Public Works

A change in name from ‘The Tape-beatles ’ to ‘Public Works’, which came about in 1997, was motivated by a change in membership (three group members left), a refocusing of technique, and a refinement of interests. The Tape-beatles’ pre-1995 output was almost exclusively analog. By 1994, the members had begun exploring digital techniques of recording and manipulating sound. The CD Matter (1996) was released under the name Public Works because, at the time, it was not clear that the Tape-beatles still existed, since three members had either moved away or formally quit the group. In 1998, John Heck began collaborating with the group again, and it gradually became clear that the kind of work being made was more like Tape-beatle work than Public Works work, so it became clear that The Tape-beatles still existed.