Biography
Matt Adams issues his abundant songwriting under the Blank Tapes name, fusing bubblegum's straightforward melodies with a Southern Californian refraction of the Velvet Underground that tempers their calculated detachment with Dead-style ease. Starting in 2003, the project issued tapes, CDs, and LPs on assorted labels including Burger and Antenna Farm, nearly all captured domestically by Adams alongside occasional associates. Collection 2003-2017 appeared in 2017 as a 22-song album that displayed his strengths in both writing and playing while positioning him as an unrecognized pop artisan.
As a child in Southern California, Adams embraced pop music. The ringing guitars, vocal harmonies, and melodic appeal of foundational groups such as the Beatles and Kinks prompted him to begin composing. He generated numerous songs and, with friends, started committing them to tape. Between 2003 and 2005 the Blank Tapes, the name Adams gave the endeavor, produced many relaxed, meandering pop pieces in lo-fi, sunbaked fashion. Some appeared on the self-released Country Western Honky Tonk Blues Saloon in 2003; others surfaced on 2005's Landfair. Both sets were tracked in bedrooms, living rooms, bars, and churches with help from a shifting roster of contributors. Adams moved to the San Francisco area that year, and after adjusting and writing additional material he finished the third Blank Tapes album, Daydreams. He performed most instruments himself on the self-released 2007 record. A live band existed by then, and he balanced touring with further writing and recording. Friends & Favorites, a free covers collection, came next. Continued work led to Home Away from Home in 2010. That year Adams took the group to Brazil, where some songs had unexpectedly found an audience.
Recognition also grew at home, where Sun's Too Bright, the 2012 album, was issued jointly by Adams and Burger Records. It retained a homemade character through direct-to-cassette lo-fi techniques, yet the next release moved into a proper studio. Vacation, recorded at New Improved Recording in Oakland and released in 2013 by the Antenna Farm label, featured contributions from live band members including drummer Will Halsey and vocalist Pearl Charles. The Blank Tapes also created the soundtrack for the 2013 film Compassing and issued Slow Easy Death, a compilation cassette spanning tracks from 2008 onward. Shows, singles, and sessions filled the following years. Hwy 9, a 40-song tape released in 2015, assembled material recorded between 2003 and 2014, summarizing the past while signaling new directions. Adams had returned to L.A. by then and established a steady live band with Charles on drums and D.A. Humphrey on bass. Most recording still occurred solo, resulting in Geodesic Dome Piece, a 2015 Royal Oakie Tapes and Records release that offered another homemade example of hippie psych-pop. Sha-La-Love, an additional cassette drawn from older material, appeared the same year.
Ojos Rojos, released in 2016, marked a shift as a full-band effort built from 2013–14 sessions tracked in L.A. and San Francisco studios by the working group of Humphrey on bass, Halsey on drums (who had by then formed Sugar Candy Mountain), and backing vocals from Charles. It stood as their most polished recording to date while preserving the relaxed stoner charm typical of the catalog. Wobbly Rock EP, another assortment of tracks from varied sessions, followed in 2017 and preceded Collection 2003-2017, the 22-song set functioning as a career overview. Instead of returning to home recording, Adams traveled to Portland to work at the studio of the Fruit Bats' Eric D. Johnson, yielding 2018's Candy. Released by PIAPTK Records, the set of semi-polished yet laid-back and summery tracks included input from Johnson, Halsey, and vocalist Veronica Bianqui.
As a child in Southern California, Adams embraced pop music. The ringing guitars, vocal harmonies, and melodic appeal of foundational groups such as the Beatles and Kinks prompted him to begin composing. He generated numerous songs and, with friends, started committing them to tape. Between 2003 and 2005 the Blank Tapes, the name Adams gave the endeavor, produced many relaxed, meandering pop pieces in lo-fi, sunbaked fashion. Some appeared on the self-released Country Western Honky Tonk Blues Saloon in 2003; others surfaced on 2005's Landfair. Both sets were tracked in bedrooms, living rooms, bars, and churches with help from a shifting roster of contributors. Adams moved to the San Francisco area that year, and after adjusting and writing additional material he finished the third Blank Tapes album, Daydreams. He performed most instruments himself on the self-released 2007 record. A live band existed by then, and he balanced touring with further writing and recording. Friends & Favorites, a free covers collection, came next. Continued work led to Home Away from Home in 2010. That year Adams took the group to Brazil, where some songs had unexpectedly found an audience.
Recognition also grew at home, where Sun's Too Bright, the 2012 album, was issued jointly by Adams and Burger Records. It retained a homemade character through direct-to-cassette lo-fi techniques, yet the next release moved into a proper studio. Vacation, recorded at New Improved Recording in Oakland and released in 2013 by the Antenna Farm label, featured contributions from live band members including drummer Will Halsey and vocalist Pearl Charles. The Blank Tapes also created the soundtrack for the 2013 film Compassing and issued Slow Easy Death, a compilation cassette spanning tracks from 2008 onward. Shows, singles, and sessions filled the following years. Hwy 9, a 40-song tape released in 2015, assembled material recorded between 2003 and 2014, summarizing the past while signaling new directions. Adams had returned to L.A. by then and established a steady live band with Charles on drums and D.A. Humphrey on bass. Most recording still occurred solo, resulting in Geodesic Dome Piece, a 2015 Royal Oakie Tapes and Records release that offered another homemade example of hippie psych-pop. Sha-La-Love, an additional cassette drawn from older material, appeared the same year.
Ojos Rojos, released in 2016, marked a shift as a full-band effort built from 2013–14 sessions tracked in L.A. and San Francisco studios by the working group of Humphrey on bass, Halsey on drums (who had by then formed Sugar Candy Mountain), and backing vocals from Charles. It stood as their most polished recording to date while preserving the relaxed stoner charm typical of the catalog. Wobbly Rock EP, another assortment of tracks from varied sessions, followed in 2017 and preceded Collection 2003-2017, the 22-song set functioning as a career overview. Instead of returning to home recording, Adams traveled to Portland to work at the studio of the Fruit Bats' Eric D. Johnson, yielding 2018's Candy. Released by PIAPTK Records, the set of semi-polished yet laid-back and summery tracks included input from Johnson, Halsey, and vocalist Veronica Bianqui.
Albums
Singles
Live
