Portastatic, founded in 1992, is a side project belonging to Mac McCaughan, of Superchunk and Merge Records. Portastatic draws from multiple genres, including lo-fi Brazilian music. The name Portastatic comes from the TASCAM “Portastudio” home recording device, and the group’s first 7" was put out on Tom Scharpling’s fanzine/record label, 18 Wheeler.