Hello, This is Chris Haskell from They Live by Film. For those that
don't know us, Adam Zach and I we built a podcast over the last
two years that's a combination of film discussion from three very different perspectives, as
well as industry interviews with the leaders in Boutique, Blu Ray, and four
Kid Community. We started with dev Crocodile, but over time we've been lucky
enough to speak with Aero Video, Severn, Mondo, Macabre, Vinegar Syndrome,
Radiant Syndicator, most of the OCN partner labels. It's been a blast.
You can find us wherever you podcast and also actually recently as part of
someone's favorite production podcast network. We hope to see you online. Hello there,
and welcome back to the Disconnected. I'm here with Josh Schaeffer of lunch
Meat, which most people have probably recognized the name seeing it the around doing
wonderful VHS releases of some affiliated titles that are coming out through some other companies.
Josh, thanks for doing this, Thank you for having me. Always
a pleasure. Lunch Meat has been around for a long time now. For
those that may not know what lunch meat is, can you share what the
mission is behind lunch Meat. I mean why started Lunch Meet fifteen years ago
just about as a zine just talking about movies that weren't on videotape and just
grown from there. Just started with a zine man, just loving VHS tapes
and being like why is this not being talked about, you know, and
just like loving tapes and finding weird movies through tapes, finding tapes in the
wild as one of the original you know, you know things behind lunch Meet.
Is that thrill? Well, of course at some point in this we're
going to discuss discovering tape in the wild in twenty twenty four in the state
of collecting vhs and all that fun stuff. But with Lunch Meet, how
how did it go from a zine to releasing your own vhs? Which is
pretty damn cool. I mean, I think it's just my friends around me
at the time were releasing tapes and I was like, I want to release
some tapes and just started doing it, and I realized it was a great
way to work with films that I really adored and loved and wanted people to
see, you know. I think it just adheres to the message of like
just you know, keep feeding the VCR, like put more movies on tape,
you know, tape over other bullshit with cool shit, and you know,
recirculate it, you know, with that message. I don't know.
I think it's just in a whole bit of a progress process. You know.
We do live shows, and we did more magazines, and it's just
just doing everything you can. Really, I think that's how it happened.
You know. We found ways to, like I said, work with the
artists that we cared about, show the films, get them in the people's
homes, you know, honor the artists that create them. So I think
that's an important part of it. One of the cool things with Lunch Meet
is that it seems like you have relationships with a lot of the other distributors
that are working in other formats nowadays, and a lot of those titles that
we love are being released on VHS in you know, super short runs.
But they're titles that probably either never got VHS releases or it's stuff coming out
that people can be amazed to have on VHS again that probably hasn't seen circulation
and literally like thirty years on some of these titles. Yeah, I mean,
we just put a movie called No Resistance out on videotape since the first
time it's like ninety four, I believe, like vie video cyberpunk sci fi
movie. It's amazing, you know, and it's something that you would expect
to see on tape, you know, the way that it was just created.
And there's a blue ray out from Saturn's Core. Shout out Saturn's Core
who we did the tape with and distributed through OCN, which is Vinegar Syndrome.
So you know, shot on video on Blu Ray twenty twenty four it
is a thing. Yeah, it is a thing. There are gosh,
probably five or six companies doing shot on video on Blu Ray in twenty four.
Wonderful. I mean it's fantastic. You know, they're all doing fantastic
work. I mean, I think there's so many movies out there that will
never be discovered. So I hopefully it inspires people to dig deeper and realize
that there is this big cavernous obscurity you know, out there, and especially
from the nineties with shot on video, people just never know distribution for their
films and things like that. Because we're starting to run the gamut on a
lot of like genre film right with the works of you know, people like
Vinegar Syndrome or you Visual Vengeance or Saturn's Core or whoever you know putting that
kind of stuff out. I think that the worry about having some of these
not out theres especially true or something like No Resistance that didn't come from like
the New York scene, which had a lot of people propping it up.
You know, No Resistance was filmed in Texas and didn't have this giant upbringing.
I mean it had a big community support, but not like distributors knocking
at the door ready to carry that unreleased day or anything. Have you Have
you seen No Resistance? I have loved the movie, and honestly, I
think one of the best things about it is, like you just said,
like this the quote special effects in that movie, they're kind they kind of
feel like they were made for tape, and they definitely were. Yes,
yeah, yeah, I mean that's the medium, and I think some filmmakers
embraced the medium and some people some filmmakers just took it as that's what the
status quo is, because that's how that's the budget you had to make a
movie, you know, right, and with something like No Resistance the budget.
