We’ve been in this racket long enough to know that it’s not every day a band or artist attains the lofty ambition of releasing their first single on vinyl, not to mention it arriving in tandem with said artist’s first full EP. Washington, DC’s Jessica Louise Dye, or Lightfoot, is the exception to that rule.
Lightfoot’s 7″ single and EP, Scarlet Sails is available this week, and as such, DC’s Black Cat is hosting a release party this Friday night, January 27th. Joining Jess on the bill are Loose Lips, Ugly Purple Sweater, and Paperhaus—all of whom we’ve cornered this week for a chat about records in anticipation of Friday night’s event.
In addition, Lightfoot has given TVD a pair of tickets to Friday’s release party and a copy of the new 7″ to give away to one commenter to this post or the remaining ones throughout this week. Just let us know in the comments why you want to be in attendance Friday night – and why – and the most convincing of the commenters gets the single and two tickets.
If you missed our initial installment, we chatted with Loose Lips yesterday, and today we’ve got a few words with Alex Tebeleff of Paperhaus.
What was the first vinyl record you ever listened to?
The first record I ever listened to was Elton John’s Greatest Hits. I can remember being a little kid and dancing around in my living room to “Crocodile Rock.” That might actually be the first musical memory I have. Luckily my parents saved most of their vinyl, so my first experiences that I can remember actively listening to music were on vinyl records.
Why is pressing your music to vinyl so important?
I think that listening to music under quality sonic circumstances is really important. You literally can’t hear aspects of the music with low quality mp3’s. Vinyl still sounds better than anything out there, and listening to music on vinyl shows that the listener really respects the music they are listening to. If you are listening to music that is worthwhile, why would you listen to it in a disposable format? Leave that for disposable music. If you are an active listener to music, I can’t imagine not preferring a vinyl copy. It’s great to see such a tremendous move towards vinyl in the past few years, it’s a good sign that more people are listening to music more seriously again.
What is on your record player right now?
Well, mine is in the shop unfortunately. I have an old Bang and Olufson linear tracking turntable that I got lucky and found on craiglist. It’s gorgeous and sounds great but I think it might be reaching the end of its days.
The last record on my turntable was Scott Walker’s Scott 3. I will never get tired of that album, certainly an influential album for Paperhaus. Other recent repeaters on my turntable have been Portishead’s Third and The War on Drugs’ Slave Ambient.
Do you buy modern bands vinyl pressings?
Absolutely. I will always buy vinyl first if it is available. I’ll buy a CD to support a band on tour, but I don’t buy CDs otherwise. I prefer to buy the vinyl and then have a high quality digital file as well (320 bitrate or if I can get flac or lossless that is certainly preferable). Why bother with a CD when you can have the best of both worlds, with a vinyl hard copy and a high quality digital file?
—Alex Tebeleff
LIGHTFOOT Release Party, Friday, January 27 with LOOSE LIPS, UGLY PURPLE SWEATER, PAPERHAUS
$10 Mainstage / Doors at 9:00
Tickets here!
