Hi-Tide Recordings is an international record label and lifestyle brand based in Freehold, New Jersey, USA. Partners Vincent Minervino and Magdalena O’Connell tour the world as vinyl DJs and event curators, and produce their very own Hi-Tide “Holiday” series of music and cocktail weekenders.
VINCENT: We think quite a bit about where our records will end up in 50 years. Just like we light up with excitement when we uncover an old Link Wray 45, we wonder when and where a dusty Surfrajettes record will bring that same excitement in the future.
MAGDALENA: Both of our parents had extensive vinyl collections, wide-ranging in genres that made up our childhood soundtracks. I remember my dad spending hours digitizing our family’s favorite LPs to play in the car on family road trips to Wisconsin. These playbacks always featured the crackle-hiss-pop of the original platter, and were especially magical against the moving scenery of the midwest highways. At home, there was always a record spinning on the Linn Sondek. It was my Dad’s pride and joy, purchased after his first big job as an outdoor advertising painter in New York City.
VINCENT: Our first date in 2012 was—literally—with vinyl. Magdalena and I connected at a monthly Brit-pop DJ night I ran called “The Modern World” where a friend and I would spin the likes of The Jam, The Smiths, and The Cure, mixed up with modern groups like The Vaccines, Arctic Monkeys, and White Lies in a dimly lit lounge in Somerville, NJ. Luckily my friend took the cues that I would spend most of the night at the bar, falling for Magdalena over cocktails.
MAGDALENA: Our earliest dates involved destination outings to record stores, antique shops and flea markets—always drawn toward the mysterious unsorted boxes of new arrival 45s.
One of the first new records we bought together was Nick Waterhouse’s Holly, which we played in its entirety—along with his debut Time’s All Gone—at our wedding. Years later, we invited Nick to guest DJ at one of our downtown Asbury Park residencies after a serendipitous meeting at an italian restaurant in New York City.
VINCENT: Record collecting became a big part of our travel experience, where each unearthed gem became a slice of vacation that we could pack in our suitcase for the trip home. A few notable pickups are Martin Denny’s Exotica in a jukebox 45 package in Costa Mesa (sorry Spike!), The Lightning Fingers of Roy Clark in Nashville, and Takeshi Terauchi’s quintessential eleki record Surfing in a record store tucked away under the elevated train in Kobe, Japan.
MAGDALENA: 2020 has certainly been a wild ride working with music on vinyl. We lined up anchor events for each one of our releases and DJ residencies at our favorite lounges around town—all of which were postponed. We still managed to release a dozen records this year, each representing a space in time for us.
It’s a magical feeling when the music transports you somewhere—the way you feel on vacation. We are fortunate to have made a connection with vinyl lovers looking for that escape.
For the 2020 holidays, Slowey and The Boats’ Merry Christmas from Slowey and The Boats, Vol. 1 & 2 on ruby red vinyl via Hi-Tide Recordings is in stores now.
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