Mark Gunderson
Originally begun in 1987, Mark Gunderson’s unique “culture jamming” project, The Evolution Control Committee has been using samples, cut ups, goofy sounds and relentless humor for more than two decades . From the early devolved days in Ohio to his recent “mash up” work in San Francisco, TradeMark feeds society back into itself for examination. He is deeply involved in providing sounds for Burning Man, and also performs live with his “wheel of mash up”
Funny, I can’t remember what my very first would have been! But one of my first trades was with someone who now, over 20 years later, I’m still friendly with: Michael Devine (formerly Gonzalez) of Inch Eggs, Pop Cult, King Dapper Combo, and loads more monikers. Before I knew it I was writing to hundreds of tape traders. In my Ohio world I was hungry for music that went beyond (well beyond) the narrow tastes of the FM radio dial. Finding such music nowadays is a trivial matter thanks to the internet, and even though I worked at CompuServe (which was trying to be the internet before the internet) your only option in the 1980’s was cassettes in the mail. Actually, CompuServe did help in one way — they unwittingly footed the bill for most of the postage. ;-)
I’m still musically active today. And still trade with other musicians!