“I was a late bloomer when it came to discovering music.”
“As a child growing up, my parents never really played an important role in inculcating a listening upbringing that I would consider to have an influence in my life today. Barry White and Eric Clapton through the car tape deck would prove to be an interminable experience through years of being driven to school in the morning, and there was never anything musically inspiring on offer at home that would allure my attention away from playing soccer every day or climbing trees.
I had piano lessons at the age of 11 that I hated, and my first single ever purchased was “I’m Blue” by Eiffel 65 on compact disc. It is safe to say I can never reflect on those wonderful nostalgic experiences many musicians tell of dusting off their old man’s original pressing of Revolver and hearing the satisfying purr of the needle hitting the vinyl. Although I was given a copy of The Commitments on tape when I was 6, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Ensued early teenage years of burgeoning musical exposure of ’80s and early ’90s garage rock and indie, later becoming obsessed with record labels and discovering diverse music this way (Warp, Ninja Tunes, etc.) and eventually starting a Music Production degree at university.
It was about this time at the age of 21 that I had a flatmate who had an extensive hip hop collection on vinyl. Whilst listening to his records provided an education to fantastic hip hop music for the first time, it also led me to appreciate the sound quality the vinyl had to offer. In hindsight, I personally believe hip hop benefits greatly than most genres do on vinyl. At the same time I was discovering dub, so I thought what better way to start collecting this sort of music than on vinyl?
My first bunch of purchases I remember are The Dub Funk Association’s The Pendulum Version, Bunny Wailer’s Protest, Lee Perry’s Skanking with the Upsetter, and Scientist’s Dub Landing, which is still one of my favourite dub records to date. Huddersfield (where I was living at this point) had a fantastic £5 or under offer on records in a charity shop, and I’ve come away with a few David Bowie original pressings from there.
I had a love/hate relationship to vinyl in its early years, solely because my addiction was always meagerly indulged due to student funds. However leaving university and getting a job meant I was able to afford extending my collection a bit, and buying music from all the bands that I love.
Moving to Leeds with Battle Lines has immersed us to the thriving DIY band culture the city has to offer, and the excitement that supporting other bands by buying their physical releases brings. Coincidentally, most new bands are aware of the romanticism vinyl brings to people, so physical releases are usually always on this format. I will never forget the feeling of having our self funded limited run of “Hearts” delivered to my door, and playing it for the first time. It was recorded to tape in the fantastic Greenmount Studios in Leeds, so having it on 7″ felt virtuous to us.
This old format, with its superior sound quality, scale of the artwork on the sleeves, and the potential now to go crazy with the colour on the actual record, makes vinyl audibly and visually a much more exhilarating experience for both listener and creator.”
—Luke Barnfather
Battle Lines’ “Colonies” and “Hearts” 7″ singles are available now via No Sleep Records.
