Anthony Ing makes music under the name Hometape, which is a pretty innocuous name considering his new project. The Redtube Album is minutes of blissed-out and slightly creepy electronica, all composed entirely of samples from one of the biggest porn sites in the world (that would be Redtube).

Hometape – Hey There from Hometape on Vimeo.

Why? Just… why?

I wanted to teach myself how to sample properly and manipulate sounds so I could use them in my own way. I figured, I’d learn a lot about the craft of sampling if I could make music out of something distinctly un-musical. As something free, accessible and unusual – online porn seemed like the perfect gimmick! Obviously, once I’d set these boundaries, I tried to be as expressive as possible, but if that didn’t work out I’d always have the gimmick to fall back on.

How did you make the album?

I’d browse Redtube looking for interesting sounds and ripping them onto my computer. Then I’d start playing with the samples and layering them up. On and off, it took me about 6 months to make, so I watched a mind-numbing amount of porn. Probably a good few hours for every song, including a lot of unfinished tracks that didn’t really work.

Did people never say, “Yup, suuuure you’re only on Redtube for your ‘music'”?

Haha, I didn’t actually tell anyone I was making it, partly because I anticipated that reaction. It didn’t take long for porn to become almost entirely un-arousing. Which is good, because otherwise I never would have finished the project… I’d just be hunched over in dark room somewhere, weeping into my cock.

Hometape – Vintage Upload II from Hometape on Vimeo.

We find the Redtube Album’s dreamy and sad, but also a little creepy – was that deliberate?

For sure. I was trying to capture the essence of the website. There’s a lot of lightheartedness and fun in some videos but once you strayed far enough from the front page you could get into some pretty dark territory – with more creepy offscreen voices and girls that look much less comfortable. I liked the idea of someone getting drawn into the site just for a bit of light smut and ending up deep in the abyss with no way out.

What were your musical influences with the album?

At the time I was mostly listening to The Go! Team, Burial and Diplo. They’re so inventive in the way they chop up sounds, and have a DIY ethos I really admire – especially in their debut albums.

What were you using to sample non-vocal clips?

Many of the individual drum hits came from open drums I’d find in the background music, but yeah, the more unique sounds came from things like footsteps or a phone being put down. The melodic phrase on ‘Rec’ came from a video of a girl clumsily stripping off to an Enya song (link NSFW) – some people have strange ideas of what’s sexy.

On a personal level, how do you feel about porn?

I don’t think there’s anything intrinsically degrading about watching other people have sex. But I do think society has let the adult industry morph into something pretty grotesque, because we’ve refused to acknowledge the huge role it has in our culture: in the world’s most visited websites, there’s currently a porn site ranked at number 50! We can’t keep pretending that this is something reserved only for the sleazy and perverted. As the video sharing sites start to bankrupt the old industry, it would be nice if a new industry emerged from amateur roots. Something warmer more human and not exploitative.

You can download or stream The Redtube Album for free here. www.hometape.co.uk

Words: Zing Tsjeng