I Would Do Anything was created using a damaged 8-track cartridge tape of an album by Meatloaf mixed with recordings of digital feedback created by choosing the wrong inputs while digitizing cassette tapes. John Cage is a huge influence and inspiration in my work with sound, so I am glad to create this homage to 4:33.

I have a fondness for 8-track cartridges and have used them in composition and live performances since 1994 when I bought a severely damaged Led Zeppelin 8-track at a yard sale. The first and only time I played that tape, I heard a symphony of beautifully distorted analog sounds with hints of Led Zeppelin mixed in. The 8-track tape only played once before it broke, but I was fortunate to have recorded what happened as the tape struggled past the tape heads. It was sonic magic and I called this recording 8-Track Magic. After this experience, I always keep my eyes open at yard sales and thrift stores for the most damaged 8-track tapes I can find in hope that I will hear more 8-Track Magic. I did find many wonderful moments of 8-Track Magic over the years, but nothing ever compared to that first Led Zeppelin cartridge .

More recently I have composed graphic scores for eight 8-track tape players. These compositions have been performed by The 8-Track Magic Orchestra on several occasions. See links below:

Egnekn Montgomery
www.atmotw.com



links

8-Track Magic II
www.genkenmontgomery.com/8trackmagic2.html


8-Track Magic: A Light Odyssey  
vimeo.com/83994214
Performed by Gen Ken Montgomery & Andrea Beeman, the Enchantress of Bioluminosity, at Hanson Records, Oberlin, Ohio, December 2013.

8 Track Magic Orchestra Old Stone House, Brooklyn
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWTsyYNVH88


Atlantis Gallery Richmond
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGk_6jSuY58

Egnekn 8-Track Magic WFMU Beware of the Blog
blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2009/04/egnekn-montgomerys-8-track-magic.html