So anyway…
As I rarely write about myself, I thought I’d let other people do it for me. Here are some ‘press notices’ from before I migrated from the Soundcloud platform, whence to my own site. They also do not encompass the musical travelogues that are now so much a part of my life.
Interviewer or the blog FWBA International, Tony Francis
I came across a site called PatesTapes which is the project of Charles Pates who has curated hundreds of hours of mixes from vinyl to tape, all online and streamable. Meticulously organized in genres and moods, patestapes has been my go-to site for mixtapes.
I found out about the site a while back and have since gotten everyone in my office to listen to it regularly.
I wanted to find out more about the man behind the mixtapes- Charles Pates and his impressive catalogue of vinyl. Read my interview below, then check out PatesTapes for yourself.
TF: Where did the idea for Pates Tapes come from?
Well, first off, thanks for converting the people in your office.
I relocated back from the west coast to the east, and all my tapes were packed in boxes – normally I have shelves stuffed with them all color coded so I can pick and choose the mood. But for the first time my tapes were temporarily AWOL, and I was forced rely on shuffled digital music. That was tolerable for a couple of months, and then it became annoying, because if I’m alone or with friends I like my music tapes to do what I designed them to do. So I started to drag the tape boxes downstairs, out of the attic where they slumbered. I had a by now a new audience and everyone loved the tapes; the computer had not improved on the human experience. Now slowly but surely the collection is going online, so everyone everywhere can sit at my stereo and play whatever tape they want to.
TF: You’ve clearly got a certain encyclopedic wisdom about music, especially from early eras- what do you attribute that to? Were you a musician? Are you simply nostalgic?
I’ve always loved music, always been a collector, combine this with years of hanging out with people who also love music, and you have a rich musical stew.
I don’t really see it as nostalgic, although there is an evocative side to music that does stimulate memory. You look at paintings and you don’t think of them as nostalgic. Music like the visual arts is an ongoing story, and I’m trying my best to record some of it. In regard being a musician, I play the guitar, but I wouldn’t call myself a musician.
TF: What was the process like, extracting files from tape to digital?
Long, it’s real time and I’ve been at it for several years now and I have about 80% of the tapes uploaded and online.
TF: Do you feel that the quality has been lost through transferring?
No, I play the tapes and I’ve listened to it streamed, and I haven’t noticed any difference.
TF: There’s a distinctive feel to sitting down to listen to records.
The playlists were made mostly at night when I was in the groove both metaphorically and literally – I think that comes across. They can be listened to like concept albums with a certain reverence I suppose. They can also be listened to in the background – the only difference between background and foreground is volume.
On the site you can’t take the needle off, I think this is really important, people are listening to music they don’t have access to, their trusting the taste, and not blowing things off. These days it’s so easy to skip, fast forward and chop and change…new technology is developing short attention spans. Maybe my contribution can get us ‘back to where we once belonged.’
TF: How do you go about crafting a mix?
There is definitely a musical narrative and it tends to be built around pace and mood changes, which come around every 12 to15 minutes. So you end up with 3 or 4 episodes in 45 minutes, it’s like making a film or designing a magazine, – I’ve done both so the disciplines come in handy. The hard piece is getting the end of one track to go with the start of another. Even harder than that, is knowing when the records sound, will hit the needle – exactly at the time you release the pause button on the tape deck. I didn’t work on the turntables and mixing units that are available now…the turntable went one way…forward. If you get your timing right Eureka! Well almost…then you have to rewind the tape and see if it worked…often it didn’t. It’s a serious labour of love.
TF: Out of all genres posted- which one is your favorite?
All of them. I don’t ‘play favorites’…well I do ‘play favorites’…but …ahh you know what I mean.
TF: How many records do you own? How do you go about finding and collecting them?
I have around 2,000, most of them were ordered or came to me from ‘bin dives,’ some came as promo’s from record company’s when I was in the magazine business.
TF: Which are your favorites?
All of them really, but I suppose collectables and great graphic design are high on my list of criteria’s.
TF: Do you listen to any contemporary music- if so, what do you listen to?
