Minimal Wave Records

Check out full interview here: http://fordmodelsblog.com/2010/07/10/veronica-vasicka-interview-special/

Fashion and music are inseparable. They’ve been playing off each other well before David Bowie recorded the tune “Fashion” or Duran Duran sang “Girls on Film.” With this in mind we will occasionally feature interviews with people in fashion and music that embody the qualities that we so admire. – Ford Models Blog Editor
Veronica Vasicka started the Minimal Wave record label in New York City in 2005 in an effort to reclaim an all but forgotten musical form called minimal wave that flourished in the late 1970s to the mid 1980s. Minimal wave music is distinguished by its usage of pre-MIDI analog synthesizers and drum machines, which gives the compositions their spare, minimal sound. Far from being pioneers in the field of electronic music, minimal wave artists are notable for the nonprofessional and even hobbyist approach they brought to the creation and recording of music. John Foxx, Visage, and Kraftwerk, Veronica maintains, they were not nor were they trying to be. They were in fact most often artists making music in their bedrooms using consumer recording equipment and synthesizers, which gave minimal wave its signature sound. The music that was then produced received very little in the way of distribution or lasting influence, which a quarter of a century later provides much of the impetus for the Minimal Wave record label and its charter to once again make this music consumable.

If the minimal wave back story comes off a bit cerebral, then it is the fault of my account and not the music. Played out in a club this music invariably receives a warm reception, which was not lost Veronica when she started working minimal wave into her DJ sets. “The Devil’s Dancers” by Oppenheimer Analysis (see below) caught the attention of Veronica and later became the first Minimal Wave release and it’s not difficult to conclude why. The song calls to mind clean lines, monochromatic light, and black & white film grain all of which have their antecedents in modern fashion and continue to be revisited season after season by many creative designers. With twenty-seven Minimal Wave releases to date it is clear that “The Devil’s Dancers” was not a one-off for Veronica, but rather the beginnings of a love affair with a heretofore neglected musical scene.

In late May I had an opportunity to speak with Veronica about minimal wave music, her record label, and the compilation that she and Peanut Butter Wolf released called The Minimal Wave Tapes: Volume One. During the interview Veronica speaks about the manner in which the concept of DIY has shifted and today is very different than what it meant in 1982. Veronica also addresses Mark Fisher‘s review of The Minimal Wave Tapes: Volume One in The Wire 314.