Because we’re talking a historical thing with regard to what was public information at the time

[Vladv1]

"I don’t remember the month it came out, but I do remember that the catalyst for thrash was, in my opinion, that it was a secret that those who traded tapes had. Because, you know, the guy in New Jersey who was in contact with the guy in Essen, Germany, grabbing something from some band called Kreator or Destruction coming out of one of those areas, was in touch with the guy in the Carolinas, who said, “I just found this band called COC.” Who is in touch with a guy locally, saying, “Oh, did you hear Carnivore?” I think it was our secret and our network. It was really kind of a clandestine thing. Because we’re talking a historical thing with regard to what was public information at the time. You had to lick a stamp to get that stuff to other people. So there was a huge effort with regard to that. And I don’t know if it was ever planned. I think it kind of came about by accident that it was in fact the result of the antithesis of what was popular at that time".

Caught In A Mosh, by Martin Popoff.

Could you please reword the bolded? Can't make no sense at all.

 

[Skrej]

It seemed almost clandestine because information wasn't as readily available about such stuff as it is today. It was almost secret knowledge because there wasn't widespread dissemination via the internet like today. You only heard about it through the grapevine - you knew a guy who knew a guy, who knew another guy, etc. You even had to pay actual postage to get a copy mailed to you instead of just clicking and downloading.

 

[Vladv1]

So "historical" means clandestine here? Could you please rephrase that "Because we’re talking a historical thing with regard to what was public information at the time."?

It seemed almost clandestine because information wasn't as readily available about such stuff as it is today. It was almost secret knowledge because there wasn't widespread dissemination via the internet like today. You only heard about it through the grapevine - you knew a guy who knew a guy, who knew another guy, etc. You even had to pay actual postage to get a copy mailed to you instead of just clicking and downloading.

 

[Skrej]

No. 'Historical thing' just means 'a thing in the past'.

 

[Vladv1]

"A thing in the past with regard to what was public information at the time"
-please rephrase.

 

[emsr2d2]

We're talking about something in the past and at that time (in the past), the information that was available to the public is relevant. Basically, you have to take into account, when reading the story, that information in the past was not as readily available as it is now.