“I suppose I could start with a story all about my first record player or the purchase of my very first vinyl record…but that just seems like it would be very boring to write and even more so to read. So, I’ll just take you back nine months ago when I moved into Rancho Relaxo.”
“What is Rancho Relaxo? Well, it’s a house on the east side of Austin that has been well-known for its basement shows for many years. I moved in with some of my best friends and we made the home our own. One of my roommates is named CeCe, and along with being well-known for her vegan deserts, she also happens to be known quite well as the guitar player for the grindcore band Phobia. Tight.
Along with her amps, guitars, and bakeware, CeCe moved in her vinyl collection…and holy shit, her collection is unfuckingbelievable. It’s a collection so incredible, that I never bothered unpacking my own (nine months later my collection remains in a box). I’d compare this situation to a child having a chocolate factory installed in the living room.
At any point, dependent on my mood, I can go discover or re-discover many of the albums I’ve come to love and ones I knew I should have loved long ago. I mean, Jesus, anything. The Ramones, The Clash, Guns ‘n Roses, Willie Nelson, Nirvana, Thin Lizzy, Chuck Berry, grindcore, punk, country, pop, old shit, new shit, good shit, and bad shit.
What’s funny is how I came to enjoy listening to anything on vinyl, even the stuff I simply didn’t like. It didn’t matter that I didn’t like it, it only mattered that someone had made this music and that someone out there had loved it. It wasn’t about clicking to the next track and breezing through a band’s album to find the moments I liked, it was about the whole. It was about hearing all the thoughts and all the sounds. It was about listening to the piece as a whole and getting to know the artist and their music and time from which they came.
These nine months have been a lesson in history. A lesson in rock and rock…and a lesson in vinyl. Dear Lord, long live the vinyl.”
—Frank Weysos
The Hawks (of Holy Rosary)’s album What Team Am I On? is available now via Texas is Funny Records.