That's what I find most charming. The budget on that was tiny,
and that movie looks freaking amazing. The world seems huge, right, It's
just like it's it. That's the I think that's the essence of good filmmaking,
is it takes you to a different world, right, or puts you
into a different mindset, or you know, believable, Like there's believability,
you know. I just think it's it's amazing. That's why you should watch
No Resistance because it creates this incredible believability in this very like you know,
ramshackle underground kind of post apocalyptic world, you know. And it's all shot
on video in Texas in ninety four. A lot of a lot of people
that watch and listen to my stuff are are gonna be probably looking to this
title and going, it's twenty twenty four and we're talking about VHS. I've
got Blu Ray and four K behind me. It looks like you've got Blu
Ray behind you? What is you don't? Oh, those are things against
it. It just makes it out there that I'm not against Blu Ray or
disc really like I'm kind of like purist or some weird bullshit like that I
just I like tapes, you know, and that's how I watch movies,
and I love the chart behind them and that now I want to hear for
those people that are gonna ask why, what what is the appeal behind tapes
for you? Uh, it's where my collection is. I've been collecting since
you know, I was like eighteen years old, over twenty years. I
just always went for tapes and Blu rays and I appreciate a good restoration.
I appreciate all the the fine extras that are being produced, like I mean,
it's it's incredible, you know. But to answer your question, I
just buy movies on tape. I have for years, and I just am
in the circles where I'm around people that have tapes, and you know,
it's how I watch my films. You know, I stream too, you
know, I'm on Tube. But there's a lot of films here that I'd
like to watch over and over again or have them ready in a library like
immediately. And I have a lot of tapes. That's what I've been collecting.
And switching over to Blu ray is like, I mean, I don't
know, it just seems daunting and expensive. So there's also a lot of
films that are on tape that will likely never be on any other format.
Just the essence of you know, lunch me back then is like these aren't
on DVD. You know, it's still to this day of the reviews in
the flagship magazine or stuff that's not on disc probably won't be. You know,
that's what we love, you know, the stuff that's just not going
to get mainstreamed in any way. It's not going to get airtime elsewhere,
you know. But I think honestly, with the culture rising, there's so
many avenues that are discussing the culture that I think we get a really good
spectrum of coverage on stuff, and we're finding all kinds of crazy stuff all
the time, and you know, I think that's the best part is just
people talking about it again, looking at the medium and being like okay,
one of the reasons and like showing them good reasons to look back to tape
and be like this is important or like this is cool, or like you
know, if you like low budget independent movies, I mean, shot on
video stuff is endless kind of you know. Yeah, and then of course,
you know the way people talk about shot on video stuff, there's the
endless reputation of that being schlocky horror, when in all reality, shot on
videos just a format, it's not necessarily a genre anyways. So I really
implore people, especially in twenty twenty four, if you've not taken a deep
dive into any of these titles. Some of these movies are genuinely amazing and
not not only like high quality but inspiring. There's something about like No Resistance.
There's something about watching that movie that you can picture being in this office
building in Texas in nineteen ninety four and go, God damn it, that
would be like the funnest week ever in my life to be a part of
this. Yes, and you can living Yeah. Third part like you know,
uh, you know, yes, I agree. I agree, man.
The discussion around tapes, no doubt, is going to be familiar for
a lot of people, because I think right now with this I don't know,
this weird era that we've been in the last few months, at least
of every major internet publication under the sun. Here's why physical media matters again
and why we need to talk about it. And one of the things that
a lot of these articles don't point out is also a problem with vhs and
I got to talk to you about it is the players. I mean,
supporting hardware is one of the most important aspects of any of these hobbies.
How do you feel about what we're facing in that in twenty twenty four For
tape specifically, we've been trying to bring attention to it for for a while.
You know, without the players, you can't play the tapes right,
and there's nobody around repairing them. And I think at this point it's becoming
more difficult for some areas of the country to find VCRs. Oh yeah,
and I think in some parts it's a little more plentiful. I mean it's
like a crapture, you know, go to the Midwest and there's VCRs and
things like that. But yes, I mean what it does indicate is that,
you know, you need to take care of this VCR, you know,
And I think that's something that we're going to be pushing with lunch Meat
in this year is a couple of releases just encouraging people to know more about
their VCR and like how to clean it and take care of it, you
know, because otherwise they just become tapes, just become artifacts or trophies or
something like that, you know, like it's I think the culture has gone
into a place where people collect them as objects or artifacts, you know.
And I've always collected tapes to to watch them and to have the footage or
the material or whatever. Like I always appreciate the covers. I mean,
how do you not right? But I mean, like as I'm not gonna
say I never bought a tape because I didn't love the cover. But I
mean like when I was, you know, collecting tapes, I mean I
go content like what's on it? You know? And I mean again that
all comes down to the players. That's the hardest part about seeing this because
for some of these people that are either just discovering them or you know,
in the era where they've loved it for years, a bad player can can
make you spiral for a while. Yeah, it'll kick people out, man,
you know here all the time like, well, me and my VCR
brokers haven't gotten a new one. I'm like, yes, it's a tough
one, you know what i mean. But it's fun, you know.
And I think if you really want to get a VCR and watch tapes,
I mean I see people that really want to, and I that's just how
that's my lifestyle, I guess. I mean, I've always just watched tapes,
So yeah, man, you gotta have a VCR. I can take
a lot of v's just you know. I love talking to those collectors because
I think it's it's interesting that the the love for vhs has gotten that far
and how it like kind of reticulates and so like not just media that you
can watch, but media that you can collect and study and compare notes and
stuff, and it's pretty it's pretty interesting, right, how it's changed.
