Nostromo Tapes

Analogue relics from the realm of Nostromo. Small edition, DIY releases of own music. All tapes and accompanying ephemera duplicated, designed, printed, stamped in Haus and assembled by hand.

One of the first ideas we had when starting Haus Nostromo was to make a Blanket of Rock cassette. It’s only taken us five years. Rachel and I have been on a journey in that time, and it’s funny and somewhat reassuring, that we’ve ended up (in some ways) back where we started. 

Along the way we’ve ventured into becoming an online book shop and back again. The curation of others work, the celebration of like mind artists and community, will always remain a big part of the Haus. But we also want it to be a place where we can explore our own creativity. A place for experimentation. Nostromo Tapes is borne out of a desire to continue to release our own music into the world taking into account everything we’ve learned along the way about art and DIY spirit. A big thank you at this point to Kiyo, whose work on the design and layout made this all possible. We’re honoured to be able to release her music alongside our own on Nostromo Tapes. 

The idea is to create a small artifact to accompany each one of our releases. So even if you’re not able to play the cassette itself you have an item that you can hold in your hand, that carries the music, and is filled with artwork, imagery and humanity. Something that hopefully enhances the listening experience, regardless of how you play the music. 

The idea of the cassette was not to be wilfully niche or create any barriers to people listening, it is simply the physical format that lends itself best to a combination of DIY and handcraft. So every tape I duplicate myself at home and all the artwork I print, cut, fold, assemble while the machine is running. It’s a slow process. But I love that the music plays through in real time for every tape whilst I’m there. Something meditative, even ritualistic, in those clicks and whirrs. That human touch is more important than ever these days, that goes for everything in Haus Nostromo, and I’ve never felt that so keenly as when stamping our logo onto a table full of cassettes and posters whilst the album plays quietly from the speakers behind me. There is an intimacy in creating these objects and I hope that can be felt in every finished tape. 

I’ve been making and releasing music for almost 15 years now. Over that time some of the most special releases have been those where we’ve improvised or let our imagination run wild. Limitations, be they financial or practical, be damned! Whether that’s the 10 CDs we bought to our very first show, or the ones we made in a hotel room in Italy after we ran out of our studio albums to sell on tour. Rachel and I drawing the logos and tracklisting on every sleeve whilst Daniel burnt the music. Though I’m proud of everything we’ve released (and there is certainly a grandeur to a more indulgent vinyl offering, that’s undeniable) these small editions will always be the most special to me and it’s this spirit that we’ve tried to channel now. 

I'm hoping Nostromo Tapes has some of the same magic in it.

Thomas