Hello, Public Record

• What Is Public Record?
• Why It Exists
• What We Do
• Beyond Programming
• How It’s Funded
• Why Community Support Matters
• What Makes Public Record Different

Since 2021, we’ve been building and releasing work under the name WASTOIDS.

It started as a place to experiment. There was no master plan. We just knew we wanted a space for music, video, conversations, performances, and strange ideas that didn’t have a natural home elsewhere. Remote talk shows hosted by werewolves, death metal cactus gardens, live sessions, hang-outs with oddball countercultural icons, podcasts about seven-inches, online life, and creativity…that sort of thing.

It was intentionally loose. Frequently chaotic. Rooted in the energy of public access, zines, and DIY culture.

Now, we’re Public Record. Documenting independent music and culture as it happens, presenting it publicly, and keeping it accessible over time. Not optimized for feeds. Just making sure the work exists…clearly, carefully, and on record.

We want to hear about projects you want to share with the world.
Send your ideas/projects to share@publicrecord.online. We will select 6 new projects to feature in 2026.

WASTOIDS shows will still appear here, as will an all-new slate of programming, presented in unique collaborations with partners like **Hello Merch,Hello Lincoln,**storied DIY space The Trunk Space and Cult Classics.

We launch with video artist Salvador Cresta’s Spanish-language doc Dissecting Zelmar, a digital/print zine and short film documentary about Argentinian record collector, musician, and label head Zelmar Garín.

More will follow, including **T-Time: A Total Shirt Show with Perry Shall,**dedicated to band shirt collections and hosted by the noted designer, shirt archivist, and illustrator; our Public Record news broadcast; and Cresta’s The DIY Videographer, an in-depth look at raw, non-algo friendly videographic humanity.

In April, we present Mutate, Don’t Stagnate: An Evening With DEVO** at Hello Lincoln. Our new variety show, Permanent Zoo with Andy and Candy, filmed live on the same soundstage as legendary Phoenix children’s show The Wallace and Ladmo Show launches this summer.

We will also begin sharing the results of our open-call for creative projects.

More will follow. All presented minus corporate backing, supported by our viewers, readers, and listeners. Music, art, and culture…on the record.

§What Is Public Record?

Public Record is a community-funded project built around documenting independent music, art, and culture.

We make audio and visual programs, host live presentations, and produce physical releases, recordings, zines, and printed matter, that capture performances, conversations, and ideas and put them on record, so they don’t disappear.

§Why It Exists

Independent music culture moves fast. Most of it is experienced once and then lost, buried by feeds, algorithms, or time.

Public Record exists to slow things down a bit. To document music as it happens, give it context, and make sure it stays accessible over time.

This isn’t about chasing trends.
It’s about continuity.

§What We Do

Public Record produces programs, not content.

That includes music news and editorial work, performance series and live sessions, interviews, conversations, reviews, and older material brought back into circulation.

Some programs run for years. Some run for a season. Some pause or end. Public Record keeps going.

§Beyond Programming

We also produce live events and public presentations, along with recordings, zines, and printed matter connected directly to the work.

These aren’t merchandise in the traditional sense.
They’re artifacts, documentation of moments, projects, and programs.

Proceeds help support ongoing work and future programming.

§How It’s Funded

Public Record follows a public-media model.

The work is supported by:

• community contributions (monthly or annual)
• limited underwriting from aligned sponsors
• events and printed matter tied to programming

We don’t sell audience data.
We don’t run traditional advertising.
We don’t optimize for volume.

§Why Community Support Matters

Community support keeps Public Record independent.

It allows us to document live performances and events, preserve and maintain an archive, pay artists and collaborators fairly, and keep the work publicly accessible.

Support doesn’t buy access. It keeps the work on record.

§What Makes Public Record Different

Public Record isn’t a streaming platform.
It isn’t a label.
It isn’t a content brand.

It’s a public cultural service, built to last, supported by its audience, and accountable to the work itself.

Public Record exists so independent music and culture don’t disappear.

If that kind of documentation matters to you, your support helps make it possible.

Music, art and culture, on record.**