By Michael Luce
Who would have guessed that one of the biggest electronic acts in the whole state is from little ol’ Provo? Well, I definitely would have, and you might have, but we’re both aware of Provo Music Magazine, so I think that gives us an unfair advantage.
Mr. Tape, the musical duo of Nate Pyfer and Mason Porter, is a need-to-know name, whether or not you like dance music. The two have been involved with countless musical projects over the years, such as Pinguin Mofex (among many, many others) and have played some truly incredible shows, like the one in Iceland; or the one in Cancún at an international pool party immediately after a World Cup victory; or playing sets as semi-headliners both before and after Kaskade on the same night.
Even though many of the fans in Long Beach, LA, or El Paso were clearly there for other performances, Mr. Tape has still found great crowd response from those absolutely massive audiences. “It’s always kind of a pinch me moment when we get to do stuff like that,” Mason said. “Like how did I end up here?”
Now that I’ve demonstrated how cool these guys are, it might surprise some to hear that the duo weren’t (and still aren’t really) hardcore EDM fanboys. Growing up, Nate was exposed to a decent amount of electronic music through MuchMusic, a Canadian MTV-like music channel. Though outwardly he kept to his rock appearance, he had a soft spot for groups like Ace of Base, The Prodigy, and Fatboy Slim. “Even though I wouldn’t admit it to my friends, I liked dance music,” he said. It took a while before Nate was comfortable being associated with the same genre that gave the world “Barbie Girl.” He especially credits the bizarre music video for Detroit Grand Pubahs’ song “Sandwiches” and the album Talkie Walkie by Air as key points in his journey into electronic music.
Mason, on the other hand, had limited exposure to true dance music until he was making it. He loved Radiohead and was first exposed to the electronic genre through albums like Kid A and Tom Yorke’s collaborations with Four Tet, Modeselektor, and so on. He explored a few of those groups’ influences, but “didn’t really start getting into electronic dance music until we started producing dance music.”
It was fun to hear the two run through the massive list of artists that had brought them towards the electronic style. Names like Aphex Twin, Daft Punk, Gorillaz, Shiba San, Moderat, and The Chemical Brothers were flying left and right, and you can tell these are two guys who not only love making music, they also just flat-out love music. This eclectic spectrum of influences is part of what makes Mr. Tape’s sound so interesting. The duo just pull from whatever influences they happen to be feeling at that moment and ignore a lot of what the established expectations are. “Mostly I just want to do stuff that is fun to create and fun to move to,” Mason said.
The first glimmer of Mr. Tape came in 2010, where the two met at a Battle of the Bands at Velour. Nate was with Norther (who became The Moth & The Flame) and Mason was in groups like Dandy Lyon and eventually Polytype. They started to work together and became friends, which naturally led to making music together. Around this time, Nate had begun working on music with Kaskade, who eventually invited the pair to release their music on his label Arkade. And come 2017, they did just that. The next few years would take them around the globe for shows as well as other massive heights like collaborations with Kaskade himself.
Both chuckled a bit when I brought up the evolution of EDM in Utah, commenting, “we aren’t really part of the [Utah] scene, to be honest.” They stressed it wasn’t because the scene wasn’t good enough; most of their connections just happen to take them outside the state. Mason said he hopes that the things happening with movements like Lost and Found help push the Utah community to grow. He hopes those who like that kind of thing cand find their own version of the indie/rock scene he grew up in at Velour and Muse.
When asked if dance music and the largely religious Utah culture are fundamentally incompatible, Mason remarked, “I think that point of view makes one sound out of touch and lazy.” He noted it is an uphill battle, but that the struggle stems from a numbers problem, not culture. He compared it to food, noting there’s also not really a dedicated pizza-by-the-slice shop in the area and that it has nothing to do with the culture; it’s just a size and demand thing. There are few truly great dance scenes in the US, and they’re all in big cities like Chicago, LA, and Detroit. It won’t be easy, but the more that people here help electronic music to flourish, the better it will be and there will be more people to pass the baton to. “So really the question is, do you want to go make something happen or just complain?”
To close the interview, I asked the duo who listeners should keep an ear out for. Both Nate and Mason emphatically responded that people should “listen to more Sego.” On top of that, Nate commented that his work at June Audio means there are countless talented groups in the area he could shout out, but the best way to find what you like is to just go get involved. Mason suggested his friend Divorce Court’s new album, Two Hours, and hinted that he’s also been working on some solo stuff he’ll be able to tease sometime soon, so keep an eye peeled for that!
So, what is Mr. Tape? Mr. Tape is just two guys who love to make fun music for people to dance to. It’s two guys happy to let someone else take the headlining set if it means getting to bed before 4 AM. It’s two guys who are excited to see what the future of electronic music here in the valley looks like, even as they claim to be outsiders to it. Mr. Tape is Mr. Tape.
Be sure to follow Mr. Tape on Instagram, and since we’re all supposed to listen to more Sego, check out Mr. Tape’s remix of Sego’s “TANDANG” below!