Bust out your boom box and get your fingers ready for some manual rewinding.
The guys behind a do-it-yourself Bushwick recording studio are celebrating two years in its current location by releasing a cassette-only compilation of music recorded in the space over the past year. Gravesend Recordings owners Julian Fader and Carlos Hernandez said the 18 tracks on the tape feature not only the songs they like listening to the most, but also the ones that hold the best memories.
“They are about essential moments for us based on our own experience in a session,” said Fader. “Like one song might remind me of a week in July when we were sweating. It is personal to us, and I hope that comes across.”
The pair, who both play in indie soul back Ava Luna, said they started the recording studio several years ago in the basement of a church in Gravesend — hence the name. They then bounced around without a real home for a period, before moving into underground arts space Silent Barn when the organization relocated onto Bushwick Avenue in 2012.
Fader and Hernandez will launch the compilation tape with a show at Silent Barn on Jan. 16, featuring performances from Sam Owens of indie rock band Celestial Shore, dream-pop act Meenk, lo-fi psych outfit Video Daughters, and Philadelphia avante-pop group Laser Background. The tape also includes tracks from art rockers Convertor, surf stylists Shark?, grungey duo Laughing Fingers, and industrial rock ensemble Death Ray Architect, amongst others.
This is the second compilation cassette the Gravesend Recordings two-some have put together, though they say this one is much longer than last year’s. Fader said the pair like the cassette format because it is cheaper than a vinyl record and more personal than a compact disc or download.
“It is nice to have something physical to represent your purchase other than just something on a computer,” he said.
Gravesend Recordings compilation issue 2 tape release at Silent Barn (603 Bushwick Ave. between Melrose and Jefferson streets in Bushwick, www.silentbarn.org). Jan. 16 at 8 pm. $8.
