Steve Feigenbaum on 40 Years of Cuneiform Records

“I’m as surprised as anyone else that I’m still doing it” says Steve Feigenbaum, who founded Cuneiform Records 40 years ago. 

Since May of 1984, he’s been releasing challenging music for adventurous ears. Avant garde jazz, experimental electronics, outside-the-box art rock and much more have entered the world through the Cuneiform door. It’s always been the little label that could, carving out a place for unconventional sounds that might not have found a home otherwise, introducing uncompromising new artists and unearthing a slew of surprises from the archives of innovators. 

The Cuneiform catalog is rich: a long string of revelatory releases featuring previously unheard material from Soft Machine and its family tree; a box set from avant-jazz hero Wadada Leo Smith that made him a Pulitzer finalist; debut albums from countless cutting-edge artists pursuing unprecedented ideas. It all started in Feigenbaum’s home office in Silver Springs, MD, and—despite some hairpin turns—the road keeps unfolding.

The Cuneiform creator took some time with us to look back on four decades of underground artistry.

Before Cuneiform, you started your mail-order music business, Wayside Music. What led to that?

Between 1976 and 1981 I was part of a collective called Random Radar Records… I learned a lot of lessons, most of them I chose to reject when I did stuff on my own. It made me think about the fact that I do like this music that people don’t like. And as it started to become apparent that I wasn’t gonna make a living off of Random Radar, then I started to formulate, “Well, what can I do with this music that I like that isn’t very popular?  I’d kind of like to work in that field.” Some of those ideas were the impetus when I started Wayside: “How do I do this and maybe make a living?”

Were there additional steps?

I also had a job at a record store, so I learned a little bit about the music business from the side of the people who have to sell the things to the public. I went to England in 1977 and I saw Henry Cow, and I met the guys in Henry Cow a little bit. At that point Chris [Cutler, HC drummer] was setting up [indie label] Recommended Records. So, I was like, “Hmm, that’s kind of along the idea of what I’m hoping to do.” And when I saw Henry Cow…the opening act was Etron Fou Leloublan, who I’d never heard of….and they were great. When I got home, I tried to find their records and they weren’t here. Nobody imported them. And that was kind of a revelation… “There’s this world out there of really great music that even I don’t know about, and you can’t find it, and maybe I should make it so people in the United States can find it.” 

And how did you add Cuneiform to the picture?

I’d been doing this mail order thing for four years. It was going pretty well. I still had a part-time record job, but I’d moved out of my parents’ house. I wasn’t going to college anymore. It just seemed like the next step. Those are the sorts of things you think when you’re 23 – “I’ll do this, it’ll be okay.” If you want to turn Cuneiform Records into a one- or two-sentence soundbite from me, it’s, “How do I run the most interesting label I possibly can and not go broke?”

What did the landscape look like in 1984 for the kind of music you were interested in? 

Punk had come in and basically killed off all the things that I liked. It was no longer even underground-cool music. A couple of things happened. I was able to work with things that might have been beyond my grasp… because nobody else liked this music and these artists were still producing works, and I was interested. Is putting out, in 1985, the second Present record worldwide a big deal? It was a big deal for me. It was a big deal for the 212 people that give a shit. 

AUDIO: Present “This Is NOT The End, Part 1”

And shortly after, there started to be some scenes… Fairly quickly, I glommed onto what was happening in what they called the downtown scene in New York. And that was an absolutely happening-right-then scene, and I really liked it. I’m pretty proud of the fact that I got on board with [downtown mainstays] Curlew and Doctor Nerve early. 

Have you had any guiding principles for running Cuneiform?

I don’t think there’s anybody who likes everything I’ve done, and I think that’s great. I’m proud of myself that I’m willing to release things even if maybe I don’t super love them, if I can understand why they are good pieces of work. It doesn’t have to all be about me. A lot of it does represent me, but it doesn’t all have to. If there’s a secret sauce to Cuneiform, maybe it’s that I have the ability to go, “This is really good. It’s not my thing, but this is really good.”

You started as a one-man operation, which you are again today, but when did that change?

Joyce [Steve’s wife] started working with me in ‘92 or ‘93. A few years after that we hired some people to help Joyce because it started growing. At that time, press did mean sales in a way that it doesn’t anymore. It was financially feasible to have a promo team. That was what Joyce headed up. It worked until it didn’t work anymore.

AUDIO: R. Stevie Moore What’s The Point?!!

Your first release was What’s the Point?!! by the prolific cult hero R. Stevie Moore. How did that come about?

