BBC Radiophonic Workshop/“Off The Graph” 

“We Are So Glad” Colin Potter

The Door & The Window visited

The Instant Automatons

Mark Automaton on recording with Colin

ICR Founded

“Sentimental” Those Little Aliens

EM in the cassette underground

“Power” Colin Potter

Jonathan Coleclough on designing sleeves

“Harmless Thought” Carl Matthews

Tape Duplication

Gary Levermore, Third Mind

“One Million Blades Of Grass” Colin Potter

Working with Steven Stapleton

ICR Studio collaborations

“Self Sufficient Sexual Shoe” Nurse With Wound

ICR Reissues

“As Above, So Below” Carl Matthews

Emerging from the same late-1970s underground that fuelled punk, DIY cassette culture, and European electronic experimentation, we explore the influence of Colin Potter - sound artist, producer, and founder of Integrated Circuit Records (ICR)

From beginnings building crude oscillators and fuzz boxes to university access to an EMS Synthi A, his path reflects a generation discovering sound through curiosity rather than convention.

We track the growth of ICR from a mail-order cassette operation into one of the UK’s most important underground labels of the early 1980s. Starting with cooperative compilation LPs and cassettes, Potter helped connect artists working across abstract electronics, industrial, cosmic music, and experimental sound - including The Instant Automatons, The Legendary Pink Dots, Carl Matthews, The Door and The Window, and many others.

We hear how Potter’s cassette duplication service became a crucial infrastructure for labels such as Third Mind Tapes. That practical role also led to deeper artistic collaborations, most notably with Nurse With Wound, Current 93, and Steven Stapleton, where Potter’s studio became a space that hosted creative risk, sonic transformation, and unconventional production.

Featuring contributions from Colin Potter, Jonathan Colclough, Gary Levermore, Mark Lancaster, this episode examines how technical generosity, and openness to experimentation helped shape the 45 years of underground electronic music released on ICR.

Hosted by Martin Franklin.
Theme music “This Is Concrete” by The Happy Citizen

LINKS
Colin Potter/ICR:
https://icrdistribution.com/ 
https://icrdistribution.bandcamp.com/

VIDEO
You can find videos of some of the amazing fanzines and cassette releases that drop through our letterbox on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast

IN THIS EPISODE

VOICES
Martin Franklin
Jerry Kranitz
Colin Potter
Jonathan Coleclough
Mark Lancaster
Gary Levermore

MUSIC

“Off The Graph” Colin Potter, The Ghost Office, Mirage
“We Are So Glad” Colin Potter, We Couldn’t Agree On a Title, (IRC001)
“The No. 1 Entertainer” The Door & The Window, Weird Noise E.P. (FO Records FEP001)
“Invertebrates” The Instant automatons, We Couldn’t Agree On A Title, LP (IRC001)
“Sentimental” Those Little Aliens, We Couldn’t Agree On a Title, LP (IRC001)
“Ismalla”  Those Little Aliens, Flowmotion, (ICR 003)
“Power” Colin Potter, The Scythe, (ICR002)
“Harmless Thought” Carl Matthews, Integration, (ICR 012)
“One Million Blades Of Grass” Colin Potter, Visions, (Third Mind Tapes TMT009)
“The Self Sufficient Sexual Shoe” Nurse With Wound, Rock n Roll Station, (United Dairies)
“As Above, So Below” Carl Matthews, Flowmotion compilation, (ICR 003)

Many thanks to Jonny Zhivago and the invaluable resource for underground music that is Die Or DIY (https://dieordiy2.blogspot.com/)

FIND US
https://cassetteculturepodcast.com

SUPPORTERS
Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who gift a small monthly contribution toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at:
https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe

 

 

Cassette Culture is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au)

