preservaTion projec T

By SKEME RICHaRDS (THE NOSTalGIa KING)

As DJ’s, collectors, music lovers and often times historians, we’re always on the hunt or searching for music that’s not on our radar and beyond out reach of proximity. Things that our basic, yet extensive knowledge is far from familiar with but piques our curiosity when we do find out about it whether through self discovery or someone else. In an era and what sometimes feels like an over-saturation of so many labels getting into the business of reissuing vinyl, there’s so much to choose from which becomes overwhelming to say the least when shopping. Titles that most times are done legally (and a lot of times illegally) with common titles, titles that have already seen multiple issues in the last decade, titles that really didn’t need a reissue and from time to time two of our favorites, titles that are extremely rare and ones that weren’t previously on our radar. With record bins filled to the max and getting to the point when we do take trips out to the shops, reissues take up more space than original pressings and it takes away some of the fun of stumbling across something newly discovered or an original pressing of something that we’ve been on the hunt for. The list of labels seem endless in trying to make a decision on what to buy and there are those that go the extra mile which for us is the name of the game, “dig deeper”.

But how deep is deeper and what do we hope to find at the end of that quest? How far does one need to go to find a holy grail of an amazing discovery to introduce it the world in hopes of inspiring others find it or something else to add on to music history? Think about how “competitive” the early days of digging was in various decades of DJ’ing but especially during the 1990’s of record fairs and sampling producers arriving early to score records which became the sample source or drum loops for some of their most iconic works. Records and sounds that made others immediately get out on the hunt for the same records in hopes that there would be more from the artist to sample from. A time when the term “digger” actually meant something and the only tools or sources available were phonebooks, fellow records heads and dealers. When the serious troopers of record collecting like DJ Muro, Soulman, The Conmen and Kon & Amir would supply record and sample fiends’ wildest dreams of white line discoveries. So what happened to all of that magic? The internet of course and with the ease of information being at your fingertips without leaving your couch began do I dare say, the decline? In all fairness, it’s not the decline, it’s just as a new way of digging and going about discovering what’s been covered all of this time.

With the reissue business being in full swing, there are a handful of labels that are truly digging deeper to present first time releases to the masses and in the last issue I introduced Portland Oregon label, Albina Music Trust who is preserving Black Portland music culture through their re - leases. In this issue, we go one step further with a spotlight on Austin Texas based label, The Preservation Project who lives by the modo, “dig deeper” and is responsible for releases that most likely never would have seen the light of day had they not been rescued from dusty storage units and defunct recording studios. The Preservation Project is an independent organization headed by John Waupsh, David Haffner and Creative Director Shaun Pauling that specializes in recovering and curating obscure 60’s, 70’s and 80’s music from the original masters and sometimes cassette tapes, then cleaning them up as much as possible for a vinyl release. Featuring a variety of carefullychosen sides to be preserved spanning the soul, funk, and rock genres, they’ve built up and impressive discography of releases to date that would have otherwise lived in obscurity. a double-sider 45 by New york Underground Funk Band “Strugglin” b/w “I’ve

“Most of the musicians TPP will feature recorded a single acetate or tape, leaving their work unknown to the general public. It is a great pleasure to now present these fully-restored recordings from the cutting room floors of studios — many of which are no longer in operation.”

“These artifacts tell us something about the time and place in which they were made, and about the people who made them. Though we gather as much information as we can before each release, little is known about many of the recordings we offer.”

Their debut release dropped in 2016 with

Been Fooled” which shook the collectors market up and gave DJ’s something new to to work into their sets. It wouldn’t be much longer until 45 would be released featuring two more cuts, “Funk & Soul” b/w “Wanna Be Free”. Following the successful sell out release, the label went a bit further and released a 12” featuring cuts from the second release and a fifth discovered track, “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”. The label seemed to be in full swing and living up to it’s goal but how do you follow things up from here on out? After releasing 2017’s split-sider from The Karamatics “Love Can Be Red” b/w Rose Hicks “One Word For It”, the label then released another four singles in 2018 which truly put them into the category of labels to be on the lookout for when releases are dropped as to not miss out on any record to hit the bins. Mancefield & breaks DJ perspective. Studying each track in full, extending breaks and other sections where necessary and cleaning them up as much as possible, what came out was a proper double A-sider for those that like to rock doubles, sample heads and lovers of psych rock alike adding to each of our discographies. WIth Supreme La Rock choosing “Sad Country Boy” and myself taking on “your Mind”, the only thing missing is the artists name as neither were present on the acetate.

Brother Man Band “Brotherman” Pt. 1 & 2 became a favorite spin for me which was equal parts raw and funky while The Teacher Haters “Big Pig Alley” b/w “Cut Loose” delivered something new to the Garage Rock DJ’s and scene that became an instant floor filler. To keep things interesting and a sense of mystery, their single release was then pressed to double 12” which featured two cuts from an unknown artist which gave life to “We Got A Thing” b/w “Guys Today”.

Since then, the label has released another dozen releases under Preservation Project as well as a series called Master Series which does something that no other label would consider doing in giving the serious collector something more. The Master Series as stated by the label “is for people who understand that some things just can’t be tamed. (Read: these are scratchy, poppy, and rough recordings from busted acetates). Each release has been cleaned up as best as they could but they are in no way near perfect and are not for the picky listener or collector. They are a listen into what could’ve been, but never was was and highly collectible in their own right. With a total of 4 Master Series releases to date and each being in the funk & soul genres, the label presented a specific idea to Supreme La Rock and myself on the fourth release with both acquiring a side and doing a remix of the selected track which piqued of our interests. After hearing each side of heavy drum break psych rock, we both knew that we were ready to take on the task of giving them the Butta Bros treatment especially coming from a Hip Hop and

Most likely by the time that you read this, my cassette tape compilation mix of The Preservation Project catalog should have already dropped for you to get a close to full scope of some of the music that the label has released to date. When I said that the label digs deeper, I wasn’t kidding, they really do go to the furthest lengths of finding whats undiscovered and presenting them so that the artists music lives on in a way that they wouldn’t otherwise.