Mystic Tape Deck is a communicative device used to convey the details of a series of multimedia projects produced by a group of trans-dimensional, pseudo-mythological, time and tone bending entities.
In September of 2019, Mystic Tape Deck successfully funded a modest Kickstarter project called “Mystic Tape Deck’s Magical Musical Mythology” which provided all the funding needed to produce the physical copies of the first release “BARDS: Of The Morning Star.” It was a 16 song compact disc (nearly 80 minutes of music) accompanied by a beautiful 50 page perfect bound book filled with vivid full color original illustrations and a brief yet obtuse introduction to the “mythology” which sits at the heart of the project.
The second release in Mystic Tape Deck’s “BARDS” series is finally nearing completion. The last few songs are being finished up, the book is nearing its final stages, and an assortment of promotional materials are being amassed in preparation for what feels like a major milestone: completing and releasing the second installation in the series. Titled “BARDS: Of The Next Revolution,” the second release will be delivered in the same “deluxe” multi-medium format – accompanied by a heavily illustrated book and an “initiate’s guide” to the strange semi-fictional universe which drives and inspires the project.
But what exactly is Mystic Tape Deck and what is this semi-fictional universe they are creating?
In the world of comic books, especially in the early days, publishers such as Marvel and DC comics set out to define and detail the boundaries and laws of their special universes where their superheroes and villains existed alongside the world we know. There was the Marvel Universe, and the DC universe, each with their own particular cosmogony and unique attributes and eccentricities. This is a great oversimplification of a topic which could be more thoughtfully deconstructed in much greater detail elsewhere, but that is for another time. Understand for now, that Mystic Tape Deck is essentially a universe of this type: complete with characters who possess special, magical or mutant abilities who exist among us in a sort of parallel existence.
So is Mystic Tape Deck a band?
Well, no. While there is certainly plenty of opportunity for live performances of the material to occur via various interpretations, there are currently no immediate plans for that to happen. While there has been lots of discussion surrounding what a live performance of the material would look like, what form it would take on and the logistics of making it happen – it is just not reasonable at this point to expect to see a performance in the way you might go see your favorite band at the club on Saturday night. Mystic Tape Deck is not a band. It is probably more akin to a kitchen. Mystic Tape Deck understands its duty to combine and unshackle the subject matter it explores, free to exist beyond the confines of normal expectations inherent to the mediums. In the studio they are free to explore sonic textures and songwriting that is unencumbered by the need to reproduce it in a live format. Every song is the product of experimentation and creativity whose only boundaries are essentially technological. Every Mystic Tape Deck song is lovingly self-produced on the best equipment they can afford, in a place where they are the most comfortable. Every aspect of Mystic Tape Deck is driven by a strong DIY ethic, truly believing that music and art are at their most potent when their purity is unmuddled by the “business interests” of others.
So Mystic Tape Deck makes concept albums?
Well, sort of. But no. Mystic Tape Deck operates within a mythological construct that sits atop the entire history of the human race. That’s a pretty long time for a concept album to span: anywhere from 6 million to 200,000 years. Instead, think of it like a FRAMEWORK for many stories to manifest within. Mystic Tape Deck functions more like a production company in this capacity. The BARDS series of releases are only intended to function as a “gateway” into this universe and the guiding mythology behind it. BARDS are not the only project planned for release under the Mystic Tape Deck umbrella. There are also plans in the works for a graphic novel in the near future, among many other conceptual surprises.
There are definite metaphysical, philosophical, and even overtly spiritual elements of the universe Mystic Tape Deck outlines. The writing is guided by a central philosophy that is informed and guided by many years of casual comparative study of religion and faiths around the world. Instead of commanding fealty toward one particular system, the spiritual tradition of “Nazilic thought” is more akin to a sort of “Omnism” – the belief that all religious systems carry a sliver of truth, but none of them possess it all. Only by studying them all without prejudice is the truth of existence gradually revealed. Every BARDS release is intrinsically spiritual, a hermetic journey of self-analysis and introspection which in itself can be a rewarding experience for a listener. This is spirituality in entertainment form.
READ THE COSMOGONY