John Hoffman (Vacation, The Mimes)
SPB: From when you were starting out to now, what parts of your setup in studio have help to voice your sound as it stands today?
Hoffman: I'd have to say it's my Tascam 122 cassette deck. It's a two-track cassette desk that can monitor the recording of the cassette's audio in real time and allows me to adjust its tone in a very flexible way, through its variable bias and pitch control. I've been using it on band’s records and my own since I was 18 and it's never failed me. You can put a whole mix through it, or just track a couple of drum mics through it. It can warm things up in a really fun and creative way. I imagine it's a piece of gear that I'll always make sure I have in my locker. It's especially helpful these days, given so many punk bands want the cassette 4-track sound on their albums.
You can hear it on records from both The Mimes and Vacation.
Here's a taste:
The Mimes - "Cereal"
This whole album's drum tracks were recorded on it.
Vacation - "Non Person" LP
This whole album was printed through a cassette to give it a warmer, tape sound.
