“Happy Vinyltine’s Day!”
“It’s safe to say my journey into music started with vinyl. It’s definitely one of the main reasons I fell in love with music and why listening to records is an important part of who I am as a creator. By the time I was 15, I was happy to spend hours in a record shop looking through bins, stacks and crates. Maybe that’s why I’ve never stopped listening to vinyl all these years? Of course I was into tapes and loved making mix tapes. Yes, I bought CDs… lots of them… of course I listen to music on streaming services… but I’ve never stopped listening to vinyl. I never will.
I grew up in a house with a father who had a great vinyl collection: jazz, blues, soul, gospel, R&B, rock & roll and country. It was a very eclectic mix with the backbone being jazz and R&B. I definitely remember being young and looking through them all and being attracted to certain covers and artwork as a child.
Like Marvin Gaye’s Super Hits on Tamla Records from 1970. It’s Marvin flying through the sky in a Superman costume but he has an M on his chest and is rescuing an attractive woman from danger. It makes me smile when I see it in a store to this day, and I still have the copy that was my dad’s. The first record I became obsessed with on my own and played everyday non-stop was Michael Jackson’s classic Thriller. I wore that record out and must have played it a few 1000 times. From there like most kids I got hip to cassette tapes and loved making mixtapes for friends and female friends…but never strayed from vinyl.
Then in 1994 I went to a house party and the DJ literally changed my life. I watched him just completely take over the room and bring a new and exciting vibe with each record he pulled from his crates. The energy and atmosphere were infectious. I was blown away and watched him all night. I studied his gear and closely looked at every record he pulled out and played. I waited till he put on a long slow song at the end of the night and then I proceeded to ask him every question I could think of. He probably either thought I was a nut bar or a pretty hip kid to want to be a vinyl DJ at 13. I remember coming home that next day and telling my mom how impressed I was and that I wanted to get into DJing.
That same year I saw DJ Jazzy Jeff do a routine juggling, mixing and scratching “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock on the American Music Awards and I was hooked. I distinctly remember telling my parents that night I wanted to become a DJ. Two years later I was DJing school dances and events across the L.A. area with my friend. Parents and kids would bug out when they’d see me start to unload my turntables, PA and record crates from the back of my mom’s Volvo!
From there I got into record digging, vinyl collecting, sampling and beat making. Then I got into producing, audio engineering, composing, playing drums, keyboards and making records. I’ve grown so much since all that but one thing remains—vinyl. I’m one of the lucky and crazy ones who can say I’ve filled a U-Haul with 20+ crates of records when moving to a new city, and then carried them all up three flights of stairs because the building doesn’t have an elevator… the things we do for the music we love.
Today, I’m blessed to say I’ve produced, written, recorded, played and put out tons of vinyl records. Sold thousands hand to hand at shows to fans in 15 different countries around the world and been lucky enough to share in the experience of someone explaining to me how them finding my record on vinyl was so important to them.
My connection to vinyl is deep. Just this past Saturday I sat for a couple of hours in my apartment and listened to some new records I bought. It’s an important ritual for me. A way to remind myself how and why I got into this crazy business. Tonight, I mixed a record for a band off of analog tape at my studio that will no doubt end up pressed on vinyl. After that I came home, and as I lay in bed at 1:31 a.m. writing this, I can’t help but feel immense joy thinking about something that I’ve constantly loved my whole life, and ultimately helped shape who I am.
I love you vinyl!”
—Kelly Finnigan
On this Valentine’s Day we’re pleased to premiere the brand new video from Monophonics frontman Kelly Finnigan, “Catch Me I’m Falling,” which was directed by Omar Juarez whose previous credits include The Arcs.
Finnigan describes the track as being reminiscent of a “Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions song that was recorded in LA with a stripped down wrecking crew and Thom Bell producing.” We hear that for certain—plus a lovely dose of lilting, sweet soul as Finnigan’s plaintive falsetto makes a smooth play for your ear.
“Catch Me I’m Falling” is taken from Kelly Finnigan’s debut solo LP, The Tales People Tell, which arrives in stores on April 26 via Colemine Records—on red (valentine) vinyl.
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PHOTO: WHITNEY PELFREY