Right. And then of course, I mean the biggest part of tapes for
a lot of us that are around our age are the nostalgy aspects of it.
I mean, most of us grew up with this around home, around
a flickering CRT TV that you can literally almost transport back into some of those
nights as a kid, and watching some of the foundational films for yourself.
And now you can buy some of those tapes in pristine condition from companies like
lunch Meat and some other companies that are doing it as well. But it's
it's astonishing that we're in the age of you know, go to a swap
meet and see them basically discarded for free from some people, and then on
other tapes you're seeing them sold for one hundred dollars for some old, out
of print, rare super you know, I can't find this anywhere else VHS
tape. But again, without the players, this is this is a hard
hobby to dive into right now. Yeah, I mean, like I said,
if you're wanting to watch them, you know, I I'm glad people
are talking about it more because it's really essential. I just I don't know.
I think the only thing that we can do is just like raise awareness
and tell people how to buy the right VCRs, what to look for in
VCRs, how to clean them yourself, you know, give them the skills
and the tools to preserve them. So that's kind of what we're going to
be doing with some publications what we have been doing, but we're going to
do more publications about it and some a cool product that we're working on right
now. So with Analog Mechanic, there's a tease or something. Yeah,
I've been following launch Meat for quite some time and one of the things that
I remember that I first saw from you, it had to have been at
least five years ago at this point, but there was a video that you
put out about fixing tapes. There's something on YouTube, and I swear it
was. It wasn't even that long. It was probably like an eight or
nine minute video, and it was just so I think you got a tape
in that was damaged in transit or something like that, and you were to
repair that. Okay, Tyler, it was my boy, Tyler. Okay,
I swear like, yeah, I just made this video of myself.
It's it's it's on my channel, but it's not. Yeah it's Tyler.
So she's just so funny because you're still a close friend of mine too,
And yeah, I just wanted a video out there of somebody fixing a tape
and I thought that was a really concise, good video on how to fix
a tape. And he's like, yeah, go ahead, publish it.
So and it's been viewed a lot, so it's great that. Genuinely,
one of the first things I saw from lunch Meat was that video and that
sort of education. It's it's needed for stuff like this because we don't have
I mean, none of us can walk into like a local video store anymore
and have them help you with something like that, and a lot of us
we had people like that that were our resources when we were younger. So
it's great to see you carrying on that tradition. I think there's a culture
of people rising up that are interested in that, you know, that still
love analog media, and you know that kind of bleeds into like film and
you know, and just like kind of the machines that help you experience the
analog media, right, And I think that some people's brains just go towards
that, and I think they'll be like as the culture spreads, there'll be
more and more people that get into it, hopefully, you know, and
become the people that can still work on these machines. You know, It's
not me. I'm not really good at working on VCRs. I know how
to do the basics, you know, like I mean basic stuff, but
I mean, like, you know, there's people that know a lot more
than me, you know, and we want to help publish the information.
You know, it's all out there, like you got to think about like
how to repair VCRs and stuff. But the old guides they're just so dense
and like not really readable, you know, like they are. But and
it's like, well, am I looking at the right, VCR and all
this other kind of stuff. So h but like just kind of getting that
information again and putting it back out for like a new generation of VHS collector,
m VCR enthusiast or what have you, you know. And I think,
like, man, somebody said VHS collector and writing the other day and
a zenom reading and they said VHS collector scum and I was just like,
oh oh, it was really like what yikes, vh's collectors. It was
hilarious. I don't know, it was funny to me. It's what a
weird community to hate. No, it's just funny, dude, It's just
funny. But yeah, because I said VHS collector, but I think that
the people that like and watch VHS aren't are VHS collectors. But it's not
just VHS collectors. I think people just enjoy video, you know, stuff
on video, right, And I think collecting can mean different things like having
like two thousand or like having ten, you know, right, And it's
the focus on like what you want to see on the tape, I think,
or what you want the tap to be. And again, a lot
of these tie they obviously they look different, not only quality wise, but
there are things that we we saw on some of these releases that you don't
see in releases nowadays. I mean some of them. You got certain cuts
that are stuck on vhs that we'll probably never see the light and day again.
You've got underground films that you'll you'll never see on a better format.
You've got titles that are you know, genuinely like now they're they're fought over
on rights and we'll never see those released again, and you've got those stuck
on vhs. So if if you want to see certain things, that kind
of is the way to go from any of these titles. Absolutely, there's
so much content on tape that is not anywhere else, you know, excuse
me, like even when in the age of YouTube and archive dot org and
like this whole that whole culture right of getting stuff and putting up online and
making it available for people. And I think that's really awesome. Obviously.
