Today we’d like to introduce you to David “DMProgress” Pethel.
David “DMProgress”, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Play.
I know what you’re thinking, “a cassette tape club in 2025? Does anybody even sell cassette players anymore?”
Before we answer that question, let’s go back to why we would even assume to impose such an ask upon potential customers.
Rewind.
One day in 1996, in English class, during my sophomore year in high school there was a competition to write poetry from randomly assigned words. I received my words, pieced them together and won the assignment. Up until that time, I had never written poetry, nor did I know I even could. That simple event sparked a decades long quest to make a career as a professional musician, more specifically a Hip-hop emcee AKA a ‘rapper.’
Fast forward.
At work one day in the fall of 2015 (not as a professional musician mind you),
I passionately pleaded with one of my coworkers about the importance of the burgeoning cassette community. See, he was a low rider enthusiast and what could be a better companion to cruising in your low low than a dope cassette tape in your stereo deck!?
I was mid conversation about the importance of music being physical again and the local communities it was causing to thrive, when out of my mouth came a life changing phrase. “Don’t you want to be in my club!!?” Immediately as the words escaped my lips I mouthed under my breath, “Tape of the month club!” I mumbled this name in a eureka—I found it—ah-hah—tone of voice.
This was the inception of my business idea. I would curate undiscovered music I loved onto physical pieces of art. Tangible artifacts. Tactile media. Imagine handing someone a cassette tape in 2015 when digital streaming of all audio and visual art was in the midst of its thriving revolution!
Pause.
According to Hypebot.com, in 2015, cassette tape sales increased to 215,000 over the prior years 25,000.
Indie cassette labels were popping up all across the world. The deep interest in the cassette tape and its historical story was crowd funded and would turn into the 2016 released documentary entitled
“Cassette – a documentary mixtape.”
Rewind.
The year 2016 was my launch year, I would curate a different musician or band to cassette tape every single month of the year and sell subscriptions. Somewhat like the old informercial subscriptions from the 70s, 80s and 90s where you could “cancel at any time.” Fans and customers who subscribed could expect new music to ship to them monthly.
While maintaining a marriage, a full time job, a freelance graphic design gig, I kept my word. I released 12 tapes that were hand picked and personally coordinated with / from other musicians across North America.
Stop.
Somewhere in the middle of 2017 I crashed. I couldn’t lift another finger or cast another thought to produce any more cassette tapes. If you run it up, I was doing the work of atleast 15 different “departments.” From A&R, to graphic designer, brand manager to production coordinator, event coordinator to shipping and fulfillment.
I was doing every single position. I crashed, I burned, I shelved actual albums submitted from real humans and just went passively inert.
Fast Forward.
In 2022, after recently leaving a 21 year career as a grocery store manager to try my hand at a thriving e-commerce start up I wound up unemployed. With a wife and a 1 & 1/2 year old son to help support, I was lost, broken, confused and somewhat resentful toward all my artistic endeavors. My entrepreneurial mind had endangered my loved ones and turned everything seemingly into collateral damage.
While I was struggling to find work and help pay the bills, my wife and I received a 60 day notice to vacate on the doorpost of the town home we were renting. We didn’t have enough money to live, much less move.
We found a place and began the arduous process of moving with no local family and a one and a half year-old toddler whom we didn’t have a babysitter for.
We took turns packing, cleaning and moving while our son was at day care or while he was sleeping. I had to dig up all my old boomboxes, radios, Walkmans, and the remaining Tape of the Month Club cassette inventory that was stacked in storage in our garage and closets.
While moving these items I taunted my self “I guess this is your son’s inheritance, all these broken radios and plastic pieces of obsolete media!”
See, from 1997 up until this time in 2022, you couldn’t tell me my creative ideas weren’t valid, or that my entrepreneurial mentality was unhealthy. But, now, as a 42 year old unemployed husband and father I felt my inner most dreams had deceived me and betrayed those I loved.
Stop.
After 6 years of questioning if I’d ever be able to hit play again on my clever and passionately formed tape club, my most successful cassette client reached out and requested last minute cassettes for an important show they had coming up in May 2023 (it was the last week of April.)
The conversation was a divine breath breathed into a broken heart and a pair of collapsed lungs. The club was being resurrected and I was being called to stand and deliver! Not just cassettes, but also my artist soul. The underlined theme of the conversation was about legacy, creating and ongoing. The absence of legacy was the very topic that was breaking my heart in 2022 as I hassled and cursed myself for thinking I could form a legacy from my creative dreams in the first place.
Fast forward.
Remember that dream of being a rapper? In 2024, an old band mate and friend of mine started sending me instrumental music to rap over, to write poetry to!
In just 6 months time the club was given new life, and now my dormant dreams of making a full length Hip-hop album were both seemingly—possibly a reality again!
Play.
As I write this mid year 2025, I have in my possession the completed full length Hip-hop album of my dreams. And, Tape of the Month Club is not only a place I can curate and serve other creatives and musicians, but now it is taking on a whole new purpose as a record label for my 3 decades long journey as a musician.
The tape club officially just released it’s first ever limited run of vinyl records and It so happens to be the first single off of my forthcoming full length album. We also recently started offering digital mixtapes. And come 2026, the tape club plans to offer premier subscription memberships that will include brand new cassette tape players, as well as, monthly music shipped directly to members.
Replay.
-David “DMProgress” Pethel
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.TapeoftheMonthClub.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tapeofthemonthclub/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tapeofthemonthclub
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tapeofthemonthclub
- Other: https://tapeofthemonthclub.bandcamp.com
Image Credits
Tim Pethel. Abel Rojas. David Pethel
