Since age 15, John Olson has been making art, playing in bands, inventing electronic instruments, booking shows and putting out records and tapes. He started the label American Tapes in the summer of 1992, releasing limited-edition recordings of his own and others’ music from around the world. Now well past its 300th release, American Tapes continues to feature improvised music made with handmade and prepared instruments, low-fi tape recordings of shows and rehearsals, and densely layered electronic experimentation.
Olson’s vinyl, cassette and CDR editions, often released in small quantities of ten or less, reflect an aesthetic that is decidedly handmade and raw. Incorporating an array of materials and processes (spray paint, collage, found objects, photocopies, and screen printing), his releases often take on the status of sculptural objects. The American Tapes release of Chris Freeman’s “The Story of Yes” (Am-39, 1997) combines tackboard, tissue paper, ink, branches, red paint, staples and lacquer, while the cassette recording of D.L Savings T.X’s “Thank You Urine Doll” (Am-28, 1997), is packaged using a 7” record, grime, paint, ink, dirt, windex, oil, paint remover, lacquer and cloth. Olson writes, “you have to learn how to use your own style. Chinese artists would spend their whole lives on one style, so they would know every idiosyncratic aspect to it. If you just stay focused, and try to learn as much about subtlety and nuance, you can put a lot of depth and character into what you do.”
Most recently, Olson has been putting out hand-cut records that he distributes while on tour and through a growing international mail order operation run out of his Ypsilanti, Michigan apartment.
Olson plays magnetic tape and electronics in Wolf Eyes and performs with his wife Tovah Olson in Dead Machines. Though equally visionary as a visual artist, Olson reflects, “more and more I think that sound is a stronger personal art form than visuals. Because with visuals, you can just turn your head and it’s not there. But sound is on you like a blanket.”