“My mom was the first person to introduce me to vinyl. I think it may have been a My Little Pony turntable with matching 45. I wore the thing out and wanted to know about the larger discs I’d see her pull out once in a while.”
“She told me these were called LPs and handed me records from The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Elton John. I flipped through them excitedly. I turned the volume way up while dancing and singing along. This was somebody’s job? Someone wrote songs, played them with a band, recorded them, and sent them off into the world? Yes, please. I’ll have that! I became a young rock ‘n roll scholar absorbing knowledge through playing records, reading biographies and watching documentaries. I knew more about The Beatles than most Boomers. It was my field of expertise and my absolute joy set in motion by this formative event.
When I left my hometown of Miami for Boston with Henry in hopes of starting a band, we had no stereo. I was offered an old record player which I gladly took. Like most kids my age at the time I had amassed quite a CD collection, but this used turntable got me right back to where I started. The first new LP I owned was The Strokes’ Is This It. It’s amazing it still plays given how much I spun it. The romance began all over again and slowly my records overtook the CDs I would eventually digitize and give away.
More than anything else vinyl is a ritual for me. Sifting through your shelves for the right album, the feel of the cardboard, setting the needle on the groove. So much care goes into filling the room with my favorite music. How wonderful that so intangible a thing has some physical form to ogle!
If vinyl is the idol then record stores are the temples. When I’m on tour I’m always on the look out. Few are the times I have left a store empty-handed. I don’t typically have the patience to spend hours shopping except at the record shop (though I do appreciate things being organized, so I can find what I’m looking for.)
I’ve had excellent conversations with staff at most of these places too. They’re like me and most of you reading this I gather. We’re all in there because we love music and we get the most from it while listening on vinyl. I’ve met some crabby record store owners, but for the most part they’ve all been welcoming and have shared loads of recommendations with me. These gatekeepers are essential.
I couldn’t have been more excited when we got the first Aloud 7” in the mail for “You Will Know/Such a Long Time.” We hand painted the sleeves even. Finally we had a piece of our music in the format we loved most. When the test pressing for our forthcoming LP It’s Got to be Now arrived I texted everyone on my contacts list. It was sort of like when a friend texts you a picture of their newborn. I very eagerly await copies of those and the lovely full color jackets they’ll be wrapped in.
Pretty much, I can die after that.”
—Jen De La Osa, Aloud
Aloud’s fourth full-length, It’s Got To Be Now, arrives in stores on April 1st.
