, and instrumentation, I will say that if there was no ZAP Records, there might not have been an Ospreyshire let alone the current blogs I run. It’s strange how life works, but I do have to credit Dave for being a good friend to be encouraging to me even if he was thousands of miles away in South Africa or when he was back in his home country of Scotland. Who ever thought that some random guy like me and someone like him would meet at a music festival in Central Illinois and were able to collaborate with multiple projects for years now.

It is sad to see ZAP Records go. I’m thankful to have been a contributor in multiple ways to the label. I was so disillusioned with the music scene at large, so this was a last bastion of sorts.

RIP, ZAP Records.

In good news, Dave came up with Visions Press where he’s releasing new music and even zines. Definitely check it out!

https://visionspress.bandcamp.com/

The Old-Timers are back, BABY!

My friends in the Scottish/South African hardcore band The Old-Timers FINALLY released some new music in the form of a 4 song EP. It’s Short Sharp Shift and it’s 4 short songs and the whole EP is a minute and a half long. I’m glad Dave and Don are making music together again. Big props to ZAP Records to releasing this EP! It’s only $1 to buy. Come on, you can’t even get a song for that same amount of money, so support independent music.

Dystopian Futures: Low Arts EP

Last Monday, Dystopian Futures released their brand new EP Low Arts!

This EP is great for those who like creative and innovative music with better musicality or depth than whatever is on Top 40 radio. Dystopian Futures are also releasing this album for free or pay-what-you-want. If you want get some tunes, then feel free to download this album. Please chip in some money to them if you feel so inclined, so they can continue making some quality experimental punk rock. If you download this EP, you’ll also get the music video of the title track as a bonus! Here’s the video for those who haven’t seen it: https://vimeo.com/268278856.

Dystopian Futures Interview from The Antidote

http://www.theantidoteradio.com/interview/interview-with-dystopian-futures

Very recently, Dave Emmerson from Dystopian Futures was interviewed by The Antidote. He had some great insight for his current band. Dave also talks about the weaknesses of social media, rampant narcissism, and sci-fi. Shoot, I didn’t even know he was a fan of Dr. Strangelove. Hahaha! I thought this was a great interview and you should check it out.

Don’t forget that Dystopian Futures’s Low Arts EP comes out on 6/11/18 on http://zaprecords.bandcamp.com.

Check out the Fear EP: https://zaprecords.bandcamp.com/album/zap-033-fear-cs

Don’t forget, Dystopian Futures has a new music video for their Low Arts song. Yes, I worked on it and I threw in some stealth puns. Hee hee hee…

ZAP Records Spotlight: Skree Alleen

Hello, everyone!

I’d like to introduce you to South African artist Willem Samuel AKA Skree Alleen. He just dropped a new EP earlier this week called “Artefak” and it’s quite good. It’s certainly no sophomore slump from this artist. Much like Metode en Tegniek, the lyrics are actually in Afrikaans of all things.

Fee free to check it out. It’s only $2 to buy!

ZAP Records Spotlight: 2 Minute Minor

Here’s another example of some quality Chicago hardcore music. This is 2 Minute Minor. They are a sextet from the Windy City that also features members from October Bird of Death. They base their music on 80s hardcore and some Oi! music. Their debut EP “…A Goon’s Best Friend” is on ZAP’s Bandcamp. By the way, this album is free or pay-what-you-want. They also have another album coming out on May 11th.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/2minuteminorhardcore/about/?ref=page_internal

ZAP Records Spotlight: ISF

Here’s a one-man band that’s part of the ZAP Family. This is ISF. It’s one guy from Birmingham, England who crafts noise and experimental sounds. ISF makes a lot of quality noisecore on the EP “Feel. Kill. Conceal. Reveal.”. This is only $3 and is a quick, yet furious listen.

ZAP Records Spotlight: Dragged Out

Here’s an old-school example of ZAP Records’ older catalog. This is Dragged Out. They are a Scottish hardcore/punk band that was around in the early-mid 00s. This was one of the early bands from ZAP founder Dave Emmerson and also a mutual friend of ours named Dougle McMysteron. This is their entire discography in one album. By the way…it’s free or pay-what-you-want!

Feel free to check out Dragged Out!

ZAP Records Spotlight: UntilWeDie!

This new album just dropped today according to UK time. It’s the newest band signed to ZAP Records: UntilWeDie!

They are a punk quartet based in California who play some thrashy tunes with urgent and loud vocals. UntilWeDie! is heavily influenced by old-school punk and 90s hardcore. If you’re into some traditional punk rock, then UntilWeDie! will be something you may like.

ZAP Records Spotlight: October Bird of Death

Here’s another post involving the ZAP Records family. This time, I’m talking about a band representing my home state of all things.

This is October Bird of Death. They are a hardcore band straight outta Chicago. This isn’t some scene kid stuff or fake machismo metalcore. October Bird of Death play no-frills, no-BS, good old-fashioned hardcore punk rock. These guys are a bit of a superband of sorts in the Chicago hardcore and punk scenes as they contain past and present members of Headnoise, The Blamed, and Ballydowse.

Their debut album “Death Made Its Offer” is free or pay-what-you-want on the ZAP Records Bandcamp page, and there’s even a version on CD and cassette, too.

Feel free to check them out at https://www.facebook.com/octoberbirdofdeath.

Also…I realized that October Bird of Death and my stage name Ospreyshire are both Illinoisan musicians signed to ZAP Records, have names that start with O, and both names reference birds. #HilariousInHindsight