“My father had a record player in the living room that he would occasionally set up to play when I was a little boy. It always felt like a special occasion because it was a very old system and he would intentionally disconnect all of the cords when we were done so I could never set it up myself at the ripe age of 8.”
“He had a tendency of playing random records that we’d find at garage sales and thrift stores—Mexican mariachi music, Lionel Richie, you name it. But the first and most salient vinyl album I remember listening to was a little known record called Abbey Road by The Beatles.
It’s funny because at the time, I actually did think it was a “little-known record.” I remember distinctly thinking that I had discovered some random band that no one else had heard, most likely because most of the other records were truly random. And I think that made it extra magical for me at that age.
Listening to “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” or “Octopus’s Garden” was enchanting as a boy, and I kept it in my pocket hidden away from the world like a gemstone. I showed “Octopus’s Garden” only to my one best friend—it wasn’t exactly what the kids at elementary school listened to, so I wouldn’t risk getting teased about it. But looking back, many songs on that album are musically very childlike despite some of the darker lyrical content, so it’s no wonder I fell in love.
I soon became an Mp3 junkie, but it was many years later that I would re-fall in love with vinyl. After studying music and working as a producer for several years, I finally listened to a Police record on vinyl and realized just how much depth of sound there is in those early records.
It makes you want to sit and listen to an entire record, because there’s a tangibility to vinyl and it almost feels like you’re sitting in a room with the musicians.”
—Marty Rod, vocals/guitar
