‘Rotsler’s Rules’ is Black Cab’s first single for 2021 and is dedicated to noted sci-fi author and illustrator, early pornographer and seminal LA cosplayer, William ‘Bill’ Rotsler.
‘Rotsler’s Rules’ was recorded with help from Graeme Pogson (GL, Harvey Sutherland) on drums and Ev Tweedie (Husky, Dub FX) on bass and was mixed by long time Black Cab producer Woody Annison and mastered by Andrei Eremin.
Black Cab became intrigued by the costume play (or ‘cosplay’) subculture that’s become a global industry over the last decade. After attending some local conventions they started exploring the origins of the cosplay sub-culture originating out of the sci-fi convention scene in the mid 20th Century. Nobuyuki Takahashi first coined the term ‘cos-play’ in 1984 but the scene was supercharged by an explosion of local and big-budget fan-dom events in LA and Japan in the 70s and 80s as costuming became the major draw for convention events. Convention costuming rules were gradually introduced – often in response to specific costumes featuring nudity, food and dangerous props – and sci-fi author, illustrator and amateur pornographer William “Bill’ Rotsler prescribed the first formal set of costuming rules (or “Rotsler’s Rules for Masquerades”) in the late 1970s. Rotsler is known for quotes such as “People are always making rules for themselves and always finding loop-holes”. Cosplay and the notion of alternate identities inspired the recent single, ‘Hanna’ and many tracks on the album play with this theme.
Rotsler’s Rules is also the title of the band’s sixth album, due out later in 2021.
