Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
On the evening of Friday, May 2nd, we were delighted to present experimental electronic musicians Knox Mitchell and Paul Stimson’s duo SHAME, EXPOSURE (MI), modular synth improviser Ben Goldberger’s solo project MiM (ORD), electronic musician/improviser Kevin Kennedy’s solo project FBK (CMH), and dark ambient musician Jeff Chenault’s solo project Central Inhabitants (CMH).
Supporters of our 2024-2025 season include the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Ohio Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Columbus Foundation.
About the artist: Kevin M. Kennedy has over his intrepid 35 year music career has performed in multiple genres of music, most notably under the name FBK. Using his classical training, his works have explored the gamut of compositional ideas, styles and colors. As a performer, his live performances are largely improvised, finding new ways of maximizing minimalist setups. For this performance, Kevin debuted an experimental/dark ambient project, with a digital album release on the day of performance. Kevin is a board member, instructor, and volunteer for the Fuse Factory.
On the evening of Friday, May 2nd, we were delighted to present experimental electronic musicians Knox Mitchell and Paul Stimson’s duo SHAME, EXPOSURE (MI), modular synth improviser Ben Goldberger’s solo project MiM (ORD), electronic musician/improviser Kevin Kennedy’s solo project FBK (CMH), and dark ambient musician Jeff Chenault’s solo project Central Inhabitants (CMH).
Supporters of our 2024-2025 season include the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Ohio Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Columbus Foundation.
About the artist: Kevin M. Kennedy has over his intrepid 35 year music career has performed in multiple genres of music, most notably under the name FBK. Using his classical training, his works have explored the gamut of compositional ideas, styles and colors. As a performer, his live performances are largely improvised, finding new ways of maximizing minimalist setups. For this performance, Kevin debuted an experimental/dark ambient project, with a digital album release on the day of performance. Kevin is a board member, instructor, and volunteer for the Fuse Factory.



![Cassette Culture Celebration: Hal McGee + Skull Vacuum
On Saturday, July 22 2023 we proudly hosted our first ever Cassette Culture Celebration microfestival at the Columbus Performing Arts Center. This event celebrated Cassette Culture and the spirit of DIY from the early 1980’s and beyond, included a who’s who of DIY cassette culture and noise, and was organized by Columbus music historian Jeff Chenault.
Jeff kicked off the festival with a seminar on the history of Columbus electronic music, titled Attack and Decay: The History of Columbus Electronic Music. Festival performers included Chris Phinney (Harsh Reality Music, Mental Anguish), Hal McGee, certified guru of HalTapes and multiple other labels, Jeff Chenault (ITN/Exoteque Music), Knox Mitchell (Green Tapes, Easy Listening), Gates of Janus (Detroit), Envenomist (Columbus), Full Load of King (Cuyahoga Falls), with a special surprise appearance by Michael Thomas Jackson (Winston-Salem, NC).
In addition, Jerry Kranitz, author of the book Cassette Culture – Homemade Music and the Creative Spirit in the Pre-Internet-Age lead a panel discussion and Q&A with Hal, Chris, and Jeff. During the performances and presentations, we also screened two films, which ran continuously throughout the day: The Great American Cassette Masters by William Davenport and Grindstone Redux by Andrew Szava-Kovats. To top everything off, vendors sold cassettes, books, and other cassette culture memorabilia. along with displays of vintage tapes and artwork by the festival performers.
Video credits: Rachel Rew Wagner.
About Hal McGee: Hal is an American experimental artist and producer who has been active since 1981. With Debbie Jaffe, McGee operated the Cause And Effect cassette label and distributor in Indianapolis, Indiana. In the mid-1980s, McGee recorded works as a member of Viscera, solo as Dog As Master, and in collaboration with If, Bwana and JABON.
McGee moved to Florida in 1988, where he operated the Electronic Cottage label out of Gainesville, FL, simultaneously with an Electronic Cottage Magazine into the 1990s. This was restarted as an online zine and community in April 2018.
