Artist
Paper Bag
Mid-1980s experimental noise and performance art project releasing lo-fi cassettes in the underground industrial scene.
About
Paper Bag was an experimental noise and performance art project active during the mid-1980s, operating within the underground industrial and avant-garde music scenes. The project released primarily on cassette, a format favored by independent and DIY musicians of the era. Their discography includes Victimless Crime (1985), Drapes of Rain - Live Lhasa and Anti-Club 1985 (1985), Magischtheatermeltdown (1986), and Live from LA - Requiem Fer Yer Booty (1986). The emphasis on live recordings and theatrical performance titles suggests Paper Bag engaged in multimedia or performance-based experimentation rather than conventional song structures. Their work reflects the aesthetic values of 1980s underground cassette culture, where noise, dark ambient, and experimental music thrived outside mainstream distribution channels. The project's prolific live activity across venues like Anti-Club indicates involvement in the West Coast experimental music scene during this period. Paper Bag exemplifies the low-fidelity, DIY ethos characteristic of underground noise and industrial music communities of the 1980s.