Tape Op Magazine - Issue #157

Interviews

Interviews

Interviews

Interviews

Interviews

Interviews

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JULY 27, 2025 INTERVIEWS

SASAMI: Conjuring the Space

BY MEREDITH HOBBS COONS, KYLE THOMAS

SASAMI, born Sasami Ashworth, has been a sought-after "jack of all trades" in the indie music world since returning to her hometown of Los Angeles following graduation from classical conservatory at Eastman School of Music. From playing in Cherry Glazerr, to touring with Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail, Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, and HAIM, to producing records by King Tuff (Smalltown Stardust) and Hand Habits (Fun House), not to mention producing, writing, arranging, and engineering her own genre-bending work, her skills and sensibilities have enlivened an industry that can often feel uninspiring. With her 2022 second solo album, Squeeze, and tours to support it, SASAMI confronted the mostly male landscape of metal and has brought theatrics, haunted house lighting, and playful aggression to both dive bars and arena stages alike. Now based in West Marin, California, she's exploring the poetic language of naturalists as well as Britney Spears's early aughts "guilty pleasure" (minus the guilt) aesthetics as she weaves together new material.

JULY 27, 2025 INTERVIEWS

Arooj Aftab: Making Music for Everybody

BY LISA MACHAC, BLYTHE THOMAS

A compelling Brooklyn-based Pakistani composer, vocalist, and producer, Arooj Aftab's 2021 album, Vulture Prince, brought her voice and music a lot of attention, as well as a Grammy for Best Global Music Performance. Her recent collaboration, Love in Exile, with Shahzad Ismaily [Tape Op #151] and Vijay Iyer, was tracked and improvised live in the studio and is a beautiful work of art that deserves focused listening. She recently chatted with Lisa Machac, of Omni Sound Project, about her path in music and sound.

JULY 27, 2025 INTERVIEWS

Transferring Early Bebop 78 rpm Records

BY DYLAN UTZ, WILLIAM GOTTLIEB

In the mid-'40s, a new generation of musicians heralded the arrival of bebop. Here's why some of the most exciting jazz performances ever recorded still don't sound good, and how we might be able to fix it. In the long and vast history of jazz, Charlie Parker stands as one of its giants. The saxophonist, known as "Bird," along with trumpeter John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie helped invent bebop in the middle '40s, forever altering the musical language of jazz. A music characterized by fast and complex playing by small groups (in many ways unlike the big band swing era that preceded it), bebop's recorded legacy was truncated by the American Federation of Musicians ban, waged by its infamous president, James C. Petrillo. Petrillo wanted the record companies to pay royalties, and when they didn't comply he enforced a ban on recording for all union musicians, starting July 31, 1942. For this, Petrillo was lambasted from every conceivable corner of the entertainment business. The halt on recording dragged on – in September 1943, Decca and Capitol Records agreed to pay royalties. Over two years after it began, in November 1944, the Victor and Columbia labels likewise capitulated. Looking at the record sales evidence today, it shows that the labels themselves weren't very affected by the ban. In fact, due to the need for product to push, they scoured their vaults and ended up inventing the compilation album in the process. But a certain musical damage entailed – the earliest bebop music was simply never recorded.

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