Hornbuckle stamps in time the Plastic Plan’s RGB legacy
Beloved electro-pop trio from the fringes of Atlanta’s indie history gets the royal treatment
- Courtesy Hornbuckle Records
Since launching in 1994, Hornbuckle Records has slowly and quietly operated as a boutique to showcase David Hornbuckle’s aural passions. Existing across two decades and three states (Alabama to Georgia to California), the imprint has released music that celebrates unknown giants of mico-genres (Bit Shifter), modern crooners (Lisa Papineau), and tasteful vanity projects by the founder himself. But the label truly excels when focusing its energy on archival works examining niche or cult bands, which was best executed last year with Grandma Lo-Fi: The Basement Tapes of Sigríður Níelsdóttir, a compilation of an Icelandic bedroom producer who started writing and recording original songs at the ripe age of 70. Recently, Hornbuckle set its sights on the Plastic Plan, a long-missed trio active in Atlanta at the tail end of the ’90s and early aughts. Comprised of members Ashley Reader (synth, blue), Colin English (drums, green), Dain Johnson (bass, red), the trio played an intense mix of upbeat electro-pop, frantic post-punk, and angular synth-rock. We caught up with Hornbuckle shortly after the release of RGB to trace his ties to Atlanta, the Plastic Plan’s history, and how the compilation came together.
When were you around Atlanta and what was your involvement with the scene?
I moved to Atlanta at the beginning of 1999 and stayed for seven years. My involvement with the scene during that time was more as a fan of all the music that was happening around me than anything else. I was always at shows and had friends in local bands and at WRAS, so touring bands also often slept on the floor of my living room. Although the label began in 1994 in Alabama, its time based in Atlanta was mostly dormant due to it being a one-man operation and my being broke more often than not. I released a split cassette with another David Hornbuckle around when I moved there and a CD EP of my own in 2001, and that was pretty much it until nine years later. Eventually, in 2013, I decided to bring the label back to its roots and start releasing cassettes again.
When did you first become aware of the Plastic Plan, and what drew you to them? Or set them apart?
Going to more shows at the time than I can even remember, I fondly recall the Plastic Plan and the Causey Way — who weren’t technically local but played Atlanta quite often — as the bands that I saw and enjoyed the most during my first few years in Atlanta. I was aware of TPP pretty soon after they started in 1999 and knew Colin (drums) through mutual friends. Coming from a punk scene but never really fitting in, I liked the band’s straightforward approach to music — drums, bass, keyboards, no vocals, short songs, lots of energy. They were a really tight band but also a lot of fun. And their uniforms, with each member representing a component of the RGB color model, were also a very nice touch.
When did the project dissolve, and how certain was their end as an entity?
The Plastic Plan played their last show on August 18, 2001 at the EARL, which was also when they released their final EP. At the show, their merch also included a limited edition set of handmade puppets representing each member of the band, which I totally wish I had now! Colin moved to Seattle and Ashley (keyboards) moved to Boston, so that is pretty much what brought about the end of the band as far as I know. They joined other bands in their new cities, but sadly that was all for TPP.
- Courtesy Hornbuckle Records
How did you first come up with the idea to work on this TPP archive project? Was the band involved at all?
When I’m planning a project for the label, it has to be something that I’m passionate about and that I believe deserves more attention. I’ve accepted that my tastes are not mainstream, but I still believe there are more people out there who also like what I like. I first approached the Plastic Plan about compiling and reissuing their music last year, shortly after releasing the Grandma Lo-Fi cassette, which was another project I had wanted to do for over a decade. I got in touch with Dain, who then helped me reach out to the rest of the band. They were all into the idea right away, but they’ve also all moved on to other things in their life, so it took a while to really get everything moving. I kept the band involved in the process all along and always invited their input. I put everything together for the release, with the basic artwork concept from Dain, and tried to retain a similar aesthetic to the original releases and even included a little throwback to their original demo that was on a Radio Shack cassette. I wanted to make the cassettes in red, green, and blue shells from the beginning, similar to how the band packaged their final CD in cases of each color (I have green).
Did everything turn out as planned?
As always seems to happen, there were various production delays but I finally got everything just before the release date, which had already been pushed back a couple times. In the end, I think it all turned out great and am glad the band let me do this. I hope this release will bring the music of the Plastic Plan to new ears, while also pleasing those who were already fans — especially if they’ve never heard the last handful of songs the band recorded or the live recordings that are included with the digital download. Now I just need to work on what to release next!
The Plastic Plan’s RGB is available now via Hornbuckle’s site.