Community Spotlight: Michi Tapes - Eric Stevens' Analog Vision in Pittsburgh's Underground

In Pittsburgh's sprawling DIY ecosystem, few figures loom as large as Eric Stevens behind Michi Tapes, a home-dubbed cassette operation that functions less like a traditional label and more like an artistic nerve center. His roster includes some local standouts like Gina Gory, Tony From Bowling, Rex Tycoon, and Ames Harding and The Mirage—all united by Stevens' curatorial instinct for the beautifully unpolished. Each release emerges from his Pittsburgh base as a lovingly crafted artifact, the kind of lofi soup that satisfies modern appetites starved for authenticity in an increasingly sterile digital landscape.

But Michi Tapes extends beyond mere audio documentation. Stevens' practice encompasses a multimedia approach that feels both nostalgic and prescient: live recordings captured on weathered VHS and grainy 8mm cameras, found footage woven into the label's visual identity, creating an aesthetic that's equal parts bedroom pop and art installation. This isn't just music curation—it's cultural archaeology, preserving fleeting moments of creative combustion with the same care a museum might reserve for ancient pottery. 

What makes Stevens truly indispensable to Pittsburgh's music ecosystem isn't just his keen ear or technical dedication, but his almost gravitational ability to bring people together. As a photographer, he's likely captured more local band portraits than anyone else in the city, documenting the scene with the same intimate eye he brings to his tape releases. He operates as the scene's unofficial social coordinator, the type of person who makes you feel like a longtime friend within minutes of meeting. In a city where music communities can feel fractured across neighborhoods and venues, Stevens serves as connective tissue—part archivist, part cheerleader, part den mother to a sprawling family of artists who might otherwise exist in isolation. His warmth transforms Michi Tapes from a simple cassette label into something more vital: a genuine community hub where Pittsburgh's creative misfits can find both audience and kinship.

Check out some of Eric's work here.