“There’s a real magic to vinyl. To me, they belong to an atmosphere that is conducive to looking inward versus outward. The wow and flutter, the slow steady spinning, the warm tones, the hiss and crackle. It’s almost elusive as to what exactly feels so right about listening to music on vinyl, but whatever it is, it’s magical.”
“My introduction to vinyl was through old Johnny Cash LPs at thrift shops. Some of my favorites were the records that had been the most abused. Some of them had been warped by the sun, bent, scratched, or worn down over the years, and I loved getting to know those quirks particular to each album. Those flaws became part of the music itself and I grew to love the fact that vinyl has a life of its own.
The physical process of sitting back and listening to my favorite album on vinyl is so much different than any other medium. For starters, I have to want it. I obviously cannot take a record player everywhere with me; it’s not portable so I really have to want to listen to whatever it is. With music apps, it’s easy to listen to music and not really love what I hear because it’s all so accessible, just a click away, and if I get tired of something, there’s an endless amount of other things to check out.
It’s easy to get bored listening to music when I have a billion options at my fingertips, and that limitless allure ironically feels limiting at times. I find I listen with more purpose, and I really love what I’m listening to more, via vinyl versus mp3. It’s more of a focused, singular experience versus a working gear in the machine of multitasking.
There’s something esoteric and mysterious about the sound of vinyl. So much so, that producers are adding vinyl hiss, 60hz hum, and wow and flutter to their digital recordings to put back in some of that enchantment nobody knows how to define. It’s that magic again. Back in the day, everyone fought to get rid of the eccentricities of analog recording, and now everyone wants to add it back in. Maybe it’s because we always want what we don’t have, but I say we had it all when vinyl was the only thing. It wasn’t perfect but it was real and honest.
It’s nice to know vinyl will never go away completely because there’s something irresistible about them… it’s that magic.”
Color Therapy’s full-length release, Mr. Wolf Is Dead is in stores now.
