Gen Ken Montgomery

Together with David Prescott and Conrad Schnitzler, Montgomery started Generations Unlimited releasing cassettes and LPs from artists involved in Cassette Culture and Experimental Music. He co-founded Pogus Productions with Al Margolis in the late 80s and ran the Generator Sound Art Gallery in New York City from 1989-1992 where he collected and sold cassettes and music/sound related zines from around the world. He continues to produce archive recordings from the Generator days and new CDRs from dedicated sound artists in collaboration with Scott Konzelmann.

One of the first artists I can remember trading cassettes with through the mail was Rod Summers from The Netherlands. I may have exchanged tapes with people I knew locally, such as Furry Couch and Charles Cohen in the Philadelphia area, but there was something extremely exotic about sending and receiving a cassette from overseas so this exchange stands out in my mind. The green tinted customs slip and the idea that our cassettes traveled across an ocean just added to the thrill of the exchange. I sent Rod a copy of “Gen Ken & Equipment” in 1980 or 81. Rod sent me a compilation tape from his VEC audio exchange project which included a track from my cassette. The package also included the names and addresses of a dozen other audio artists on the cassette, none of whom I had previously been aware of. In one exchange the doors of possibilities for future tape trading grew exponentially. To this day I still correspond with Rod and this year we will finally meet for the first time.

Generator Sound Art, Inc.
ART IS THROWING MONEY OUT THE WINDOW
Ministry of Lamination