Cassette Memories is a music performance, or a ritual, that conjures up the general essence of memory as I play my own personal memories. It is an event that is partly visible, but seen mostly in one's imagination.
Cassette Memories is realized as a site-specific performance. I have found from past experience that my music is the strongest when I perform in a space which has its own memories--at a historic building, abandoned factory, old theater, even a street corner. It is something invisible and difficult to explain, yet clearly tangible. Memories awake memories.
In this performance, I use old tube guitar and bass amps, instead of a conventional speaker system. This method delivers the desired warmth and depth of cassettes. It also makes it easier to spontaneously control the acoustics of the space. Inside this memorial space, I burn candles as a symbol of remembrance.
Aki Onda