Sam Rosenthal
Encyclopedia
Sam Rosenthal is the founder and leader of Black Tape For a Blue Girl
Black tape for a blue girl
Black Tape for a Blue Girl is an American Dark Wave band formed in 1986 by Projekt Records' founder Sam Rosenthal. Their music takes on elements of dark cabaret, Dark Wave, ethereal, ambient and neoclassical music. Director David Lynch...

 and Projekt Records
Projekt Records
This is the article for the record label. You might be looking for Pro-jekt, ProjeKct, Project Pitchfork, or Projekt RevolutionProjekt is a Brooklyn, New York-based independent record label specializing in gothic rock, ambient, ethereal, darkwave, shoegaze, dream-pop, and dark cabaret created by...

.

Projekt Records

Begun by Sam Rosenthal in 1983 as a way to release his own solo electronic music, Projekt Records spent its early life as a cassette-only label with a series of titles that are now long out-of-print.

In 1989, Projekt released its first compact disc, Black Tape For a Blue Girl
Black tape for a blue girl
Black Tape for a Blue Girl is an American Dark Wave band formed in 1986 by Projekt Records' founder Sam Rosenthal. Their music takes on elements of dark cabaret, Dark Wave, ethereal, ambient and neoclassical music. Director David Lynch...

's Ashes in the Brittle Air
Ashes in the brittle air
Ashes in the Brittle Air is the third album by the gothic darkwave band Black Tape for a Blue Girl. It was released in 1989 by Projekt Records and contains one of their best known songs, "Across a Thousand Blades" sung by Oscar Herrera.- Track listing :...

. Alhough the label began as a way to release his own art, Rosenthal began to see his label taking shape as a vehicle for exposing other artists whose passionate work impressed him. His first discovery was Lycia
Lycia (band)
Lycia is a darkwave/gothic rock band that was formed in 1988, Tempe, Arizona, United States. The main personnel of the band are Mike VanPortfleet, Tara Vanflower, David Galas and . Although only achieving minor cult success, the band is notable for being one of the ground breaking groups in...

, which signed with Projekt that year. Soon thereafter, Rosenthal was impressed with another young band, Love Spirals Downwards
Love Spirals Downwards
Love Spirals Downwards was an ethereal darkwave, dream pop, Atmospheric drum'n'bass and electronica recording act from California.-History:Love Spirals Downwards was begun by multi-instrumentalist Ryan Lum and then-girlfriend Suzanne Perry. In 1991, Lum and Perry recorded a demo, which led to a...

, whose debut release soon followed.

In 1993, Sam began Projekt: Darkwave, a mail-order company that carried the music of Projekt as well as labels with a similar outlook, including Santa Barbara's Tess Records, Germany's Hyperium Records, and Sweden's Cold Meat Industry.

Moving to Chicago in 1996, Rosenthal's label grew in both number of releases and number of employees. Now with full-time marketing, distribution and promotion managers, Projekt became better able to meet the challenge of making people aware of the label. In 1996 Projekt celebrated their success by staging a two-day Projekt Festival at the historic Vic Theatre in Chicago.

After many years of struggling with self-distribution, Projekt secured exclusive distribution in The US with ADA (The Alternative Distribution Alliance) in 1997. Distribution was handled through Ryko Distribution throughout most of the 2000s and, as of 2010, was handled by NAIL.

In late 1999, Rosenthal moved to New York City, and Projekt is now located in Brooklyn. The label had many employees over the years who assisted Sam with his vision. Most notably, Shea Hovey is the current assistant who handles the press contacts as well as the mail-order. She has been with the label since 2000 and is often the face of Projekt at the festivals.

Black Tape for a Blue Girl

Started in 1986 during a move to California, Black Tape for a Blue Girl
Black tape for a blue girl
Black Tape for a Blue Girl is an American Dark Wave band formed in 1986 by Projekt Records' founder Sam Rosenthal. Their music takes on elements of dark cabaret, Dark Wave, ethereal, ambient and neoclassical music. Director David Lynch...

was formed as a vehicle for Sam's own musical vision. Its signature combination of gothic, ethereal, ambient and neo-classical elements has explored existential themes of loves lost and passions yet to come. Since then, that music has grown into a full-fledged band, whose members revolve around Rosenthal's subtle electronic foundation.

Alternative Rhythms

From April 1981 to Summer 1986, Sam was the editor of a fanzine, Alternative Rhythms. Originally based in South Florida, it eventually was distributed throughtout Florida and into Athens and Atlanta Georgia. Circulation maxes out at 14,000. The most controversial issue featured the band Gay Cowboys in Bondage on the cover.

External links

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