Studio
Why every show gets recorded to tape
The best four minutes of each night become the next record. Here is how the tape machine ended up in the rig, and why it never leaves.
■ Entry
Written by Ida Nachtfeld in Leipzig. Photographs from the archive.
It started with a power cut
The tape machine joined the rig by accident. At the depot’s first public night the power tripped, the laptop that was recording the set died, and the only thing that survived was a quarter-inch reel someone had left running as a joke.
That reel became Depot Sessions, Vol. 2. Since then every show has gone to tape: two tracks, 7½ inches per second, no backup.
What happens to the tapes
After each tour Ida listens to every reel once, in order, and marks the minutes she would play again. Most nights give nothing. Some give four minutes. Those four minutes are where the next record starts.
From the entry
If a night was good, the tape knows. If it wasn't, the tape knows that too.
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