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, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

-based band, Hail Social.

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 Sincerely Yours may refer to: Film * Sincerely Yours (film), ''Sincerely Yours'' (film), a 1955 American romantic music comedy featuring Liberace * ''Sincerely Yours...'', a 1985 Soviet comedy Music * Sincerely Yours (record label), a Swedish rec ...

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 loosely emulates 1980s electropop while engaging with notions of memory and nostalgia. Common features inclu ...

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 was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instr ...

. 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 (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern im ...

'', was released in 2011 via Something in Construction in Europe,

Carpark Records Carpark Records is an independent record label based in Washington, D.C. History Carpark Records was established by Todd Hyman in 1999 in New York City. In 2005, the label relocated to Washington, D.C. Carpark has subsidiary labels. Acute ...

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

Shamong Township, New Jersey Shamong Township is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 6,460, a decline of 30 (-0.5%) from the 2010 census count of 6,490, which in turn reflecte ...

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