“30 Jahre Masters of Reality”

Tim Harrington Artikel © Masters of Reality.de 2011

Photos: Tim Harrington

Tim Harrington:
 “The Genesis from the Masters of Reality”

CHAPTER 1: So... we had been jamming early on first with a “Rhythm Ace” drum machine I had borrowed from my friend Patrick Desalvo [who plays now with Savoy Brown] and then with a Korg unit I bought.

These were primitive preset units but they gave you the hypnotic repetition to work a riff or jam as it were.  At this point we loosely called it the “Manson Family”. We never actually performed under that flag though...

We were tinkering and experimenting with home-made recording mainly because we didn’t have resources or the inclination to go to a proper studio. Sort of punk rock.
I had a Sanyo boom-box that had stereo condenser mics built in with an auto leveler that smashed the sound down. Cheesy but with some lo-fi character.
We would get a rhythm track going with synthesizers and a beat through this Fender Vibroverb amp and record to the cassette.

Then we played the tape back through the amp on another deck and “over-dubbed” vocals and guitar or more synths or whatever.  This eventually led to the first “songs” that would be our first recording...    

CHAPTER 2: He did the “I am a D.J. I am what I play BEEP BEEP” routine  and I was in an endless blur of stupid cover bands to make some money. Mangling vapid dance music. We jammed in an old union hall  with a hydraulic elevator. It housed a Hammond organ repair shop. The shirt-lifting proprietor of the joint creeped me out with his lisping and leering.
As I recall we recorded mostly in my apartment at the time. Eventually we got four songs together for a cassette release through this indie record store at the college. I remember “Voodoo Doll“, ”Double Whammy”, “Building the Kingdom” and “Mor Theme”.

I can’t remember if we split the cost of the cassettes or I paid. We had I think fifty. Hand made. Blank tapes were about ten for ten or twelve. We sold them for four dollars a piece.
I went on the road for some while through the south and mid-west and got back around Halloween. Maybe 1982 or 3. We got together and I asked how we did with the tapes. He said they sold out. So what ? We have two hundred dollars? Cool! Uh no... he spent the cash to pay some bills or something. The subject never came up again but you know if someone takes a nickle not far behind is a dime and a dollar or more.

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