It’s been 21 years since I started in radio, this might be the strangest night I have ever participated in. After a tremendous amount of negotiating with Sweatband Records, which now mostly covers what I can’t say in exchange for some of their product, this podcast and video — in this highly edited and altered form — marks the only remaining document of the night Le Petit Sac visited Mid-Valley Mutations. Be thankful even this much still exists.
Here’s what I can say: after playing a show with Sac back in March (itself a very long story), I was contacted about him making an appearance on Mid-Valley Mutations. After a long negotiation period, we settled on the 29th of June. Once we settled on the date, I received a series of weird messages, trying to confirm rumors these people were hearing about the show. (These rumors revolved around he and I switching identities, that he was performing in Olympia as me, and that I wasn’t even in touch with the real Sac.) I didn’t think anything of this, and instead, prepared like I do normally.
On the night three people arrived at KMUZ: two men in suits who claimed to be representatives of Sweatband Records, and a third who was dressed as The Sac I’d come to know. Immediately I was handed this card: “DJ Embryonic Petit Sac will not talk for the first hour. He will select music for you to play. During the second hour he will take phone calls and perform some short sets. Do not talk directly to the Sac before or after the show. After the Vanity Fair fiasco, there will be no interview either. No requests. The Sac will not play anything from his records. No photography. If the Sac nods at you, you will be allowed to perform with him. Failure to comply with these rules will result in immediate legal action. No exceptions.”
The two representatives from Sweatband said very little the entire time, but did accept the complementary Red Licorice in the lobby.
While I was preparing for the show in the DJ booth, I overheard a number of phone calls that The Sac took, where he said over and over that he, “didn’t want to do this.” These calls contained a lot of profanity, and he used a voice I’ve never heard him use before.
I decided to film him anyway, in spite of the warning, and while the Sweatband representatives did nothing to stop me, afterwards they confiscated everything I brought to the radio station — CDs, gear, recordings, my phone, EVERYTHING — and held me for hours in the station lobby while the reps reviewed every inch of the footage and went over every piece of my gear. The Sac left immediately after the show, once the person at the door had been “dealt with.” (I was never told what that meant.) Finally, a lawyer arrived, and after another hour of discussions, I was allowed to leave, with my gear in hand, and was given a second angle that I was unaware of, that was very strangely edited. The video on my phone was mangled too.
I wanted to post this show immediately, as I felt like this story needed to get out. However, I was informed I couldn’t publish until my post, the audio, and the video was reviewed by Sweatband, again. I can only hope that they kept all 100,000 words of this incredible story in the final version that gets out to the world, but I’ll be happy if ANY of this show actually makes it out, period.
So, sit back, and enjoy Sweatband Records and Mid-Valley Mutations presenting: Le Petit Sac. I think?
Enjoy!
Le Petit Sac, LIVE!
HOUR 1: DJ Embryonic Petit Sac spins Sweatband Records hits.
Part I: Ordinary Everyday Conversation
01.) Simulate The Sound of Speech * Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
02.) Live At Axolotl Insemination Ranch, Dec 2010 Portland OR * DJ Embryonic Petit Sac * 3 Way Banana Split * Sweatband Records (2011)
03.) Epic Snacks * Razzle Blaster * 3 Way Banana Split * Sweatband Records (2011)
04.) Sacred Thistles (side a) * The Manx * 3 Way Banana Split * Sweatband Records (2011)
Part II: These Hearing Difficulties
05.) Good Hello * Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
06.) Sacred Thistles (side b) * The Manx * 3 Way Banana Split * Sweatband Records (2011)
07.) Sexy Quest * Razzle Blaster * 3 Way Banana Split * Sweatband Records (2011)
08.) Live At Golden Trapper Keeper Lodge, Aug 2010 San Francisco CA * DJ Embryonic Petit Sac * 3 Way Banana Split * Sweatband Records (2011)
09.) These Hearing Difficulties * Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
10.) Spokesman * Tinklepotty * When We Were Whole Split Cassette * Sweatband Records (2015)
11.) Sleep: The Seductive Minion of The Enemy * Tinklepotty * When We Were Whole Split Cassette * Sweatband Records (2015)
12.) Delayed To Humanize * Tinklepotty * When We Were Whole Split Cassette * Sweatband Records (2015)
13.) Gurge Reaction * Oort Smog * Smeared Pulse Transfers * Sweatband Records (2019)
14.) Loam Yourself And Die Trying * Oort Smog * Smeared Pulse Transfers * Sweatband Records (2019)
Part III: It’s Difficult To Tell One Instrument From Another
15.) Weather Computer, Are You There? * Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
16.) The Weather * The Weather Computer w/ Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
17.) Roadkill Carousel * The Ether Creeps * Split * Sweatband Records (2018)
18.) Calm Before The Swarm (Excerpt) * The Ether Creeps * Split * Sweatband Records (2018)
19.) Blood Gold * The Manx * Blood Chronicles 7” * Sweatband Records (2013)
20.) Interlude * Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
21.) [untitled] * Arlo Brooks * Split * Sweatband Records (2016)
22.) More Limited Than The Most Antiquated Recordings * Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
HOUR 2: Live Sac Taking Calls w/ Mini-Mutations.
Part IV: Typical Hearing Loss
23.) Questions? Hello? * Le Petit Sac w/ Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
24.) Caller 1: “I live beneath the lighthouse by the cove.” * Le Petit Sac w/ Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
25.) More Live Sac * Le Petit Sac * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
26.) Caller 2: “They found me, actually.” * Le Petit Sac w/ Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
Part V: Sensitivity To High Frequencies
27.) As We Grow Older, The Losses Usually Increase * Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
28.) Even More Live Sac * Le Petit Sac * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
29.) Caller 3: “He’s taken my bunny guy thing.” * Le Petit Sac w/ Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
Part VI: Sound Alike
30.) The Weather * Le Petit Sac w/ The Weather Computer * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
31.) Caller 4: “I’m calling from you.” * Le Petit Sac w/ Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
32.) That Was Hard To Follow, Wasn’t It? * Le Petit Sac w/ Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
33.) Au Revoir * Mini-Mutations * Live, 29 June 2019 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2019)
Mid-Valley Mutations 