“When I was little I used to steal my mom’s Walkman, so my parents bought me a toy cassette player. I used to record my own lyrics over tapes I found around the house, and I’m sure that somewhere in the detritus of my parents’ attic are tapes full of a five year old’s heartfelt songs about cats recorded over 1980s guitar solos.”
“Eventually my parents started giving me the tapes they didn’t want any more, and I loved having a collection of my own. I’d bring it to daycare to show it off alongside my tin of Pokémon cards, and was aghast when the teacher refused to play my Madonna cassette because she had deemed it inappropriate.
By the time I was 12 I had started to amass my own CD collection, but by then IPods had stepped onto the scene. I got an IPod shuffle for Christmas that year and loaded it up with all of my favorite tunes. My disappointment at not being able to easily select a song, let alone a whole album to listen to kept me going back to my CD player. I also liked being able to see the stack of CDs and cassettes on my dresser, a disorganized display of the evolution of my musical tastes.
When I was sixteen I got into vinyl because I got into record stores. One of my friends brought me to Lou’s Records, the only cool record store in Encinitas, CA where I grew up. I loved it because I could peruse to my heart’s delight and get tapes for $2 to stock my dad’s car in case he let me drive it by myself. It also didn’t hurt that I had fallen in love with the hot British guy who worked there at the time.
I got a turntable for Christmas that year, and that was the end for me. Any money I made from the coffee shop gigs I was doing around town went straight to records (and burritos, let’s be honest). I loved reading the history of different genres on the back of compilation records, and that led me to hanging out in the blues section. The blues records always had the best stories. I bought the 2 LP Complete Collection of Robert Johnson and I was hooked. Just like when I was 12, I love looking at my collection and seeing where I’ve been, the treasures I’ve found, and how my tastes have developed.
The band and I worked really hard with our design genius, Sami Wideberg, to create a cover for Don’t Love Nobody that will make people proud to add it to their collection.”
—Laurel Sorenson
Laurel & the Love-in’s full-length debut release Don’t Love Nobody arrives in stores on June 24—on vinyl.
