Here’s a part II to Monday’s post. While this interview has been around for a few months now, I thought I would still promote it, so you can hear it. Canadian radio station The Antidote interviewed Dave Emmerson from ZAP Records as he talks about music, why he closed down ZAP, and his new plans. It was another great interview and not just because I know both Daves talking to each other. Yes, I’m namedropped briefly, but don’t listen to this interview because of that. It really gives insight into Dave’s ideology in music and creative projects.
Tag Archives: Scotland
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/
Dystopian Futures: Space Junk Music Video
I have some bad news and good news for you. Bad news is that Dave Emmerson decided to close down his DIY label ZAP Records. It’s quite sad since there were so many good bands associated with that indie label. I’ll be talking about my thoughts on the matter in a separate post. Good news is that his band Dystopian Futures is still going to make music and they just came out with a new song called “Space Junk”! Oh, yeah. I even got to make the music video, too.
Dystopian Futures certainly continue to use their quirky experimental punk rock for this song. It’s a story involving a cosmonaut who has been in stasis in a spaceship for a century while trying to flee from his vice-ridden past. Things don’t go to plan as he’s in the cosmic ocean.
Feel free to buy the song on Visions Press’s Bandcamp!
Ospreyshire Origins: Art in the Midst of Pandemonium and Pandemics
Here’s the other new song that’s on the DFxO split album. I multitracked some bass tracks while playing it unplugged. I played some riffs as well as using that instrument in unconventional ways for extra sound effects when layering them. I used a hand drum to provide percussion for it. Despite these anxious times, I wanted to have a message where people can still be creative. I’m not sure if anyone else noticed this, but I reference a certain emo band in one of the lyrics.
This song was also an Ospreyshire first. It was the first time I had a guest vocalist in a song and it was Dave from Dystopian Futures himself who wrote and performed his own verse. He did a great job and I liked how he tied in references to all the songs as well as making an extension of some of the lyrics I say in this track.
New split EP! DFxO! That’s Dystopian Futures X Ospreyshire, for those scoring at home.
This is what I referred to last week!
I, Ospreyshire got to be involved with a split EP and it’s the first time I’ve ever done a collaborative album with anyone. The other part of the split involves the Scottish experimental punk band Dystopian Futures whom I’ve mentioned on this blog before and I’ve even made a music video for them on their first EP. Dave Emmerson (lead singer/bassist) and I are good friends. We had an email conversation a while ago about potentially collaborating and once the Coronavirus was unfortunately spreading worldwide, he came up with an idea of coming up with a “lockdown” project. Despite him being in the UK and me here in America, we sent each other songs.
I got to remix Dystopian Futures’ song “Apocalyptic Romance” which was really fun. I added some digital synths, random sound effects, a lo-fi recording of me playing a keyboard and I do back up vocals in the middle of the song. Dystopian Futures also got to cover the song “Corona” by the Minutemen. Some of you might recognize that song as the theme to Jackass.
For me, I got to bust out with two new Ospreyshire tracks. The first one is “Is This a New Normal?”. I used an organ setting on my keyboard while adding my trademark acousmatics in it. I also freestyled all of the lyrics which was a first for anything I’ve ever done as a way to reflect about how I felt about the pandemic. The second one is “Art In the Midst of Pandemonium and Pandemics”. I wrote down the lyrics to this one as well as doing some avant-garde soundscapes by multitracking live sounds of me playing bass in traditional and unconventional ways. This was also an Ospreyshire first since it involves a guest vocalist with the aforementioned Dave. He got to write and record his vocals in the song and it really tied in well. I liked how he referenced all the other songs in the split EP with his verse.
Just so you know, this split EP is either FREE or pay-what-you-want. Whether you want to chip in some money or not is totally up to you to get some new music.
Have a great day, everyone!
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: 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!
The Antidote Interviews Dave Emmerson from ZAP Records
http://www.theantidoteradio.com/interview/interview-with-zap-records
I found out about this interview recently. It was amazing that Dave Hawkins from The Antidote interviewed my friend who’s also named Dave. They talk about the origins of ZAP Records and his numerous bands. Also, I got name-dropped briefly in this interview. Dave Emmerson is a legit guy and he really cares about the independent music scene.
Check out his bands:
The Old-Timers [Hardcore/Punk]: https://theold-timers.bandcamp.com/
Their Throats Are Open Tombs [Digital Hardcore/Experimental/Noise]: https://theirthroatsareopentombs-sbbr.bandcamp.com/
Dystopian Futures [Post-Punk/Noise Rock]: https://zaprecords.bandcamp.com/album/zap-033-fear-cs
Ospreyshire's Realm 