Nick Hertzberg (Wet Cassettes)
What are your top five albums that were released in 2021? (In order 1-5)
- The Body - I've Seen All I Need to See
- Mike - Disco!
- Behavior & Mayako XO - Free World
- Vide - Death Roll
- Mannequin Pussy - Perfect
What band did you discover in 2021 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?
Old Nick and Grime Stone Records. Finding that there was an entire label and presence dedicated to black metal and synth music that is very left-of-center and didn't allow for any NSBM (national socialist / nazi black metal) bands on the roster, made me very excited. I was fortunate enough to work with label head Absymal Specter in releasing a solo black metal album I did called HEXENSCHORF as well.
How will you remember 2021? (In terms of music)
I'll remember 2021 as a productive year in musical creation for myself and the label. It was a year I started to mentally pair down on extraneous projects and reach out to labels I love to release my work outside of the Wet Cassettes orbit. I released works with Goodbye Boozy (as Big Chungus), Grimestone, the Salt Lake Terror Collective, and Nose Vomit Records. I started a separate "gathering place" online for all my solo heavy music called "All of the Blood." All of that AND several group / solo albums on Wet Cassettes.
What can we look forward to from you in 2022?
Hopefully some shows! I'm looking forward to booking with solo projects and my band Billy and the Bad Peach, who should have an LP coming in 2022. I also have a black metal album (AGRUVZI) coming on the JEMS label and a free-form noise-jazz solo recording coming in spring on Personal Archives. I'm very excited about those, finding more artists to collaborate with, and bringing in more bands that are not me or my direct friends to Wet Cassettes family. We have the first half of the year lined up with lots of bands from around the globe, and can't wait to share those with you.
What records are you looking forward to most in 2022?
With all of the supply chain delays and such going on, I haven't seen a ton of 2022 announcements yet. But, a few that I have seen are Cate Le Bon - Pompeii and Boy Harsher - The Runner. For Wet Cassettes, we're looking forward to releasing artists such as ENA (Japanese noisecore), Dead Yellow (ambient black metal), and my Valentine's Day-themed Big Chungus album.
What went through your head the first time you played live in 2021 after the delay? (If you haven’t -- what do you anticipate when you hit that point?)
Unfortunately I (we) didn't get to play live in 2021. We were working on both Billy & the Bad Peach and Night Gospel shows and both didn't get to happen. As I get older, it gets harder to want to go out and play shows -- but I attended a show with Gel, Action News, Chemical Fix and a few other local bands in Philadelphia on a pier a few months ago and that really reignited my desire to get back out there, so, fingers crossed! Plz get vaxxed so we can do this as safely as possible!
Nick Hertzberg – social media links
- Instagram: @wetcassettes