Absolutely, all the playlists except Café contain – or will contain new music. I’m listening to reviews in MOJO magazine, because there’s precious little on the TV, or on the Radio. Great name for a band…almost?
TF: Most young people my age who write about music are constantly consuming whatever the newest/latest/most hyped bands- can you suggest any older artists that would be required listening for this generation?
All of them, I don’t think it’s just young people, it’s all people. Music is one of the few things, that when played, forces you to think.
TF: What is the most popular mix you’ve posted? Are you surprised by this?
The Peel Sessions is the fav right now, but as the site goes increasingly more international, I’m expecting that to change…the African section is very popular.
TF:I’ve noticed that you’re also an artist- is that a hobby or a career?
I’ve painted for most of my life, but that doesn’t pay the rent
TF: Do you see patestapes growing?
It’s growing, and I can’t see it dying.
TF: Any new genres to introduce?
No I think I have it covered.
TF: Will it ever be available for download for those of us that don’t have iPhones?
You can’t download it. It’s available on everything.
TF: Thanks for the upload lowdown.
Cheers and as always enjoy in joy.
CWPATESTAPES: A CASE STUDY
by Toby Wardle
Compiling a mixtape is regarded as an art form, songs connected by a common theme or mood leading to an overall listening experience - summarized by a suitable title. Traditionally, the tracks making up a tape are sourced and chosen by an individual who records them to an audiocassette in a specific order. Nick Hornby’s novel High Fidelity (2000) offers an amusing insight into mixtape making from the perspective of unlucky-in-love character Rob Fleming, portrayed by John Cusack in the film adaptation.
“To me, making a tape is like writing a letter — there's a lot of erasing and rethinking and starting again. A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do. You've got to kick off with a corker, to hold the attention, I started with "Got to Get You Off My Mind", but then realized that she might not get any further than track one, side one if I delivered what she wanted straightaway, so I buried it in the middle of side two. Then you've got to up it a notch, or cool it a notch, and you can't have white music and black music together, unless the white music sounds like black music, and you can't have two tracks by the same artist side by side, unless you've done the whole thing in pairs and...oh, there are loads of rules.”
Charles Pates, the founder of music goldmine Patestapes, is a NYC based English music enthusiast and record collector with a vinyl collection that’s grown well into four figures. He has been and will be creating mixtapes from his eclectic collection for a very long time. Charles Pates offers the following on the art form.
“One damp dark night, I was comfortably crashed at a friends flat surrounded by his collection of album's and singles. The excitement as I rummaged through his 45's is hard to describe – Amundsen reaching the South Pole - Armstrong stepping onto the moon? You get the picture. Heads, Hands, & Feet, with Albert Lee on guitar, Lynda Lewis, Shocking Blue…the Dr Who Theme! I was gobsmacked. The next morning, I resolved to pick up a blank cassette, and lay these classics down on tape. In so doing I came upon the magic of tape making. A skill I'll warrant, that can only be performed by a human.”
In 2010, Pates started a time consuming but hugely worthwhile project in patestapes, a website encompassing digitized versions of his mixtape cassettes, which is forever being updated. These online tapes are available to stream for free to anyone who visits the site. Streaming music is becoming increasingly popular in a time where internet speeds are only getting faster. The premise is simple: listening to content online for free legally, but not actually owning the content. Patestapes brings the feeling and authenticity of the mixtape premise into the digital age. Sure, it’s effectively another streaming service - but strictly not in the way that Spotify or even YouTube is a streaming service. The difference being that a system like Spotify allows and expects you to choose individual songs or albums to listen to, eventually building playlists for yourself, if you so desire. With patestapes, the songs have been handpicked for you, by Mr. Pates himself. The tracks making up each mixtape have been recorded and cut together from his vinyl collection onto tape, in real time, and then digitally converted and uploaded. This means the order of the tracks, the flow, the mood, the length, the theme and so on has all been taken into consideration and planned to provide a genuine mixtape experience - thus you can only stream them as whole tapes, not individual songs. The sheer effort and time involved is staggering and adds a wonderful charm to what is effectively an uncovered gem - patestapes could be a pioneering force in the world of internet music services.