It's what my mission was with Bunch being, you know, in a small
ways, to get people looking at tapes again and look at these cool movies
that are only on tape. Right, There's just so much out there that
isn't you know, on the internet, and that's it's the stuff that becomes
more special, you know. And I think even if it is on the
internet, finding it on tape and getting to know it that way is still
like a cool experience. I mean, I would say it's damn cooler than
just clicking on a link and watching it, you know, like finding it
and yeah, like what is this and going home and playing it and experiencing
it. You know. I don't know if you're the same as me,
but there are so many times that I can look back on going to a
thrift shop or something and seeing a bunch of VHS tapes and the ones with
label sure most of them are you know, Titanic or Jerry Maguire or whatever
that you was popular around that time. I always go for the ones that
are unlabeled, and those things are a treasure trove sometimes, and to find
like a full broadcast of a Sunday Night on ABC from nineteen ninety one is
transformative. I love doing stuff like that. Yeah, those are great tapes.
I mean, those are those are the kind of stuff I'm talking about.
So I'm glad you brought it up. It's beyond like narrative film or
docs or you know, even art films or whatever. It's it's our culture,
you know. Like it's like you said, television recorded, you know,
stuff broadcast from HBO. You know, have you seen that documentary that
we put on tape called Recorder Marion Stokes Project? I have not yet know.
Okay, this woman in Philadelphia was taping television for like decades. That's
her name. Okay, yeah, right, yeah, but imagine how much
stuff is there? Right right? They haven't they're trying to upload it to
archive. I think there's an effort that's still going to do that. But
yeah, I mean, like you find Saturday morning Cartoon Block or you know,
like MTV at like three point thirty on a Saturday, you know what
I mean. Like it's you find these recordings and it's cool that it's captured,
you know, so you can go back to it. Those are great
tapes and those are kind of like invaluable and what I was talking about,
like it expands the importance of like what VHS does and like what did and
what it continues to do. So yeah, I love this man. There's
so much about this that is just important that doesn't get discussed enough. And
lost media is such a rabbit hole. If you're watching this and you've never
looked into lost media. There are so many efforts to find you know,
certain things that people know exist that they can assume somebody probably recorded it,
and they're like looking for a copy desperately. There was every single year,
like a couple of years ago, there was a Sesame Street episode that was
lost or something that just got discovered and placed online. That sort of thing
is like, man, this is amazing. We're literally going back to a
period of culture that we did like we knew existed because we read about it,
but nobody had proof and now here you go, like, that's that's
amazing to be able to discover something like that. Yeah, I think it's
really really important, right, and it's all because of the media that's there,
you know, the physical media, you know, and you wonder,
if you know, forty years in the future now, like thirty eight years
in the future from now, like how are people going to recover things like
that? Is it still going to be there? Is that information going to
be Where is it? You know what I mean? And I think the
physicality and of the analog and everything is kind of it's important. It's it's
cool. I mean, there's so many aspects, dude. It's like I
love there's always different angles, sorry, like with like nostalgia or film preservation
or I like the aesthetics of it or ABNC and more. Right. For
me, it's just about like this is how I watch movies. Like this
is literally like that's not stray. It doesn't know for somebody that doesn't understand
it, I get how it would be crazy. But literally taking the tape
out of a sleeve and being like, oh, got to rewind it that,
like that ritual of it is special. It feels like being twelve again.
For me, it feels like something where you are literally going back and
living what you've done for watching cinema for all these years. It's amazing.
Yeah it still works and then still finding new stuff, right, you know,
thirty years later it's cool. It's just cool, man. I don't
know. That's why I keep on it. And like the stuff, like
you said earlier, the stuff that we put out, putting stuff on tape,
I mean we do it because we just want people to watch tapes and
we think that these movies look cool on tape or like it benefits the film
in some way, you know that like the VHS presentation is like here,
here's this thing on VHS. You know, it's like this thing should be
on tape. And you know, that's kind of what we think about when
when we sign and release stuff. Well, and the big thing for a
lot of us that are into any sort of physical media nowadays is there's a
massive parallel here. Anything that's happened with VHS is likely to happen with discs
as well. The fact that we have to deal with, you know,
worrying about mold if it's not carried right for years. We have to worry
about hardware not being developed after so many periods of time. We have to
worry about things being phased out from everywhere and then not developing it. Then
you have to worry about the people that are looked down and shame on it
and go, why the hell are you watching discs in twenty fifty when you
can have the hard driving planted into your brain or whatever, Why are you
Why are you watching those DVDs? Yeah, incompatibility, you know, of
the future for media and all that kind of stuff. I mean, I'm
not really a tech hut, Ryan, I couldn't tell you, you know,
but I mean I do you know what my nostalgia is? And I
know that, like I see it a lot. I see a lot of
places, you know. I think tapes are just such an an icon of
that era that nostalgia is going towards. And you know, we're all media
crazy, fed media constantly, and like you want to at least have some
comforting media, right, at least have something that you really like, you
know, and just watching it on tape is cool, just feels better to
me. I don't know, but it's just like a personal I always thought
it was just like a personal preference and I was like, oh, I
was like, oh, yeah, these movies are only on tape, so
you should borrow this tape. And then all of a sudden, like over
the next decade, fifteen years, it's crazy wold. Yeah. The other
side of that, I mean, everybody seems to want to foist this move
to streaming on other people that don't necessarily want it, not even thinking about
that accessibility dictates. There are many people that still in twenty twenty four can't
stream properly, whether that's access to internet in their home city, whether that's
a barrier of entry due to cost or hardware limitations based on the street they
live on. A whole kinds of reasons that can make this impossible. But
if somebody, you know, if my grandma who's seventy three or whatever,
has a collection of two thousand tapes that she's a master over the last thirty
five years, she can't be expected to go upgrade those all too discs or
to streaming and suddenly pay every month for the same movie she's always had.
