“It was vinyl or, nothing. My childhood wrapped up in a nut-shell, whether it was the care my Grandad showed to his Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan records or, when my mum blasted me with “Atlantic City”by Bruce Springsteen, it was the only force I knew.”
“When I reached my early teens CDs held sway. They were cheap and I couldn’t afford a record player. But, vinyl, ever-present in the background; found its way to my heart again. As my musical tastes started to broaden, B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who became my re-awakening and, from this point, I became obsessed with hearing these artists as they were, raw, original and pure.
I got a record player (I begged my mum and said I’d never need another Birthday present again) and so I set about starting a relationship with the crackle and hum, and the fizz and pop!
The first record of my own gain was B.B. King’s Greatest Hits Volume 1, unearthed in Camden market while trying to look for a pair of 70s Levis (flared, as was my persuasion at the time.) When I found the record I thought “Fuck the flares, the 70s are long dead” and I was holding a piece of history that wouldn’t fade, it was forever in my mind and the minds of the all the friends I forced to listen to the immeasurable quality of “The Man”—B.B. King, on vinyl!
The most prominent record in my collection is Tommy, by the Who. It was my last day of school, and my last term. I was moving into something further… I think it’s called life. Throughout that last term of mine, my form tutor, Mr. B and I, would talk about artists gone by which encouraged me to go out and get more of that beautiful black stuff. It was on that last day of term, that he… Mr. B, presented me with an original pressing of Tommy. He made me promise that I’d play it and really listen. A little bit of magic every day, until the day I die.
The Who mean a lot to After The Ice. Paul Lisak our frontman is a West London chap, and as a kid lived not a stone’s throw away from Townsend, and he too was brought up with the full force of this great band firmly wedged into his consciousness.
A few band favourites include Buddy Guy’s, I Left My Blues in San Francisco, AC/DC’s Back in Black, and Jimi’s Axis: Bold as Love. And its great current bands are still using the format. Our manager recently walked into our rehearsal room waiving his signed copy of the new Savages record. Looks great with that big black and white cover portrait. And sounds incredible.
Today, a download is perhaps the solution. It’s convenient and cost-effective. No effort, “Give us a pound and here’s your single” and that is a wonderful, viable way of listening to new music. But, when you care about all those great artists, that music, you want to hold it and press that needle in. After all, it shaped you and will continue doing so as more music is discovered.
Let your computer hold onto downloads, own the vinyl!”
—Hamzah Bashir Khan, bass
After The Ice release their EP “Thick Snow Magic” on their own ATI label on October 1.
