Nate Hofer Vinyl Release of “Decommissioned”
Donation protected
Hammerpress is partnering with our friend Nate Hofer on a 10-inch vinyl EP release of "Decommissioned". This EP will feature experimental solo pedal steel guitar recordings made in a decommissioned missile silo in Kansas.
Project Funding
Recording and mastering stages are finished. The funds raised from this campaign will go toward the production costs of pressing the vinyl and packaging.
About Nate Hofer
Nate is an artist/musician with disciplines in both audio and visual mediums.
Nate’s Photography
Since 2019 Nate has been developing a body of photographic work called One and a Half Acres which highlights how some of the hundreds of decommissioned Minuteman missile silo sites look today 30 years after being decommissioned. This original and first-of-its-kind work has been featured in solo gallery exhibits in the Kansas City area and has earned Nate global attention as a 2021 medalist for the Austrian-based Global Peace Photo Award.
Nate’s Music
Nate Hofer is also an accomplished traditional pedal steel guitar player known for his work with Bloodshot recording artist Rex Hobart and the Misery Boys as well as many other Kansas City live music acts including The Starhaven Rounders today. Nate also has an active practice of non-traditional solo ambient pedal steel guitar.
Why record in a missile silo?
The reasons to record in a decommissioned missile site are two-fold:
- The deep natural reverb of the two underground chambers (both the missile silo and launch room) are incredibly beautiful. Both chambers were used in the recordings at different times. So the cathedral-like reverb in these recordings is only that of these underground chambers – no processed reverb.
- The idea of recording experimental music in a decommissioned missile silo is to connect the recordings to the photo series of decommissioned missile silos. The message of the music and the photography is the same: To imagine a world without nuclear weapons.
The Finished Product
Our goal is to create a beautifully-printed and recorded documentation of both of these projects.
This 10-inch vinyl release EP will be a limited edition letterpress-printed sleeve, die cut, signed and numbered. It will include a full-color insert of six of Nate's photographic work to accompany the recordings as well as a download code for digital versions of the music.
About Hammerpress
Hammerpress is a letterpress print shop, design studio & retail store based in Kansas City, Missouri. Since 1994, Hammerpress has garnered attention both nationally and internationally for their poster designs, as well as a wholesale line of letterpress goods and custom print work.
For more about Hammerpress visit www.hammerpress.net
See a tour of the missile site used as a recording studio.
Organizer
Brady V
Organizer
Kansas City, MO