Teen- Beat (Mark Robinson) by Tony Kapel
The artist of Teen-Beat were brought to my attention back in 1993 when a couple of friends of mine would blast the album Perfect Teeth by Unrest for endless hours of countless months. The music was free from anything I had heard before. They were strumming in chords and patterns not used by someone I was used to. Time changes were beyond encouraged, guitars tuned to minors, chopping away at diminished chords, and they blare through concoctions they used for amps bashing on Frankenstein drumsets.
The drummer would shuffle in ways Art Blakey would be proud of – the artist weren’t about wearing the big wig and striving for luxurious goals. They wanted to rock out with as much freedom as they wanted, record and release what they wanted with no restrictions.
One of the many Teen-beat compilations would grace Luis’s tape deck and kicks off with someone like Butch Willis scream/singin about a broken heart backed by banging away craziness on the guitar. Luis takes wild corners in his truck, with a bed full of long hairs – dust in our faces and Brandon’s head hanging out the window and screaming at birds as they fly in flocks over corn fields. The truck would come a halt, and Brandon would jump on the hood of the car and the inspiration was evident. A musical revelation happened in the universe, and the 90s youth was reflecting a new freedom.
It was the first time the conversation was carried like “you know the guy who plays bass in this band blah blah blah” or “ the same chick that plays drums in that riot girl trio” this was all foreign to me. I always heard of sleazy managers and labels that would rob the artist after recording platinum records. And keeping their artist doped up and finding them in destroyed hotel rooms, the rock n roll life style. I was trapped in this mainstream mindset. I wasn’t going to record stores to buy some sought out band from the middle of Idaho, with a message that involves my generation. My tape collection was sporting Hendrix, the Beatles, Joplin, and I was trying to reach some higher power through psychedelics. Some mind trip these freaks were on twenty-five, thirty years ago.
So it took a bunch like Luis and Brandon and Ben and Oly who were indulging in zines and bum rushing Y & T records looking for gems, and collecting punk rock tapes for $2 a piece that a couple of dirty kids brought in the week before from Cincinnati looking for a place to play. I was looking for rare Floyd stuff or even the Pixies was as far as it went.
I had this beautiful visual in my head that a couple of punk rock minded art kids were taking over the music industry with DIY tactics, getting away with it, and people were listening.
So now twenty years later I had the opportunity to get a little Q&A with Mark Robinson founder of that very label Teen-Beat records.
Mark Robinson of Teen-Beat
When you started back in the mid 80s – where were you all recording? And how old were you?
We were 16 and 17. We didn't really know anything about recording or have any real studio equipment. It was really more about the music and then at some point we wanted to capture that. We would use the cassette tape recorders of the day, which were primarily boom boxes with built-in microphones. I've never really thought about it before, but most of the early recordings are most likely recorded in mono. We recorded at our homes, which was really the only option we had.
What did your first recording studio consist of? (mics, booths, mixers)
Portable cassette tape player or cassette boom box. That was it.
Who played engineer?
When we decided we wanted to make copies of the tapes, me and my friend Andrew Beaujon hooked up two tape decks together and voila. So I suppose Andrew and I were the first Teen-Beat "mastering" engineers. During the "sessions" I suppose the engineer was whoever pressed play on the tape player.
Andrew got a cassette 4-track at some point soon after that and he recorded all the Scaley Andrew stuff on it.
Unrest recorded in a studio in DC at the end of the summer from our graduation from high school. It was an early videotape digital studio. Pre-ADAT.
How did your parents feel about it? Did the school know about the movement? I’m guessing it was a movement if there was a central, focus/agenda/ intimate information?
Not sure I'd call it a movement. It was a just a group of five or so high school kids playing music in their bedrooms and basements. Our friends at school definitely knew about what we were doing and we would loan them the tapes we were making. Once we figured out how to make copies of our tapes we even sold them at school for a dollar.
Who was Teenbeat 1?
Teen-Beat 1 is a compilation album called EXTREMISM…
Who is your latest release?
Two albums we have put out this year:
JOHN LINDAMAN "Black Death DNA"
live improvisational instrumental single guitar recordings.
http://youtu.be/dOWX9qlwc_o
BLOODY AMATEUR debut album
"is one of 2013's most striking debuts. It's a recording of dark and personal beauty-spare and assertive, intricate and electric. "
http://www.teenbeatrecords.com/artists/bloodyamateur.html
We also released a free download compilation album this year:
http://www.teenbeatrecords.com/items/499.html
Who was the first tour? And who’s on tour now or soon?
Hmmm. First tour? Good question. I think the first proper full-length tour may have been Unrest and DUSTdevils in 1990. It was a full nationwide tour.
I saw Versus in Orlando Fl. back in early 2000’s …… why have I been deprived of them since?
I think it's hard for bands to make it to Florida when they are plotting out tour routes. If you only have a limited amount of time to tour you have to choose your route carefully and Miami isn't really on the way to another city.
Also, Versus hasn't done a big tour in many years.
Has Unrest/air Miami/ or any of your other projects scored a film?
Unrest wrote and performed the music for the film "Mod Fuck Explosion" by Jon Moritsugu.
Do you or any of the band mates do film work?
I can't think of anyone who does that as their vocation but Chris Deaner from the band +/- {Plus/Minus} has made a bunch of really great music videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpgr4NWPLRc
And I suppose while we're here, I'll mention the Cotton Candy videos I've made.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NKgmboml_E
Who designed the logo?
I sketched out the Teen-Beat logo in 1984.
What other mediums do you handle?
I've designed a good amount of the record covers over the years as well as the current website.
Who is the first visual artist you remember being an impact?
My mom took me to an exhibit on the DeStijl art movement when I was 14 or so at the Hirschorn Museum that really blew me away.
What was your first concert?
First concert where Teenbeat bands performed: Unrest 1984 in our friend Jim Giles' basement.
First concert I attended: Can't remember, but I think the first rock show I saw was at a swimming pool when I was 12 or 13. It was a cover band.
First ticketed rock show: Squeeze at the South Mountain Reservation in New Jersey.
What was the first album you bought?
Probably "Rock and Roll Over" by KISS.
What brought you to Miami to record the air Miami album, and how long was your stay?
We had been to Miami on one of the Unrest tours and liked the city a lot. So much so that we named our band after it.
It was a fairly arbitrary decision, however. We just wanted a nice sunny place to record. Criteria Studios in North Miami beach was perfect for the music we recorded. We were in the smallest of their five studios and the 1970s decor and shag carpeting sound baffling was exactly what we needed for the dry sound we were looking for.
Air Miami – I hate milk http://youtu.be/dYmW6vWETUE
How did you get involved with 4AD?
Ivo Watts-Russel from 4AD called me about a month after the release of Unrest's "Imperial f.f.r.r." album. He licensed it for a European release on his short-lived 4AD subsidiary Guernica. That was the Spring and Summer of 1992.