In 2005, Veronica Vasicka founded Minimal Wave, a record label dedicated to unearthing and reissuing music from the small but influential ‘minimal synth’ scene. Emerging out of post-punk in the late 1970s and early 1980s, minimal synth was an underground take on pop music with a DIY ethos. Using relatively cheap synthesizers and recording techniques, artists created what Vasicka describes as “electronic pop gems from the underground – a revolutionary take on pop music.”

The Minimal Wave label is still going strong today, and is the subject of a new documentary by internet radio station Radio Kangol. In it, they interview Vasicka and artists associated with the label about the history of minimal synth music, her obsession with the music, and the beginnings of Minimal Wave. “The documentary was great fun because Kangol really understood the label's aesthetic,” Vasicka says, “Their production team sent over a treatment early on which described how they were approaching the piece and it was all in keeping it within my vision. I put them in touch with with one of my artists, In Aeternam Vale, for a phone interview and that went very well. I also gave them a ton of original source videos and music from the label to incorporate into the piece.”

Alongside the documentary, Radio Kangol are streaming a mixtape of Minimal Wave tracks. “The mixtape was made by a close friend and incredibly talented artist named Silent Servant, who I've also released on (sister label) Cititrax,” says Vasicka, “Silent Servant started buying Minimal Wave records way back when I started in 2005, and he's one of those rare people who I feel really gets it. His mix is purely based on archives from the label but in his work as a club DJ, he manages to weave Minimal Wave in with techno and EBM, and truly brings it to the masses.”

Head over to Radio Kangol to listen to the mixtape and watch the documentary.