“When I was about three years old, I remember scrounging around my basement through my dad’s massive vinyl collection.”
“I remember seeing Bowie’s infamous cover of Diamond Dogs and was so fascinated by its creature-like appeal. Every day for about a month, my parents told me I would walk around the house just saying, “BOWIE, BOWIE, BOWIE” over and over and over. I probably made them crazy. Personally, I still make a habit of waking up every Saturday morning and throwing on one of these classic records to my turntable.
Anyway, to this day The Vaughns still practice in this old basement and we have taken these old duplicate records and lined them around our practice walls. Old records including Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Zeppelin, and The Pretenders surround us every time we practice and write. I feel like these tiny vintage subtleties have bled into our songwriting over the last year and a half. I think all four of us agree that vinyl provides an artistic listening experience like none other and I’m just elated that our new singles are now available in this format for all our continued followers.
—Tom Losito
“Thinking they were a product of the past—I used to have records hanging up on my bedroom walls for decoration. One of my favorites was the Doors’ LA Woman because of the butterfly on the label.”
“Some years later I was at a friend’s house when I heard TV on the Radio blasting through a pretty legit record player. It blew my mind that modern-day bands were still releasing vinyl records, and even more so that kids my age were collecting them. It also sounded incredible. The next day I rummaged through my parents’ garage to dust off their record player and devour their collection.
These days Tom is always showing us some random ’80s record like Phil Collins’ “I Cannot Believe it’s True,” Ryan is letting me borrow his Sylvan Esso album for the weekend, and I’m still wondering how anyone will top David’s Secret Santa gift to me last year, The Lemon Twigs’ Do Hollywood vinyl. There’s something special about sharing the music you love with your friends. I think adding a tangible aspect offers an intimacy to the exchange that mp3 files and sending links can’t compete with. Let’s hope that never goes out of style.”
—Anna Lies
“I remember rolling to rec football practice in the passenger seat of my Dad’s white blacksmithing work truck when Dad turned my radio off and showed me what “real music” was as he played Sublime’s self-titled album to me for the first time.”
“I remember when my mom led me to the back corner of our garage to lift grandma’s antiques so that she could retrieve her old dusty box of records. With a sudden exclamation, she grabbed her childhood copy of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s Déjà vu and placed it on the record player, carefully placing the needle until the scratching sound was broadcasted through the speakers.
I’m not sure if it’s the physical actions needed to play a record or if it’s the experience of sitting in a room and listening to music as the only activity, but listening to vinyl always feels so much more special.”
—Ryan Kenter
“I am still new to the vinyl world actually. I only recently got a record player for my birthday over the summer. But I do remember when I was younger I used to go through my mom’s vinyl collection and ask her to play her records.”
“Unfortunately we did not have a record player at the time, which always bothered me because I knew that I wanted to experience music the way my parents had. I remember my dad telling me so many stories of how excited he was when a new record was released, and how cool it was to hear it for the first time.
There is something truly magical about picking up a record and listening to it play. I think part of the reason is because vinyl is a personal piece of art. I feel that the purpose of art is for the connection and imitation of human emotions, which vinyl does effortlessly. Seeing the needle read what is engraved into the disk, listening to it, being able to hold the cover and take in all the artwork included by the artist is an experience like no other.
I could not be happier to say that our two new singles, “Santa Cruz” and “Bby Save Me” are on this medium. Thank you so much to our friends at Sniffling Indie Kids (Frank, Joe, and Eric) for helping us achieve this goal. Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered the record. Thank you to our family, friends, and fans who continue to support us in every way. None of this would be possible without you. Thank you!
—David Cacciatore
“Bby Save Me” is taken from The Vaughns’ limited edition vinyl 45 in stores today via Sniffling Indie Kids Records.