Yes. See, I'm like your grandma because I don't ask me like,
why haven't I switched over? Because there's no point espec over? Like that
great, right, I mean, like that's kind of what Strawberry Mansions about.
Have you seen that movie? Actually? Yeah, how she doesn't switch
to the air thing? Yep, it's exactly what we're talking about, right,
that's a beautiful movie. Yeah, the movie's beautiful. But yeah,
man, I don't know you were saying about before. Sorry, I got
Strawberry Mansion. No, that's it. I'm just talking about accessibility. One
of the physical side of accessibility is such a good point, you know.
And I did an interview recently and they're like, why why do you think
people still watch VHS tapes like well, let it be known there people have
always watched VHS tapes since they've come out until right now. Nobody. There's
no never a time where people weren't watching it. The Dark Age of two
thousand and three, there was no tape watching like nu and it was a
drought. I think it was that sort of accessibility that you're talking about,
you know, because it's a very easy, viable piece of media that has
a lot of you know, recognizable film and material on it. You know,
I don't know, And I think it's good that people would think about
that, about the accessibility thing and why tapes are viable that way. You
did never really think about that, you know, probably wouldn't think about that
normally, right, right, But totally valid and cool. So uh.
One one thing that people that watched this seem to love is the educational side
of things. So if you don't mind, I would love to see if
you've got some some basal education on some of this. And one big thing,
what's like the go to sturdy brand of VHS player that you recommend people
to keep an eye out for. In twenty twenty four, Panasonic Omnivision just
Omnia visions are very you know, a high grade consumer machine. They always
work well for me. Panasonics are nice, Sony's are nice. Sometimes they
crap out on me, but yeah, I mean there's a lot of Panasonic
divisions out there, you know, from the early nineties and mid nineties.
That's what I have. I have two of those, and I have I
have like a VCRs. But you know, no, I did crap out
on you in the last decade. Those are really sturdy machines. You know,
it's getting expensive out there. Fine, Yeah, if you're trying to
buy a VCR online, for get about it. Geez. It's like,
yeah, I got an ad today from Amazon with a VCR on it and
I was like, oh, here's a very targeted, interesting ad from Amazon.
And I clicked on it and it was a disc to tape, you
know, DVDVCR five hundred and sixty nine dollars only, and I was just
like what what? So yes, I would go, you know, out
to your local goodwill and pay, Like if you're like, oh, thirty
five bucks for VCR, Like, sure, you can find it for twelve,
you can find it for like twelve, But if it's thirty five bucks
and it works, I would buy it. You know, because somebody's trying
to sell a VCR on Amazon, brand new with a DVD player for five
hundred and forty nine dollars, and it is laughable. But it's also like
market man, right, That's that's a good point. So it's market And
I mean there's some of these titles too that people are trying to offload for
hundreds and hundreds of dollars that are not like the ones that got super limited
releases upon release either. They're just titles that people are trying to exploit nowadays.
So if you're gonna start looking at them, titles get hot. Yeah,
titles get hot and people. That's like a that's a collecting aspect that
I think about, of course, you know. And I'm not like that,
Like I don't chase like those tapes like that. I just go for
content or like show movies I've never seen, you know, but they out
there, street trash, Franken Hooker. People want those tapes, you know,
and they're not necessarily rare, you know. I mean they're not like
like there's like fifty of them out there, you know. That's what I
always laugh at. Some of these had hundreds of thousands of copies, and
yes they're still sought after, like there was only twelve of them ever made,
but they're coveted now. So it's like you know what I mean,
And you got to think how many like those were just sent to video stores
so and you know, very little like otherwise, so you got to think
what happens to them? The mighty get destroyed or yeah, I mean a
lot of people throw those tapes away, to be honest with you, they
try to sell sell it's throw away, so who knows, And it's it's
all about people's taste, like what people want or what they feels hot or
like you know, so, uh, with with buying tapes? Are are
there certain things that if you are new to looking at tapes you recommend everybody
to get to learn to look out for quickly? Just don't overpay for a
tape if somebody's trying to get into tapes like buying them online or like just
in general. Is that what you're asking me? Like advice? But the
big thing like uh uh, you know, trying to teach people how to
look out for mold. A lot of people don't even know what that looks
like. On vy, there's pictures of it online. It's pretty recognizable.
