MP3’s Please: PlotTwist Was Ahead Of Its Time, 4-Track In Hand
AS TOLD BY ED HOGARTY, CO-FOUNDER: Mike Kennedy and I had put Plot Twist records together to release our own band’s 7″ (Mesmer). We were interested in putting out stuff from other Philadelphia bands, but didn’t have the money or resources to do so. The mp3 collective seemed like a good way to keep the label active: We already had the tools (4-track, microphones, boom stands), and distribution would be handled by the Internet.
When Mike and I started this, going to shows was pretty much our full time job. We were at the Khyber, Upstairs at Nicks, or some other venue at least 4 nights a week, so why not make something productive out of it? I think one of the things that excited us about the project was its potential immediacy: Wow, we could go out, record a show by a great Philadelphia band, and later that night post it to the Internet for all the world to hear! It didn’t really work out like that.
We’d record the shows on a cassette 4-track and then mix them down to a regular stereo cassette – this was before CD-Rs were prevalent. Then, because we wanted to make sure the band was satisfied with the quality of the recording and performance, we’d give them that tape with our suggestion for the song we’d like to use. I remember this step of the process often taking much longer than it should have – getting the tape to the band and then waiting for them to listen to it and get back to us with their OK. (Looking back, I wonder why we didn’t just e-mail the bands an mp3 of the song we wanted to use; then they could just hit reply and say yes or no. Maybe e-mail couldn’t handle attachments of 3.5mb back then – I don’t remember.)
Anyway, once we got the go-ahead, we’d convert that particular song to mp3 (Mike got a soundcard for his computer with RCA inputs specifically for this purpose, I believe) and then he’d post them on the site. The week that a new song went live, we’d take out an ad on the back page of the City Paper. Pre MySpace, Facebook, etc., this was our most effective means of regional promotion.
After a while, we got tired of lugging the recording equipment to shows. Our own bands got busier, and our day jobs started requiring us to be somewhat functional first thing in the morning. Looking back at the old site, I seem to remember we recorded many more bands than are represented there. Somewhere, Mike has a shoebox full of Philly indie-rock history.
Check out ye olde Plot Twist here.
