INTERCHANGE MAGAZINE

 

    Interchange was a magazine dedicated to electronic and experimental music that ran for four issues between 1982-1986. These postings reproduce all the issues, made from scans of the original masters, together with a few anecdotes regarding how each one came into existence. The online images are low resolution but you can also print out your own copy of the magazine via a link to a hi-res PDF. A short piece on the genesis of the magazine and scans of Interchange 1 can be found HERE; Interchange 2 HERE, Interchange 3 HERE and Interchange 4 HERE. 

    There were also three cassette releases. A c90 compilation tape Inter 01, a c60 by The Adventures Of Twizzle, The Great Waster and a c46 by Ward Phillips, Cyclades. I discuss (and post the artwork for) The Great Waster HERE). The Ward Phillips link HERE will take you to the artwork and within that piece, another link to the music itself.

VARIOUS ARTISTS:

 INTER 01 (c90 cassette)

 

A FEW OBSERVATIONS...

    Inter 01 is a 90 min cassette consisting of music made by artists from the Newcastle/Durham region.    Many of them appeared in Interchange, especially the second issue HERE, and the tape was a natural extension of the magazine.

    Some of the artists were associated with the Spectro Arts Centre (Peter Burne Jones, Ron Berry,  Tape 1 Side 1, and Steve Moore) using the studio and facilities there. The others were part of a loose network of friends who often intersected with each other's projects depending on the circumstances.

    I do not intend to give full biographies of each artist as, if you are reading this, you will probably recognise many of the names, and google will provide, but instead offer a few recollections.

     Peter Burne Jones was head of Spectro’s sound studio and he composed via tape, physically cutting and manipulating the medium of sound to create his collages. When I first met him he was very interested in the so called ‘Ripper tapes’ which were recordings sent by (it was then thought) by the Yorkshire Ripper to the police. This hoax diverted the police case from the culprit Peter Sutcliffe as the voice was from Wearside. Burne Jones had spent hours with the tapes studying accents and the background wow and flutter of the cassette and had come to the conclusion that the hoaxer lived in a very specific area of Sunderland. Sadly I cannot remember if he said it was the Ford Estate, which is where the hoaxer (John Humble, arrested in 2005) had lived all his life.

    Steve Moore composed ‘The Threshold Of Liberty’ at Durham University Electronic Music Studio but we must have met through Spectro, possibly via Ron Berry. Sadly I can remember very little of our encounters but  the ’The Threshold Of Liberty’ is now digitally available HERE. I recall even less of Tape One Side One who were a trio (I think!) of improvisors who played at Spectro.

    Ron Berry I met more often (a very nice man) and is still making music. He is linked HERE. ‘Heliotrope’ does not seem to have appeared anywhere other than on my tape.

    The Small Palace Players was a joint project of Sean Breadon (Sedayne) and Clive Powell. I only met Clive a few times (he was even more quiet than myself),  but Sedayne was a Metgumbnerbone collaborator so I often saw him. He was (and still is) incredibly prolific and almost every week would appear with one (or two) new cassettes of music and a sheaf of writings, a surprising proportion of it (given the sheer quantity) wonderful stuff. The text in the booklet is in his distinctive script of the time. Sedayne’s music can be found HERE. 

    Metgumbnerbone were also very active. The music was recorded in various locations chosen for the atmosphere and ambience, often found by chance during nocturnal (and often illegal) explorations of abandoned factories, mansions, mines, tunnels, woodlands and coastlines. The sound you hear reflects the location and the celebrants of the time.  This piece, retitled ‘Citipati’, appears on a ‘Anthropological Field Recordings For The Dispossessed’ HERE.

    Citipati was also the name of a musical collaboration and were a sort of precursor of Metgumbnerbone and closely associated with both New Blockaders and Outsize Bill - not ‘Outside Bill’; as the (usual!) Interchange shoddy spelling has it on the cassette cover. All played at Morden Tower - see Interchange 2 for details of this venue.

(Poster from 1983)

    More on ’The Adventures of Twizzle’ can be found via HERE where I talk about their Interchange tape release ‘The Great Waster’.

    Finally, Ward Phillips is my own recording name. I talk about myself (a little) HERE.  The music (which was recorded in collaboration with Sean Dower) is free to download from my Soundcloud account  HERE. 

    All the pieces were mastered onto reel to reel at Spectro and from that, a c90 master cassette was made which I used to make the final product.

    Each contributor could (if they wished) provide something for the booklet which was photocopied and given a photocopied grey cover. The photo was then added and the whole package was contained within a 7” record sleeve.

    Obviously I do not own the music copyright except to my own work and thus cannot provide the music itself. Seek and (maybe) ye shall find…

A NOTE ON THE SCANS.

    The scans are made from the original masters.  The online images are low resolution, but you can print out your own copy of the cassette cover and accompanying magazine via the compressed hi-res PDF HERE.

INTER 01
  
BOOKLET AND CASSETTE COVER

 

  
CASSETTE COVER OPENED OUT
 

THE BOOKLET