“I guess my earliest memory of vinyl began as a child. My father was a toy sculptor and made some of the most well-known action figures—Spawn, Batman figures, and so many more. My dad would work his best when accompanied by a record or cassette player.”
“Some of the vinyl he would spin wasBruce Springsteen, Warren Zevon, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles. I have fond memories of hanging out with my dad in his studio, listening to music with him. I guess that was when I developed my love for music.
Beyond that, I did not get into buying my own vinyl for the longest time. I lived in an age of CDs and MP3s. I remember the first couple of CDs I bought. The first one was Dude Ranch by Blink 182 and the second, the Pokemon movie soundtrack. And since then, I have grown to love Sonic Youth, Electric Wizard, and Ty Segall. For the longest time music was merely a sonic thing for me. I would listen to songs to dissect them and really understand the songs themselves. I wasn’t really concerned about the platform I was listening to it on.
My love for records is actually a recent development. A few months ago, Linda and I took a trip to San Francisco and happened to stumble across the Amoeba Music record store on Haight Street. I decided to buy the new Ty Segall album, Manipulator on vinyl just because I wanted some sort of souvenir of my experience in San Francisco. Plus, I really wanted to listen to his new album. Luckily, my roommate had a record player, so I popped it in for a listen. I don’t know what changed, but suddenly I understood the whole appeal of vinyl.
There is something so nostalgic about buying a record and listening to it for the first time. The album art is so apparent because of its size. You really have to look at it, which sparked this new appreciation for album art. The sound quality is really what got me, though. Music sounds more organic and real, in a way. I can just feel it in my body.
Now, I’ve stolen many records from my dad and have a great collection.”
—Jesse Benicaso
Chimes’ “Psychic Slack” is available via Bandcamp.
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