United Cassettes Philippines opens shop to a new old world

United Cassettes Philippines opens shop to a new old world

by rick olivares

Who would have thought this old analog magnetic tape could completely take ahold of someone’s senses and well, make it part of his life’s work?

Kurvine Chua is a 24-year old musician/entrepreneur who just about a month ago, put up United Cassette Philippines; a label that distributes and sells cassettes from independent Filipino artists as well as foreign.

Right now, he just has a small crate of these releases located at Spindle Hole Records at Creekside Mall in Makati in addition to his online site and Facebook page.

As a youngster, music filled the home of Kurvine Chua. There were vinyl records and the cassette tapes of his parents who were teens during the New Wave years. On his way to school, first at Xavier and later at the College of St. Benilde, Kurvine’s mom would slip on a cassette tape of the Cure on the car stereo and the result was magic. “I learned to sing along to those songs,” he reminisced. In fact, he is an even bigger fan of the Cure than his mom now who somewhat finds the darker Goth Cure music (such as “Bloodflowers” an anathema to the syrupy New Wave of her time.

And so, at an early age, Chua fell in love not only with music but the medium in which his folks listened to them. So in love with it that one time, he pulled out the tape from some cassettes and used it to decorate his room.

“I was young and didn’t know what I was doing,” Chua sheepishly admitted. That was the last time he would unspool a cassette. Nowadays, he has put out his own album – on cassette of course – under the name, Memoryville, as well distributes and sells music from all over the globe.

“I got in touch with Filip Zemcik who runs Z Tapes out of Slovakia,” said Chua. “If I could distribute his product in Manila. We had a meeting of minds and how it is happening. I have United Cassettes Philippines up and running. It’s a start!”

Z Tapes is a lo-fi outfit from Bratislava, Slovakia, that is committed to releasing independent lo-fi bedroom music from all over the world. Most recently as well, an American branch was put up with one in Germany being planned. “The market is growing,” pointed up Kurvine. “I believe it will grow even more.”

Vinyl records aren’t the only analog format that has returned smashingly to a modern world suddenly in touch with its roots. The cassette tape, much to many a people’s surprise, is back with a vengeance.

A conversation with Jon “Fishbone’ Gonzales of Filipino punk band Bad Omen informed us that more and more underground acts are releasing their albums on either vinyl or cassette.

“It’s cheaper, easier to store, and well compact,” pointed out Chua who also added in the same breath the impact of films such as Guardians of the Galaxy making the old cassette tape seem cool for a new generation of music fans.

“I have several dreams and ambitions and one of which is to put up a music store to cater to my music tastes from vinyl and cassettes,” explained Chua. “But more than that, it is to cater to a certain market. It might be niche to have this lo-fi music but there are fans of this genre. And there is good music from everywhere. And part of that is to help Filipino musicians (including independent electronic artist Pamcy Fernandez among others) put out their albums not only locally but if possible, internationally as well through the United Cassettes chain of distributors.

Some titles that we wholeheartedly recommend that can be found in the United Cassettes Philippines catalogue include:

Someday We Will Rule the Universe – Memoryville

What People Call Low Self-Esteem Is Really Just Seeing Yourself The Way Other People See You – awakebutstillinbed

Foliage III – Foliage

After the Lights – The Saddest Landscape

Ghosted/Fragmented - FUVK

Dietary Requirements – Pet Cemetery