In the mid to late 1990s, McGee released dozens of cassettes of homemade experimental music, solo and in collaboration with Jeph Jerman, Brian Noring (EHI), Big City Orchestra, Emil Hagstrom (Cock E.S.P.), Charles Rice Goff III and others. He also produced a series of Tape Heads cassette compilations on his own HalTapes label.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s Hal McGee started releasing homemade CDr albums. During this time he collaborated heavily with Brian Noring of the FDR Tapes, in person and via mail collaboration, and with his long-time partner Chris Phinney. In 2006, with the encouragement of Andrew Chadwick and Christopher Miller (2), McGee began performing live for the first time since 1987, joining the ranks of Floridas live noise/experimental music scene. From 2014 to 2015 Hal operated a new label, Kassette Kult Tapes, and has contributed to Exit (16). He continues to release music on the [lHalTapes] label.
Since 2008 Hal has hosted a numbered series of live performances from his apartment called Apartment Music. Attendance is limited mostly to participants but documentation is posted on his YouTube channel, and some live audio recordings have been released.
About Skull Vacuum: Skull Vacuum is a collaborative project between Chris Phinney and Jeff Central Chenault - see: https://harshrealitymusic.bandcamp.com/album/a-chris-phinney-tribute-concert-by-jeff-central Cassette Culture Celebration: Hal McGee + Skull Vacuum](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/D9Vypa1OscA/mqdefault.jpg)

![Cassette Culture Celebration: Hal McGee
On Saturday, July 22 2023 we proudly hosted our first ever Cassette Culture Celebration microfestival at the Columbus Performing Arts Center. This event celebrated Cassette Culture and the spirit of DIY from the early 1980’s and beyond, included a who’s who of DIY cassette culture and noise, and was organized by Columbus music historian Jeff Chenault.
Jeff kicked off the festival with a seminar on the history of Columbus electronic music, titled Attack and Decay: The History of Columbus Electronic Music. Festival performers included Chris Phinney (Harsh Reality Music, Mental Anguish), Hal McGee, certified guru of HalTapes and multiple other labels, Jeff Chenault (ITN/Exoteque Music), Knox Mitchell (Green Tapes, Easy Listening), Gates of Janus (Detroit), Envenomist (Columbus), Full Load of King (Cuyahoga Falls), with a special surprise appearance by Michael Thomas Jackson (Winston-Salem, NC).
In addition, Jerry Kranitz, author of the book Cassette Culture – Homemade Music and the Creative Spirit in the Pre-Internet-Age lead a panel discussion and Q&A with Hal, Chris, and Jeff. During the performances and presentations, we also screened two films, which ran continuously throughout the day: The Great American Cassette Masters by William Davenport and Grindstone Redux by Andrew Szava-Kovats. To top everything off, vendors sold cassettes, books, and other cassette culture memorabilia. along with displays of vintage tapes and artwork by the festival performers.
Video credits: Rachel Rew Wagner.
About Hal McGee: Hal is an American experimental artist and producer who has been active since 1981. With Debbie Jaffe, McGee operated the Cause And Effect cassette label and distributor in Indianapolis, Indiana. In the mid-1980s, McGee recorded works as a member of Viscera, solo as Dog As Master, and in collaboration with If, Bwana and JABON.
McGee moved to Florida in 1988, where he operated the Electronic Cottage label out of Gainesville, FL, simultaneously with an Electronic Cottage Magazine into the 1990s. This was restarted as an online zine and community in April 2018.
In the mid to late 1990s, McGee released dozens of cassettes of homemade experimental music, solo and in collaboration with Jeph Jerman, Brian Noring (EHI), Big City Orchestra, Emil Hagstrom (Cock E.S.P.), Charles Rice Goff III and others. He also produced a series of Tape Heads cassette compilations on his own HalTapes label.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s Hal McGee started releasing homemade CDr albums. During this time he collaborated heavily with Brian Noring of the FDR Tapes, in person and via mail collaboration, and with his long-time partner Chris Phinney. In 2006, with the encouragement of Andrew Chadwick and Christopher Miller (2), McGee began performing live for the first time since 1987, joining the ranks of Floridas live noise/experimental music scene. From 2014 to 2015 Hal operated a new label, Kassette Kult Tapes, and has contributed to Exit (16). He continues to release music on the [lHalTapes] label. Cassette Culture Celebration: Hal McGee](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Db_yY4Dp1xU/mqdefault.jpg)