Emerging from the same late-1970s underground that fuelled punk, DIY cassette culture, and European electronic experimentation, we explore the influence of Colin Potter - sound artist, producer, and founder of Integrated Circuit Records (ICR)
From beginnings building crude oscillators and fuzz boxes to university access to an EMS Synthi A, his path reflects a generation discovering sound through curiosity rather than convention.
We track the growth of ICR from a mail-order cassette operation into one of the UK&rsquo;s most important underground labels of the early 1980s. Starting with cooperative compilation LPs and cassettes, Potter helped connect artists working across abstract electronics, industrial, cosmic music, and experimental sound - including&nbsp;The Instant Automatons, The Legendary Pink Dots, Carl Matthews, The Door and The Window, and many others.
We hear how Potter&rsquo;s cassette duplication service became a crucial infrastructure for labels such as Third Mind Tapes. That practical role also led to deeper artistic collaborations, most notably with Nurse With Wound, Current 93, and Steven Stapleton, where Potter&rsquo;s studio became a space that hosted creative risk, sonic transformation, and unconventional production.
Featuring contributions from Colin Potter, Jonathan Colclough, Gary Levermore, Mark Lancaster, this episode examines how technical generosity, and openness to experimentation helped shape the 45 years of underground electronic music released on ICR.
Hosted by Martin Franklin. Theme music &ldquo;This Is Concrete&rdquo; by The Happy Citizen LINKS Colin Potter/ICR: https://icrdistribution.com/&nbsp; https://icrdistribution.bandcamp.com/
VIDEO You can find videos of some of the amazing fanzines and cassette releases that drop through our letterbox on our YouTube channel: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast">youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast</a>
IN THIS EPISODE
VOICES Martin Franklin Jerry Kranitz Colin Potter Jonathan Coleclough Mark Lancaster Gary Levermore
MUSIC
&ldquo;Off The Graph&rdquo; Colin Potter, The Ghost Office, Mirage &ldquo;We Are So Glad&rdquo; Colin Potter, We Couldn&rsquo;t Agree On a Title, (IRC001) &ldquo;The No. 1 Entertainer&rdquo; The Door &amp; The Window, Weird Noise E.P. (FO Records FEP001) &ldquo;Invertebrates&rdquo; The Instant automatons, We Couldn&rsquo;t Agree On A Title, LP (IRC001) &ldquo;Sentimental&rdquo; Those Little Aliens, We Couldn&rsquo;t Agree On a Title, LP (IRC001) &ldquo;Ismalla&rdquo;&nbsp; Those Little Aliens, Flowmotion, (ICR 003) &ldquo;Power&rdquo; Colin Potter, The Scythe, (ICR002) &ldquo;Harmless Thought&rdquo; Carl Matthews, Integration, (ICR 012) &ldquo;One Million Blades Of Grass&rdquo; Colin Potter, Visions, (Third Mind Tapes TMT009) &ldquo;The Self Sufficient Sexual Shoe&rdquo; Nurse With Wound, Rock n Roll Station, (United Dairies) &ldquo;As Above, So Below&rdquo; Carl Matthews, Flowmotion compilation, (ICR 003) Many thanks to Jonny Zhivago and the invaluable resource for underground music that is Die Or DIY (<a href="https://dieordiy2.blogspot.com/)">https://dieordiy2.blogspot.com/)</a>
FIND US <a href="https://cassetteculturepodcast.com">https://cassetteculturepodcast.com</a>
SUPPORTERS Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who gift a small monthly contribution toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at: <a href="https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe">https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe</a>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Cassette Culture is produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (<a href="https://eastcoaststudio.com.au">https://eastcoaststudio.com.au</a>)

The stories of the global underground movement that shaped experimental music and culture, told by the artists that were there…

For two decades during the '80's and '90's, the international mail system fostered a network of underground artists, exchanging cassette tapes of music and homemade artwork – all under the radar of mainstream media. Taking the DIY message of Punk as a jumping off point, we travel through the network to find the creators of the fanzines, the music, the labels and events.

The stories of the global underground movement that shaped experimental music and culture, told by the artists that were there&hellip;
For two decades during the '80's and '90's, the international mail system fostered a network of underground artists, exchanging cassette tapes of music and homemade artwork &ndash; all under the radar of mainstream media. Taking the DIY message of Punk as a jumping off point, we travel through the network to find the creators of the fanzines, the music, the labels and events.

Cassette Culture

The stories of the global underground movement that shaped experimental music and culture, told by the artists that were there...

For two decades the international mail system fostered a network of underground artists, exchanging cassette tapes of music and homemade artwork - all under the radar of main stream media.

We track down some key figures in the cassette scene, and follow the web of connections outward from the UK around the world, mapping the impacts and their ongoing effects.

We speak with musicians, label runners, and fanzine writers, who share their experiences of connecting through the mail system and its ongoing effects on their lives.

Hosted by Martin Franklin & Hudson Graham | Podcast produced by East Coast Studio

Find us on www.cassetteculturepodcast.com

The stories of the global underground movement that shaped experimental music and culture, told by the artists that were there...
For two decades the international mail system fostered a network of underground artists, exchanging cassette tapes of music and homemade artwork - all under the radar of main stream media.
We track down some key figures in the cassette scene, and follow the web of connections outward from the UK around the world, mapping the impacts and their ongoing effects.
We speak with musicians, label runners, and fanzine writers, who share their experiences of connecting through the mail system and its ongoing effects on their lives.
Hosted by Martin Franklin &amp; Hudson Graham | Podcast produced by <a href="https://eastcoaststudio.com.au/">East Coast Studio</a>
Find us on <a href="https://www.cassetteculturepodcast.com">www.cassetteculturepodcast.com</a>

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