The layout of the site is delightfully simple and pleasing to the eye - in itself something that many music sites lack terribly to start with. The tapes are presented in categories by graphic representation with the mood or genre name displayed on the front, which when clicked on, expand to a list showing the individual tapes inside. For example, if you click on ‘Hits: Top Ten Nostalgia Quiz Tunes’, you can then select a tape called ‘Good Vibrations’. Among others, the tape contains the song of the same name by The Beach Boys with tracks by John Lennon, Fleetwood Mac and the Shangri-La’s. The site doesn’t just focus on one genre either - you can explore Jazz, Reggae, African, Classical, Rhythm & Blues and even Christmas music if you visit at the right time of year. When a tape is selected, the first track begins to play and the next 45 minutes takes you on a sonic journey you’re very likely to enjoy. The fact that you can see the track names and artists included on the tapes is essential considering a tool like this is the ultimate gateway to discovering new music you may never have heard otherwise (and not necessarily new as in recent, but new to you personally). The beauty of this tool existing within the internet is that Google is only another tab away - providing an endless research source for the new artist you’ve just discovered. Subsequently, iTunes, eBay and tens of music retailers are similarly nearby if you happen to fall in love with something enough to hunt it down for keeps. Patestapes also includes a section containing tapes of various John Peel sessions. Given the nature and feel of the site and its ethos - this is unsurprising. With this project, Charles Pates is doing his bit in keeping alive the spirit and rare enthusiasm of a personality like Peel. While known primarily for championing new talent, Peel also made sure he was showcasing the overlooked and underexposed. Sadly passing away in 2004, the DJ vowed to offer the best music around, much of which wasn’t receiving the airplay it deserved elsewhere on Radio 1. A unique creation like patestapes doesn’t really have any negative factors per se. It’s musically educating for a start - something people need increasingly more as many allow themselves to be consumed by worthless tat in the popular charts (which is currently at an undisputable all-time low). If you find yourself in a musical rut, then patestapes is a friend to help you out - it’s also great if you can’t decide what to listen to or want to take a punt on something new. Furthering that, it’s a wonderful lifeline if you can’t afford to buy music and feel guilty about illegal downloads. After all, streaming music started having an effect on piracy problems as soon as it gained popularity - The Guardian reported in 2009: “The survey of 1,000 fans also shows that many 14 to 18 year old’s are now streaming music regularly online using services such as YouTube and Spotify. At the same time, less than a third of teenagers are now illegally downloading music, the survey suggests. In January this year 26% of 14 to 18-year old’s admitted filesharing at least once a month compared with 42% in December 2007.” (Topping, 2009). A more recent Guardian article suggested that young people like to listen wider than we may think when it comes to music. Journalist, Tom Ewing writes:
“At the start of the 1960s pop meant everything: yodeling heartthrobs, matinee crooners, leftover rockers, Motown and girl groups. Now its scope feels diminished: at worst it's where listeners start off before they pick a style that suits them. At best it's the biggest niche among many.” (Ewing, 2011)
What better way to find the “style that suits them” than hours of expertly crafted musical gems in a format harking back to a ‘golden era’? This is where patestapes serves as a format far more expressive, creative and genuinely useful than something like Spotify or we7, for example. Perhaps patestapes is a prototype for what is to come. The way music is being consumed is changing and we could certainly do worse than to have this particular site at the forefront of what is happening. Yet, in some ways it’s a more authentic and generally better version of what has already been and is on-going. For example, sites such as Last.fm allow you to listen to your own ‘radio station’ by streaming music it ‘thinks’ you’d like based on what you already listen to. The problem with this is that it can be very inaccurate, often making plain bad choices - alas: a good mixtape shouldn’t have duff moments. Pates talks the truth when pointing out tape making as a skill that “can only be performed by a human”. Computer software cannot possibly have the knack for real intuition and taste. This is where patestapes far outweighs a site like Last.fm in value - not to mention the fact that the latter is rarely going to challenge you or play you something exciting that doesn’t ape what you already know. One of the most vital charms of Pates’ site is the lack of a skip button. You can skip category and you can skip tape - but you can’t skip track. A big negative of music within the internet world is that we’ve become all too trigger-happy with the ‘next’ icon. “In a sped-up world, full of digital entertainment and massive distraction, people now tune out much faster and move on to something else if it appears boring, or challenges their thinking.” (Rubleski, 2010) Music isn’t being given half the chance anymore thus Pates is gleefully trying to restore the experience of listening to a record. The patestapes