You take the take it out and you look at the reels and if there's
like white powdery substance on the on the tape itself, it's it's mold,
and you have to assess it. Don't put it in your VCR. It's
no good. It's just it's dirt, you know, like you're putting like
little dirt on your heads, which is no good. So definitely watch out
for mold. I don't know, by stuff that interests you, even if
you think it's like, you know, stupid or whatever, like you never
know. Man. Like I'm at the point where, like, you know,
I used to hunt and find horror movies and stuff like ten, twelve,
seven, eight years ago whatever, and now I buy like, you
know, sewing with Nancy, not sewing with Nancy. I know it's sewing
with Nancy, but like that that vibe you know, right, you know,
like you know Jim Vovich, like you know, fucking bass fishing,
Like I want to watch what's on here. I just want to see what's
going on, you know, especially if it's not on YouTube, right,
because you look it up and you're like, oh, well this is you
look on archive is like, oh, well, here's an obscure thing that
you know, and it's like a dollar, you know, right, And
I watch it and I think, if it's cool, I'll like capture it.
But if if not, it's like, well, now it can't all
be singers. You know. That's why I still click videos, because I'm
interested in that kind of thing, just always finding new material stuff that people
put together, new films, new everything, you know, well new to
me, so but like a vision back in time. You know, I
probably sound crazy on this thing, not at all. I'm sure some people
watching after hearing that, they'll want to hear some of the best stuff that
you've found in the last couple of years. What are some of your big
finds lately. Hmmm. I like finding weddings. Those are fun. Nothing
too out you know, too outstanding. But I found a tape called VCR
Repair for brother Nick, and it's a video letter and this guy owns a
TV VCR repair shop just think it's like ninety four ninety five, and he
does a video and shows him how to repair a VCR change change a change,
some stuff inside of it, you know what I mean, the bands
and cleaning the reels or cleaning the heads and all that kind of stuff.
I was like, Wow, this is really useful. That's really cool.
It's neat. And then it turns into him on a keyboard talking to him
and he just like starts like talking to him and he's like, hey,
you know hey brother, Like it's it's just like it's a slice of life.
It's like a video letter man. But then he gets into a flight
simulator that he has in his house. Apparently it's just this it's amazing.
I love that. Fine, but he's so sweet. He's like an old
older man, older guy. He plays like, I don't know, there's
just this a lot of like cool human moments inside of it. Love that.
Oh Simpson's Halloween ninety six. I just got that from a buddy.
Nice. Pretty cool, and the ninety six season opener that's probably somewhere,
but I mean I have the tape here, right, that's just watch it
whenever I want. Right. Recently dove back into Magic Island this movie,
but only the screener because I there's some like cool footage on that and I
just got that scene in my head again where like he climbs up the tree
and like there's the sand shark and it's like a pizza tree. Do you
remember this? Do you know this? Don't No? It definitely sound insane,
but this is a real movie. It's starts Zachary ty Bryan and there's
a scene where like he goes up a tree that grows pizza and there's like
a sand shark and he like feeds it gum and escapes it. And it's
like this really fever dream kind of scene. And so I revisited Magic Island
and it's actually pretty good. It's pretty fun. We could start disgusting Strawberry
Mansion. That'll sound crazy to a lot of people. M h, it's
a beautiful film, man, I'd like to put that back on tape.
I should reach out to them. It's a good movie. People should check
it out. That there's a there's a tape monster in it. That's really
cool looking. Actually a lot of cool stuff it turns up. Man,
it's crazy. I love that the two movies that you randomly brought up to
night are ones that I actually know and have seen recently. That's super rare
for me. That's great. It's fantastic when people are out looking for tapes.
I'm sure that people are hoping that they found something super rare, And
of course I got to ask, what are some of the ones that you
have that I have, like the least amount of it's been out in circulation,
perhaps, what's the most rare things that you've got, like the least
circulated tapes? Yeah? Well, then I know of America's Dedle's Home Video.
Nice. I have a copy of Slaughterville. There's some others that I
have that I think are really low you know what I mean. But you
know, like this tape called Wonder Guy. I don't know how many copies
of that are out there, but yeah, stuff like that, uh with
lunch Meat. You put out tons of titles over the years. Do you
know about how many? Offhand? I just did this, but I would
say like fifty more right, Yeah, So as somebody that has grown up
around this myself, just like you, I look at somebody that's done what
you've done and can't help but think I bet that you, you know,
put some of these out and you go, this feels really good to literally
release this title. What's a couple of titles that you've released that you go
like, I'm contributing something. I'm so glad that I was able to put
this out. That's a great question. I mean a little bit on all
of them, right if you're talking about like it's and yeah, really happy
when I did Video Violence because I was a maybe I watched grown up to
Me Gary and work with him and becomes friends with him, which is always
really really cool. America's Deadly hist Home Video, like I said, I
have, that's a rare tape. There's like less than a hundred of them
out there. And I set that on to DVD for the first time and
put it back out on tape and that's got a life past my release is
now. So that was great. I don't know all kinds of stuff,
man, that I mean, like the thing is just connecting with people,
you know, Like I loved working with Albert on Strawberry Mansion. I thought
it was great. Yeah, I love the Frogman. Dudes. I just
did frog Man. Those guys are awesome. Dude. You know, I'm
forgetting a bunch of bunch of people. That's why trying to do singles.
You know, I work with so many great people. I just like getting
people's art out there and using vhs as a format to get it out there.
