Maximum Pelt
Owner Ian Wisniewski on zen and cover art
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Welcome to Tapes ‘n’ Tapes, a bimonthly video series focusing on local cassette labels to help get the feel for why some people have turned to tapes for their musical medium.
Ian Wisniewski began sporadically releasing music in 2006 using the name Maximum Pelt—which is a sexual euphemism he coined as a teenager—for his various pet projects. The once-ambiguous, fledgling label has transformed into something Wisniewski considers to be a little more legitimate. He’s recently dropped tunes from his own projects—his punk band Snacks and an anti-folk solo endeavor called Magic Ian—and a tape by electro-grind group Patrick Thunder.
The A.V. Club swung by Maximum Pelt’s headquarters in the Ukrainian Village to chat about how cassettes stick true to the idea of music, the ways tape labels can grow, and making cover art from zines and abandoned art supplies.
