About this episode

The episode explores the origins of the UK cassette underground and the impact of the Instant Automatons and Deleted Records on DIY music culture.

Underneath the safety pins, television expletives and bondage trousers that came with Punk in 1977, there was a coded message for those ready to hear it. Resolutely independent, the Instant Automatons and their label Deleted Records tuned in from the North of England and got that message of DIY independence, creativity and confidence that followed "Here's Three Chords, Now Form A Band". We trace the birth of the UK cassette underground - from isolated  bedrooms to West London squats, from hand-dubbed tapes to Rough Trade shelves. It’s the story of how a handful of young people, with almost no resources, built a national community through shared idealism, cheap technology, and an unstoppable desire to create. Finding their tribe with the Labroke Grove hippie-punks circulating around the Here & Now/Frestonia/free festival scene and building their community under the Westway.  Here & Now drummer, Kif Kif Le Batteur made his sentiment about the established record industry clear when he named his cassette label F.O. Records. Recognising that the Instant Automatons and their label Deleted Records got it too, they connected to collaborate on cassette and vinyl…

People in this episode

Host: Martin Franklin

Topics covered

• DIY music
• cassette culture
• punk history
• independent music
• community building
• music technology

Keywords

• DIY independence
• Instant Automatons
• Deleted Records
• cassette tapes
• punk
• music community
• West London
• F.O. Records

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Deleted Records, Instant Automatons, F.O. Records, Here & Now, Rough Trade

Places: North of England, West London, Labrroke Grove, Frestonia

More episodes of Cassette Culture

• No Words, No Titles, No Meaning - The World Of Alien Brains · April 5, 2026 · 29 min
• Evolution of Snatch Tapes & The Storm Bugs · March 5, 2026 · 30 min
• Under the Westway: 1979 Portobello Punks · January 25, 2026 · 27 min
• Deleted Funtime Rewind · December 28, 2025 · 1h 0m
• Integrated Circuits: Colin Potter, ICR and the Cassette Network · December 22, 2025 · 28 min
• Season 2 - DIY Revolution: Owning The Means Of Production · November 9, 2025 · 5 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Cassette Culture podcast page.