Attrition - Interview

Below is an email interview with Martin Bowes of Attrition. All interviews are published unedited.

• Some of your early releases were on labels like IRRE Tapes and EE Tapes, these labels were part of the DIY cassette movement. This was an important network for us (one my favourite cassette labels at the time was Insane Music, who were the first to give us a release). Do you think this (postal) network was important to independent artists at the time and that MySpace et al have become the natural siblings or are they totally different?

The whole cassette network was very important... really tied in with the fanzine net work we had at the same time...(i used to run a fanzine called Alternative Sounds myself from 1979-81...until ATTRITION took over my full attention!...) Cassettes were a really good way to get your music out to people without the vast expense of pressing records... you could make up as many as you wanted and they were so cheap to mail out etc.... they really helped a lot of artsists like ourselves.... and became big for a while with some excellent quality releases...and they were taken seriously by the press and record stores.... our first cassette releases sold many hundred copies.......
CDR's took over from casettes for a while but nowadays the internet has replaced a lot of the networking tools like fanzines and cassettes.... although the internet is an amazing too...i cannot even imagine how we managed to organise anything with out it now!.... at the same time we have been flooded with....well DATA.... there is TOO MUCH information around.... and it can be hard to keep your head above that....
its almost like we need something again to stand out.... perhaps cassettes?... :)

• You are one of the most prolific independent artist I know; it must be really hard work to keep producing releases with such high (quality) standards. Is it getting easier?

I never think i am all that prolific...we have put out a LOT of albums...it's slowed a little recently as i've got so involved with reissuing material through our own Two Gods label....
I don't think it is EVER any easier to make and release music.... but that is the magic of it isnt it.... chasing the elusive....

• I have struggled to pick a definitive Attrition track. Which one are you most proud of or haven't you written it yet?

That is a difficult question!.... too many and too many that i was never happy with.... although looking back now i do accept them for what they are....
I always have a fondness for the song "Fate, is smiling" from our second album , "Smiling, at thehypogonder club"... it's partly because of the lyrics.... i dont know how i wrote them.... :)

• Every time I read something about you, you are labeled 'Gothic'. Do labels (tags) bother you or are they a hindrance?

Hmmmm.... well we have always been a little "dark" haven't we....we were never labelled "gothic" at first but as the movement grew we got included into it.... and don't get me wrong it has been excellent in that we have found an auideince there...particularly with the more open minded people.... but i think ATTRITION has always been a little more than "gothic".... labels are a help AND a hindrance...they can point people in the right direction....but it depends how rigidly they are applied..!

• Not only are you a recording band you also play live. How important is the performance side of things?

Playing live has always been very important to me... to live the music in a live context means a lot.... there is a chance to explore a different side to some of the work... especially with other people contributing.... and the environment and the interaction with an audience can change things again... then there is the travelling and all those experiences that i love... that have made me what i am... and then there is the invaluable promotion and gathering of friends and contacts on the road.... i think particularly for an independent artist those things are vital...you cannot afford to sit at home on the internet all the time.... (just like i am doing now!... :)

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