Dayve Hawk (born 1981), better known by his stage name Memory Tapes, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer, and the former frontman of the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based band,

Hail Social Hail Social was a rock band from Philadelphia. The band released several self-made EPs at their concerts, sometimes referred to by color. In April, 2005, Dine Alone Productions pressed Hail Social's first 7-inch, a limited edition single rele ...

Career

After releasing material under the names "Memory Cassette" and "Weird Tapes", and on signing to Something in Construction to release a Memory Cassette EP (also on Acephale), Memory Tapes' first LP, '' Seek Magic'', was released in September 2009 through the labels Something in Construction, Sincerely Yours and Acéphale. It was self-released in the U.S. ''Seek Magic'' sold over 1,000 copies on pre-release through Rough Trade, a shop in London, and has since sold over 30,000. The CD release of ''Seek Magic'' was bundled with a four-track bonus disc including a Horrors' remix and a 22-minute instrumental, "Treeship", which could also be downloaded from his website for free. Memory Tapes was initially associated with the

chillwave Chillwave (originally considered synonymous with glo-fi and hypnagogic pop) is a music microgenre that emerged in the late 2000s. It is characterized by evoking the popular music of the late 1970s and early 1980s while engaging with notions of ...

music genre, but is seen more as a producer in his own right. Each album has its own separate feel and instrumentation. ''Seek Magic'' used a lot of dance rhythms and sounds and had touchstones such as New Order and

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock music, rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981. In 19 ...

. Hawk plays everything on his records and uses unusual sounds such as a bicycle pump on the track "Bicycle" and the sound of sneakers on a basketball court on "Green Knight". His second album, ''

Player Piano A player piano is a self-playing piano with a pneumatic or electromechanical mechanism that operates the piano action using perforated paper or metallic rolls. Modern versions use MIDI. The player piano gained popularity as mass-produced home ...

'', was released in 2011 via Something in Construction in Europe, Carpark Records in the U.S. and Inertia in Australia. He was quoted as saying it would be "psychedelic girl group music". The music on the album reflected more of a "band" sound than his previous works, and also lacked their reliance on sonic saturation and obfuscation. Pitchfork described the album as "flat and airless, sucked dry of his typically evocative detailing" and gave it a mixed review, scoring it 6 out of 10. The first track from these sessions, "Today Is Our Life", appeared on a large number of blogs earlier in 2011, and the album came out the following July. Memory Tapes' first live performance was in Manchester, England, in January 2010 and he has since played in North America, Europe and Australia. The live shows in 2010 were with a drummer, Matt Maraldo, and a backing track. On October 2, 2012, Hawk released the first single from his third album, ''Grace/Confusion'', which was released on December 4, 2012.

Personal life

Hawk lives in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

with his wife and two daughters.

Discography

Albums

* '' Seek Magic'' (2009) * ''

'' (2011) * ''Grace/Confusion'' (2012)

EPs

* ''The Hiss We Missed'' (as Memory Cassette) (2008) * ''Rewind While Sleeping'' (as Memory Cassette) (2008) * ''Call & Response'' (as Memory Cassette) (2009)

Singles

* "Bicycle" (2009) * "Graphics" (Re-modal edit) (2010) * "Yes I Know"/"First Hills" (2011) * "Fallout"/"House On Fire" (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Memory Tapes 1981 births Living people American electronic musicians American male singer-songwriters Record producers from New Jersey Singer-songwriters from New Jersey Chillwave musicians Carpark Records artists