Stevie at that point had done his first few releases himself. His manager, Irwin Chusid, contacted me. I knew who Stevie was…and Irwin sending stuff to me, and me going, “Some of this stuff is great” kind of got me there. Stevie’s a great talent, and he’s a pretty crazy person and a very nice person. I met Stevie and it was kind of exactly what you would imagine, there were empty pizza boxes everywhere and thousands of tapes. Stevie and Irwin definitely pushed me over the hump [to start the label].

Approximately how many Cuneiform releases have there been?

530 physical releases, and probably at this point another 40 digital-only releases. I have everything on Bandcamp I still have the rights to. There’s two reasons why Cuneiform is still here. Because I want to still do it and because of Bandcamp. It’s over 500 [Cuneiform releases available on Bandcamp].

What made you stop releasing music in 2018?

Business made me stop. Business and some incredibly not-honest people. But the business was the real reason. The music business was collapsing. It already had collapsed but I refused to accept it and kept going longer than I should have. And then I had a crisis because the business was horrible. And then I felt taken advantage of and lied to. So, I stopped.

Thankfully your retirement didn’t take; in 2019 you brought Cuneiform back. 

I really thought I was done. It wasn’t very long. A couple of the nice people I continue to work with said, “We really need you and you’re really good at this. Even in your diminished state, you still have value.” So, I tried it again. There is nothing as soul-destroying as firing your spouse who you think has done a good job for 22 years. My employees were wonderful. The problem is what they did no longer made financial sense. But I don’t have that financial liability anymore, so I can do it in a smaller way. Quite honestly, in 2024 a much smaller way is all there is. I used to do things because I was trying to keep my staff employed. Maybe that affected what I released. But now I just do what I want.

What are some of the releases you’re proudest of?

All the Soft Machine records I did. They were a very important band to me when I was young. The idea that I would be working with them and be able to extend the legacy so much – if you had told my 17-year-old self that, my 17-year-old self would have laughed at you.

It was really great working with Wadada Leo Smith. Wadada is the most sure of his art of anyone I’ve ever worked with. But he was very pleasant and funny. I never told Wadada what he should be doing. But he was interested and asked me about the marketing and the sales. Man, he knew his worth, and it was really fun to work with someone like that. Thanks to Wadada, his release America’s National Parks was the Downbeat album of the year, and that’s an incredible honor. I was a part of that. So that was fabulous. And [Smith’s box set] Ten Freedom Summers was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

What 2024 releases are you excited about?

This year’s kind of a funny year because I really overloaded myself because it’s the 40th anniversary. In January, I did a new record, It’s a very young Danish band called Antistatic. They’re very modern. They’re kids. The music’s very rigorous and interesting. I loved working with them, I’m really proud of that record. It’s the first album by this band and they kind of just came out of nowhere with this very fully formed thing 

I’m really excited about the Soft Machine Høvikodden 1971, that’s coming out in May, the 40th anniversary. It’s a four-disc set, the band playing two nights at the Henie-Onstad Art Center right outside of Oslo. It’s a great recording, and honestly, I think it’s probably my last Soft Machine record. I kind of know what’s out there in terms of what I consider to be releasable recordings and I don’t know of any others at this point. Half of it has not been out before and we managed to squeeze a little bit better sound out of it. It’s also the one record that sounds most like you’re in a room that holds 300 people and they’re playing right in front of you. 

I’m thrilled to be working with Tomeka Reid again, we worked together almost five years ago. I worked with local [Maryland/D.C.] folks… I did a record by Janel and Anthony. They’re part of the local scene and I had seen them play a bunch of times. Since that time, I’ve worked with Anthony a lot and Anthony has really come into his own as a guitarist. And Janel’s also coming into her own as a composer and bandleader. In June I’ll release my second Janel and Anthony, and also Janel’s Ensemble Volcanic Ash. It’s a band of six people and all of them are D.C. greats.

How do you keep discovering new music?

Again, it’s good if you don’t like everything. If you don’t like everything it means that they’re kicking you in the shins and they’re pushing the envelope. And sometimes if you keep going and you don’t just give up and say, “That sucked, I didn’t like it,” maybe on the fourth time you see it, you say, “Oh, I think I get it.” And that’s actually what I hope I have done with Cuneiform. I hope it continues to change and I hope I continue to at least try to get it, as much as an old man can get it.

This conversation was edited for length.

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Jim Allen

Jim Allen has contributed to print and online outlets including Billboard, NPR Music, MOJO, Uncut, RollingStone.com, MTV.com, Bandcamp Daily, Reverb.com, and many more. He's written liner notes for reissues by everyone from Bob Seger to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and is a singer/songwriter in the bands Lazy Lions and The Ramblin' Kind as well as a solo artist.

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