TAPE CUTS II

Sitka Tape Cuts II
“The second tape started to develop when I was looking for a way to play Tape Cuts live. A track was composed and its shapes were repeatedly explored. The final form was ultimately recorded in a single take on 1/4 inch tape, mirroring a live performance and celebrating one moment in time.

After completing this recording I was faced with a mass of tape loops left hanging on the wall, the wreckage of the composing process. Layers and layers of sound buried and obliterated, trying to push through what was on the surface.”

- Ben Van Houdt (Sitka)

Sitka - Home
’Home’ is a first look into a short film we are working on. It shows Sitka using tape and reel to reel te create the foundation for Tape Cuts.

Directed by Jef Mertens

TAPE CUTS PROJECT
A collaborative effort between Sitka and Taping Policies including tape releases, film & live performances.

Good things take time. Looking back it seems strange to us the connection between Sitka (Ben Van Houdt) and Taping Policies didn’t occur sooner. When our paths finally crossed, it sparked a lot of creative energy and we quickly started feeding off of each other’s ideas. Now we are proudly presenting Tape Cuts: a prolonged collaboration including tape releases, film and live performances.

Ben had been collecting cassette tapes from a dumpster for nearly two years, knowing that at some point they would come of use. After gathering a vast amount of these old tapes and experimenting with them, he found a way to handle them with a tape machine he had bought. Cassettes were pried open to slice off stretches of tape and record guitar compositions. Recording and playing these pieces over and over again, the tape was used up quite heavily in the process, shedding residue and clogging up the machine. The sound these tracks ended up carrying, reflected what Ben was missing in his work earlier on. What was there before, now shifting out of focus or gone.

Sitka - Tape Cuts

Video collaboration shot on 4K smartphones by both Ben and Jef in an exchange project edited by Taping Policies.