They're certain people connect with it, and when your artistry kind of connects
with the vibe or the feeling of VHS that that gives people. If if
it's like coheres and there's a synergy there, like I think that's even better.
That's what I'm talking about, Like watching old sv movies on tape because
you're watching if you're watching all blueb it's Gonnak exactly the same dog, you
know what I mean? Yeah, And it's like, uh, not exactly
say, we know what I mean, but yeah, sorry, I'm all
about it too. I literally the name of the channel is discconnected because that
community, the group of people that surround us and go, you know what,
I feel the exact same way. That's what I love. And watching
lunch Meat from Afar has always been just so rad to think that there's somebody
out there that loves this so much and then you go out and do all
these events, Like there's all kinds of stuff the lunch Meat has done.
Can you share like some of the events that you guys do. Yeah.
I started doing a lot of tape swaps just like ten years ago with Matt
d of Harboobs up in New York and then we were doing Cinema Wasteland for
a while, just going there right and pushing the pushing the VHS stuff,
evangelizing, singing the praises of tape. Then I started doing my own shows
more in Philly, and then we started doing VHS Fest, which has really
grown. It's probably the largest thing that we do. You know, Mahoning
drive in just the best VHS Fest. It's just I want to I want
to create places for the people that love the culture to go right movies,
the online camaraderie and sharing pictures and information and you know, helping people find
their the tapes they want, all that kind of stuff. I think that's
awesome, you know. I love that kind of that part of the culture.
I also think it's important to meet people in person and experience things with
them, you know. I think that's what VHS Fest has become. It's
just like, come meet some people that like like the same kind of stuff
you do, and like, you know, it's cool. Yeah, it's
like tape head woodstock or something. I don't know. I completely agree with
you. There is there's something different about you know, even like I hate
to say it, like social media comment sections can get toxic really fast about
a lot of this shit. But hanging out with people in person and being
like, let's watch this and literally go through the option to put this into
the player and sit and like commune around what we all love to do.
It makes it so much different. It makes it so much more special.
Yeah, I think I think a lot of people on VHS fests are just
I don't know, man, just having a great time. Like it's just
a great time. It's like it's it's been hitting and we're so glad to
be able to be a part of it, and you know, helped found
it. So it's pretty cool. But yeah, but I do tons of
stuff still. I still do screenings. I go out and you know,
put my tapes out and you know, show some weird stuff around Raleigh and
North Carolina. Do some shows in Durham, which is right outside of Raleigh
in North Carolina. That's where I'm at right now. And uh, but
over the years, yeah, tons of tape swaps. That's severe, sever
because that's what was going on before VHS Festus severed, and I mean it
was it's just been friends hanging out. They're like weird movies and our weirdos
and still watch tape. So I have this appreciation for this analog aesthetic,
for this, you know, this this video aesthetic where it's all this beautiful
like packaging and you know, putting out all these strange movies with all these
weird backstories, and you know, it goes very deep. You know.
Tape has everything. Tape is the gateway to everything, you know, because
we have to take from tape in order to create the blu rays and all
the streaming and all this stuff. You know, unless it's new, Unless
it's new. But I'm saying for old cinema, I mean, it's just
film and tape, right. So VHS Fest? What year is this?
Gain? What's super right? Okay? Is it something like that? I
couldn't remember if it was seven or eight year. I should have no I
should have any doubt whatsoever. But I mean, I'm pretty sure it's tape.
I uh, it's one of those things. Last year when it got
announced and just seeing everything that was going to happen, I've I don't know
that I was jealous of anything else as much as I was to not be
able to hang out there last year. It was such an intriguing lineup,
and I had Ross on my show last year from Saturn's Corps right before it
happened, and just some of the stuff that we were talking about. Ross
is just great person. Ross is like so he's like such a great dude,
like a cool friend, and he's also so knowledgeable man, and just
super smart and like just love Ross, love of love. You know,
He's done so much great work man, and I'm just happy that. You
know. That's why I brought him on a VHS fest and everything after a
couple of years in because I just I felt like I wanted that kind of
his kind of knowledge and presence there, you know, because I thought that
was important. So, I mean, this seems like an obvious question,
but as you're running lunch Meet, there's got to be some wishless titles.
What do you wish that you could put out? I don't know, man,
I think I just want to rattle stuff off, and I don't you
know, I'm like thinking about it too hard. Now I've been there.
Don't worry, It's okay. Honestly, dude, I would love to like
and this is one who just popped in my head the other day. I
would love to do Begotten again on tape. That's just awesome. Apparently it
goes for a lot of money right now, and I'm like, you need
to watch that on tape for sure. That's how I watched it. Yeah,
you know, but I would do it like with silver embossing and stuff
like, go all out. I know this is just a pipe dream right
now, but I might can do it. I can, I go for
it. I'm really happy to put out frog Man. I love Frogman so
sick. There's some movies that I wish I could put out though that I
just it's it's never gonna it just I don't know if it can happen,
of course. Unfortunately that's how it goes. Yeah. I mean that's because
I want to do it right. You know. I know a lot of
people are just putting stuff on tape and don't worry about licensing or or rights,
and they're going to do that. But I mean I like doing it
right man. I like doing it you know, the the way it should
be done, try to honor the artists and right like all the licenses and
ship like it's it's makes it feel more real, I guess, you know.
