What started as an idle conversation between two music freaks spiralled into an obsessive research project and a deep well of inspiration. Nevada Nate (aka Nate Forest) and Beta Motive (aka BMO) immersed themselves in the music and visual arts of 1983 as a pivotal year in the crossover between eras, styles, culture and technology. Unbound by genre, the arbitrary limitation of a single year of music became a springboard for rigorous digging, unlikely fusions but a strangely cohesive aesthetic bound by the sonic standards of the time. After embarking on the project with a two-hour special for the Organic Analogue Radio Show on Tbilisi-based Mutant Radio, the Department soon gathered steam with DJ sets presenting their rapidly expanding 1983 record collections at events such as Happy Cycling, held at the Servant Jazz Quarters in Dalston, London. Meanwhile they lined up a monthly residency on Bristol's Noods Radio which has become a primary vessel for their research findings, experimenting with concepts, layering unlikely musical combinations and constantly approaching the idea of 1983 from new angles. Over time, the Department's work has moved beyond simply playing records from 1983 into more experimental realms. From examining whether dub techno could have technically been made in 1983 (using samples from 83 dub versions with heavily processed 83-relevant drum machines) to creating a driving industrial concept known as Drug Thug, weaving immersive new age dreamscapes or deconstructing melodic electro and synth patterns into starry-eyed electronica for Cong Burn's residency on NTS, the Department's sound has expanded into wholly original material. Building on that premise, the Department has now developed a live set of purely original material which has been performed at festivals such as Freerotation and Shambala. Taking inspiration from contemporary deep techno but sticking firmly to the 1983 concept as a sample source, the Department continues to evolve with seemingly limitless possibilities no matter how finite the year itself may be.