“My first experience with vinyl was my parents’ collection, which they kept behind a curtain in our living room. Among the records I pilfered from them to play in my room are David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World and Joni Mitchell’s Blue. They got me back though. Some years after losing my copy of the Is This It by the Strokes, I found it behind the curtain, resting comfortably between Paul Simon and the Beatles.”
“I bought all my first vinyl at English charity shops. A favourite school vacation activity for me and my friends was to attack the record sections in the Oxfam, Barnado’s, British Heart Foundation, or Christian Aid on my local high street in East Grinstead, Sussex, looking to spend around £5 on a big haul. Sometimes we bought for the music—like The Queen is Dead by the Smiths, which saw me through my teen years. Sometimes we bought for the covers. This is how I discovered the Captain and Tennille.
Doing my early record shopping in charity shops taught me that there’s a world of music out there beyond the biggest songs and albums of any era. I’ve always had a soft spot for the longest, least catchy song on an album, and the weirdest, least accessible album in a discography. Spending so much time looking through funny titles and artwork has influenced my attitude as well—there’s always a part of me that is interested in being jokey and absurd with my own stuff.
Years ago, an artist friend called Eugene McGuinness went against all advice and, apropos of nothing, decorated his album cover with a photo of himself in full fencing regalia. I really admired this. When the teens of the future rummage through their future bargain bins, I would like them to come across at least one of my albums and ask, ‘What was she thinking?’
I now live with a vinyl collector, and have access to an amazing number of records, many from the ’60s and ’70s, through which I am still discovering albums I never knew about, most recently Sandy Denny and the Strawbs. Listening to these lushly recorded and mastered albums is like no other experience on earth. I’m so glad vinyl is making a resurgence. Listening to it reminds me about sonic quality, and I hope we don’t lose sight of that as musicians or listeners.
Vinyl taught me that when you make a piece of music, you have no idea who it’s going to reach. When I make an album, I don’t just make it for the person who will hear it next week, I hope that someone will pick it up at random when it is in an old and tattered sleeve, pay 30p for it, and use it for whatever they want—a poster, a birthday card, or a portal into a moment in time.”
—Emma-Lee Moss
Emmy The Great’s third full length Bella Union release, Second Love arrives in stores on March 11, 2016, and we have a unique opportunity for you to claim one for yourself right now—AND the opportunity to catch her live at a date and venue of your choice.
On us, and Emmy of course, we have a pair of tickets and an LP per person, per live date, listed below—8 in total—for 8 of you to get your hands upon.
Enter to win a pair of tickets to see Emmy live and the brand new Second Love by citing in the comments below your favorite ETG track and briefly—why. (Also, let us know the date and venue of your choosing!) We’ll select one winner per live date for both the tickets and the LP on Monday, February 22, 2016.
Emmy The Great Tour Dates:
2/23 – Cafe 939 – Boston, MA
2/24 – Baby’s All Right – Brooklyn, NY
2/26 – Boot and Saddle – Philadelphia, PA
2/27 – DC9 – Washington, DC
3/1 – Bunk Bar – Portland, OR
3/2 – Barbosa – Seattle, WA
3/4 – The Chapel – San Francisco, CA
3/5 – Bootleg Bar – Los Angeles, CA