And it's done right and everybody gets their due credit. So I don't
know if it's just me, but I can say that for me, it
feels differently going with somebody like lunch Meat that you can tell does the right
thing and licenses everything and makes the deals and getting you know, some random
mass which is basically just a blank tape with the you know, sometimes it's
like a color deck slapped on there. But when you get that, it
just doesn't feel good. There's something missing there, and it's quite obvious.
Yeah, I always wonder, you know. I mean, I've seen some
you know, unofficial bootleg editions out there of people doing they're doing great work.
It looks awesome, you know, like the artwork looks great and it's
a really cool release, but it's not I don't know, you know,
And I think it's all I think it's all viable, Like we're not viable,
but I think it's all like, you know, it's all part of
the culture, like whether you like it or not, and it's going to
influence what's going to happen in the way it's in the future, you know,
especially with tape that was a big part of it the nineties too.
Yeah, And I don't know, I mean, those are usually stuff that
gets booty, Like there are titles that I won't go after, you know,
but that makes sense. Yeah, I mean I just want to.
I just want to put out cool movies on tape, man, And I
think it's awesome that people still buy them and watch them right now. And
world's expensive, like expensive, I sell very non essential good, you know.
So it makes me happy that like people want to support it and that
people still want to watch it on tape and believe in it. And because
that's it was just something I was really into in my early twenties, you
know. I was passionate about it. I still am. And it's just
cool that like doing a zine has brought so much happiness to me and to
other people, you know, and like has kept films alive and has uncovered
films that probably wouldn't come out or otherwise. You know, those are all
cool feelings, you know, after dinner for fifteen years. So I agree,
Well, I mean, what's the what's the future hole after doing that
for fifteen years? What's what's coming up soon for lunch meeting? Oh?
Probably a bunch of weird stuff, you know, I'm putting. I did
a joke book that I'll be releasing soon. Nice. I don't even know
where this came from, but I just loved it. There was one hundred
one joke books from when I was a kid and I started writings were huge
in the mid nineties. This is the best, dude. Those had to
get one, had to get five. So that's just the idea. So
it's called Home Video Humor one hundred and one ridiculous rewind inclined funnies and all
like it's it's all like dad jokes and bad puns and but it's all based
on like vhs and v VCRs and video stores. It's ridiculous. The first
seventy five jokes were easy, and then the last like twenty six, I
was just like so hard, so hard. So so that's coming out,
you know, more VHS releases, we're gonna try. We're trying to do
some more books, more of the VH same. But I think we're always
going to be expanding and trying new stuff and trying to get the culture out
there. You know, and however people want to listen, we need to
do more of the video stuff. You know. It's ironic. We don't
like to do too much video other than putting in the VCR so well,
and lunch Meat has been on the forefront with a lot of things with Home
Video Horrors and Video Vortex and stuck on VHS, that was a big deal
for a while. I don't think that's in print anymore either, is it
now. We're trying to bring it back soon though. That's good to know.
That's good to know. Video Vortex and Home Video Horror, anything on
the horizon prely of those that you want to share tell people what they are.
So Video Vortex I don't work with anymore. That is actually the reason
I moved to Raleigh is to come down here and you know, kind of
open and build that video store for Almo, that brand really and after it
was going really well, it was cool. It was a really cool video
store at like seventy thousand titles plus to rent for free. And after Pandemic
it kind of just never got invited back, so it kind of just moved
on, right, But it's still there and you can still rent seventy thousand
titles for free if you're in Rolling North heroline at Video Vortex. So that's
the news on that, and then Home Video Hors just a lot of fun
with my friend Jackie Lawrence, such a fantastic photographer. I love going over
ideas with him and coming up with shots and picking the movies. I think
we want to do a book at some point, right because I think we
have like seventy some pictures now, yeah, real nice coffee table book.
Yeah, like use the pictures, but then have us write reviews or talk
about films that are something. Maybe we'll do that in the future. I
just think that the photography is way too cool to just like it should be
collected. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, we'll keep doing calendars. We're
trying to do more stuff on vhs. Like I said, it should be
in print, so we're trying to bring it back into print. Awesome.
I will try to share if that comes out and let everybody know let's back
because I don't have a copy of I'd love to have a copy of that.
Cool all right, Josh, Well, thanks for hanging out today.
Hopefully this has been interesting and helped and somewhat I hope people out there will
take a look because again, the accessibility and the idea behind it is so
important and for people that are into any sort of physical media. Again,
this isn't there's parallels everywhere. Anything surrounding VHS can and will happen to any
other format, So it's important to keep that in mind and not repeat history
in a way where we forget where our forefathers of physical formats came from.
That was beautiful man. Well again, thanks Josh. Everybody check out Lunch
Meet. All the lemps will be the description below. I appreciate it.
We'll see you next time. If you're looking for more horror outside of the
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