“Vinyl sounds the way music is supposed to sound. There’s friction when the needle meets the groove; it’s a tactile thing in the room, not some digital process. The needle vibrates in the groove and creates natural distortion; the sound of the guitars, the thump of the kick drum, the voice, everything sounds more real and present; like the band is in the room with you.”
“When I was around 10, my brother got this orange mod plastic turntable for his birthday, from Sears I think, and that was my first real portal into the world of vinyl. My parents had a stereo, but that was theirs, and this was all ours. He would bring home records and we would hang out in his room and listen to them over and over. I remember he had Changes One Bowie, Elton John’s Greatest Hits, some early Beatles, Eddie Kendricks, Neil Young, AC/DC “Let There Be Rock,” and I remember vividly the day he first brought home Tom Petty—we really connected with that record. The songs felt like they were written by someone we knew and could relate to.
I grew up in a college town, so once I started buying my own records, there were several cool record stores that I loved going to. And not just when I had money to buy something, but as a place to hang out and spend time. I could spend hours there, just flipping through the bins, taking the records out and looking at the art and reading the liner notes.
And the guy behind the counter had great taste and would turn me on to new stuff that he thought I’d like. I discovered so much great music there that I wouldn’t have found as soon otherwise, like Brian Eno, The Clash, R.E.M., XTC, The Jam, Pere Ubu, Meat Puppets and so many other great bands. Looking back, it was really formative for me musically. (I’m writing this on Record Store Day, by the way, so please support your local record store!)
During the pre-Internet days, there was an element of searching involved too, which made finding and finally bringing the record home and putting it on the turntable that much more rewarding. I remember one time I heard a song on the radio that I loved, but didn’t know the name of it or who the artist was, so I went to a couple of the stores and actually sang it to the guy behind the counter! Luckily, the second guy knew the song: “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” by Crosby, Stills and Nash. I guess he was the modern-day equivalent of Google and Spotify at the time!
I also love how listening to vinyl is an “activity;” it’s conducive to hanging out together. It makes you stay focused on the music because you have to flip the record after every side—it keeps you engaged. And you usually play it on speakers, which makes it naturally more public and communal than listening to music on earbuds.
When CDs first came out, I resisted getting a CD player for years, but I finally ended up buying one on the day my first CD came out so I could see how it sounded. I never got rid of my vinyl, and now that we have our recording hideaway in rural Michigan (where we isolate ourselves and record for days on end), my collection lives there, in the same fruit crates it’s been in since my days as a college radio DJ. I’m glad some things never change.”
—David Hawkins
Hawk—the all-star combo featuring David Hawkins, Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash, Elliot Smith) on drums, Ken Stringfellow (The Posies, R.E.M., Big Star) on bass, vocals, keyboards, and guitar, and Gary Louris (The Jayhawks, Ray Davies) on vocals, and longtime Hawk and Be guitarist Aaron Bakker—releases their sophomore LP Bomb Pop this Friday, May 4, 2018.
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TOP PHOTO: ©Jill Amroze. BAND PHOTOS: Gary Louris ©The Current/Stephanie Curtis, Ken Stringfellow ©White Light Exposure (Austin), David Hawkins ©Jill Amroze, Pete Thomas © via jackshittheband.com/ Aaron Bakker: @Aaron Bakker.