Facebook page contains many positive comments from grateful listeners but one visitor, Andrew Jasperson, sadly misses the point when he comments: “Your site is amazing. Do you make Spotify playlists of your tapes? That would be even more amazing.” Pates didn’t reply to the comment, which almost speaks for itself. The 45-minute only concept is almost putting much needed patience back in the world of internet music. In a sense it is replicating the feeling of listening to both sides of a record in one go - something that many people of a younger generation almost never do. It is taking the basic concept and putting it in a new situation. “Listening to vinyl forces you to take more time, more time acquiring the music, more time researching it, more time preparing to listen to it. This ritualizes the experience somewhat. The ritual provides a sense of community, focus and comfort.” (Sawyer, 2011)
|In the information section of the Facebook page, Pates expresses the following regarding the tapes:
“They can be listened to like concept albums with a certain reverence I suppose. They can also be listened to in the background – the only difference between background and foreground is volume. On the site you can’t take the needle off, I think this is really important, people are listening to music they don’t have access to, their trusting the taste, and not blowing things off. These days it’s so easy to skip, fast forward and chop and change…new technology is developing short attention spans. Maybe my contribution can get us ‘back to where we once belonged.’”
So, is there any money in a site like this? Well, currently patestapes is by no means a business venture, Pates has made clear he wants no adverts at least. However, in theory the site should be huge – and scale normally means business. With very little overheads other than the cost of the domain name, the main commitment is time - something Pates has proved he’s willing to put in. In fact, he’s easily bought enough time already to ensure there’s enough content up for the site to be instantly viable as it is. Visitors can already bask in vast choice and with tapes being added on the site currently, Pates will keep his audience coming back for years on end. The real point here is that Pates has an advantage over every other streaming service on the internet: he doesn’t need to make money from patestapes to stay afloat. Not to mention the fact that it’s a service offering records and listening experiences you won’t be able to find on any other streaming service - truly priceless. If streaming is the future, as boss of Universal Records, David Joseph claims, then patestapes is an entity within that. “Streaming is eclipsing everything. It's a different digital currency to downloading. You're dealing there with 175 million single tracks bought a year compared to seven billion streams of music." It could be argued that patestapes is offering an alternative to music piracy, which can’t be a bad thing. An official answer and effective resolution to the problem of piracy is long overdue but unfortunately still far away. However, the fact that everyone knew this was to be an issue ten years ago begs the question: is it completely solvable? Professor of Communications at University of Illinois, Chicago, Steve Jones, wrote the following in 2000: “At present, consumption of music via digital computer networks is of greatest concern to the music industry, insofar as it is the most clear way in which purchasing and listening practices are being reshaped by new technologies. These practices bear scrutiny by scholars, as well, for they involve a concomitant social reshaping by shifting the sites of hearing and listening and of buying music in spatial terms (i.e. in regard to the locus of encountering, hearing and purchasing).” (Jones, 2000)
Perhaps piracy will never be eliminated, but a passionate project such as patestapes somehow offers hope in such matters. It’s obvious the project is fueled by pure love of music. While interesting to weigh up its current place in the internet framework, the possibility of expansion is certainly intriguing. It’s important to point out that the major expansion of patestapes is in no way essential and perhaps not even desirable to Pates himself – although growth of audience can only be positive and will surely come with time. However, Pates may have hit on an idea that is potentially lucrative – not only for himself, but for the artists included on the tapes and their respective record labels. Although perhaps ambitious and probably a logistical nightmare, the idea of doing deals with the artists and record labels involved to be able to sell the digitized tapes as 45-minute mp3 files doesn’t sound like such a bad idea. The prospect is exciting - no compromising the vision and gainful for everyone involved: the listeners can own these excellent tapes if they want to, the artists are getting paid for their music, Charles Pates is reaping rewards for his hard work and enthusiasm and the music industry is given a boost it’s increasingly going to need. Pates recently wrote the following:
“Patestapes is one year old! [sic] By word of Net, listened to in 70 countries by more than 7,000 people. The obsession that dragged me late into the night with records, turntables, cassettes, beer, wine (and worse) has, I think, been worth it. No ads, no pop-music confection, no tunes that computers and corporations THINK we might like. Just all kinds of music for all kinds of people—and a chance to listen to the unfamiliar.”
