“When I was growing up and discovering my music taste and preferences, the sun seemed to be setting on the heyday of vinyl records. From CDs, to iPods, to streaming platforms, the music landscape rapidly changed from year to year—and I along with it. Even though I didn’t grow up with a whirring turntable on my desk or shelves full of dusty records, I have been influenced by vinyl every step of the way.”
“My first vinyl memory came from the most unlikely of places—an EDM track. 7th grade me was browsing through early YouTube when I first came across the music video for “Levels” by Avicii. I was instantly hooked on the song. The synth chords were so catchy that I instantly went to iTunes and downloaded it to my iPod Touch. However, my favorite part came a little over halfway through the track.
The beat drops out and a woman starts singing a powerful melody about a good feeling that she’s never had before. Who was this woman? I knew she wasn’t Avicii. This sent me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole only to find in the end that the woman singing was actually Etta James.The vocals were sampled from her 1962 record “Something’s Got a Hold on Me”.
My journey through vinyl continued from there. I was fascinated with albums like Wildflower by The Avalanches and Donuts by J Dilla, in which every song was made almost exclusively from sampled records. I also extensively listened to Graduation by Kanye West, who masterfully wove samples from old soul and jazz vinyl into his tracks. These albums and many others would eventually inspire me to start making my own music.
One could argue that, in the traditional sense, I am not really a musician. I don’t play many instruments, save for a little guitar and ukulele. I have no formal music theory education, and my vocals are not groundbreaking by any means. Despite all of this, I am able to create track after track in any genre I desire to explore. All thanks to sampling. Even though the sampling I do is through a computer and not a record player, the history of the art humbles me. Almost all of my songs contain a multitude of samples from both old and new records alike. I use them to tell stories and breathe life into my tracks.
As an artist, I am nothing if not a culmination of my influences. My approach to music production, writing, and recording is built on the foundations of musicians who have come decades and centuries before me. I will continue to take inspiration from vinyl records and the master samplers of the past as I forge my own musical path. I’ve got a “Good Feeling” about where I’m headed.”
—Jordan Kahn
“Daylight Runaway,” the brand new single from Boxout is in stores now.