It’s hard to believe that a site as inspiring as this is only reaching 7,000 people when Last.fm claims to reach over 30 million and Spotify over 10 million. Having said that, the manner in which it has reached those 7,000 is commendable and fittingly organic, proving Pates really has something special in his site. Regardless of where Pates takes the site, it will exist as an extremely worthwhile use of web space for a long time to come. No doubt, patestapes is a platform that, with the right marketing, would appeal to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of real music lovers. I predict the site will receive some much-deserved exposure in the next couple of years widening its audience considerably. It surely has to happen. Safe to say, with the cultural impact of Twitter in the last 2 years, a few tweets from some ‘big names’ here and there and patestapes could go viral. Wardle. T © 2012.
Pates Tapes: The Perfect Playlist
Posted by Kate Fletcher
Here at Gigseen, we like to think we can spot a real muso when we see one; passionate, totally consumed by music in all it's forms, and an enviable encyclopedic knowledge on the obscurest music trivia. Well, that's exactly what we've found in Charles Pates. His website, Pates Tapes, was named 'the most important music website of 2011', and we want to see what all the fuss is about. Created by Charles Pates, Pates Tapes is a project consisting of hundreds of hours of mixes from vinyl to tape, all made available to stream online. Through a labour of love, Pates has spent all his time meticulously organising and categorizing his impressive collection of vinyl into specific genres and moods to provide us with handy mix-tapes for our listening pleasure. And, believe me, it really is a pleasure!
As Pates' record collection moved into seriously significant numbers (four figures, to be precise), he found his tapes were appearing in restaurants, bars and being played at events. Due to their accessible 45 minute format, they were ideal for dinner parties, gifts and nostalgia quiz nights. People also began to send him famous John Peel shows, as well as music from across the globe. It was only recently that someone suggested to Pates that his tapes should be transfered online, informed that content and playlists are "what people want". They weren't wrong. When interviewed in 2011 (By Friends With Both Armspublication), Charles was asked about his own musical background and what he attributes to his vast knowledge. He replied, saying:
"I’ve always loved music, always been a collector; combine this with years of hanging out with people who also love music, and you have a rich musical stew. In regard to being a musician, I play the guitar, but I wouldn’t call myself a musician".
So far, Pates has been at the uploading process for roughly a year. Having digitised about 30 per cent of his (2,000 strong) collection, 10 per cent of it is online now. It's a long and ongoing process, making the site an exciting and ever-evolving musical environment for years to come. This website really does have everything your musical heart could desire. An easily navigable site, you can pick and choose from the following mixtapes: 'John Peel Sessions: 'Afrobeats: Juju Soukous Afro Beats', Pop Salon Mix', 'Caribbean: Reggae Dub Ska Soca', 'Hits: Top Ten Nostalgia Quiz Tunes', 'Jazz: Swing Bebop', 'Rhythm N Blues: Soul Stax Motown', 'World: Global Mixes', 'Sunset: Instrumental Muscle Relaxer', 'Classical Cafe: Music To Dine Talk And Read By'.
As well as the mix-tapes, once you've chosen a genre, there's a further 30-40 playlists categorized, allowing you to select your preferred mood or feel. Just click and play. It's as simple as that. My particular favourites are the 'Caribbean' and 'Easy' mixtapes, with their 'Ragamuffin' and 'Summertime' playlists. Featuring everything from King Tubby, Jimmy Cliff and Gregory Issacs to Sam Cooke, The Beach Boys and Echo Steel Band, this really is a muso's heaven. What's your favourite?
Patestapes does carry one warning, though: once you delve into this magical, musical delight, you may find the hours elapse you with frightening speed.