“There’s something about holding vinyl in your hands that immediately evokes the feeling of nostalgia. The feeling of a different time slipping in between your fingers, a time where people gathered around a record player to listen to music. Although many of us hardly remember those times, they still existed.”
“A time when people danced in their living rooms in thick socks and underwear to a full album, from start to finish, (not just dancing naked in the street punching people out) without skipping to a new track on their pocket-sized iPods. Well that’s the touch—the thin medal, a perfect circle. You can fit your pointer finger in the hole in the center and spin the record round and round like a merry-go-round.
Then there’s that sound. That rich, velvet on your ears, as if you were in the room with Etta James when she belted out “Sunday Kind of Love in the recording studio. You hear the imperfections in vinyl, the kind of imperfections that fill your soul with delight. A pop on the lip. An extra breath in between words. The kind of beautiful imperfections that happened all in one take. There’s nothing like it and everything else pales in comparison.
And besides for the beauty of the record itself, I miss the thrill of being inside a record store. I used to hang out in the record store as a kid to soak it all in—from the latest pop record to the obscure one. My taste tends to span all genres, dance, pop, indie, jazz. My collection runs deep from Michael Jackson Thriller, to Beach Boys Pet Sounds, to David Bowie, Portishead, and Wu Tang Clan. I think the Beatles Revolver is one of the greatest pieces of vinyl I own to date. It’s magical every time.
And let’s be honest, there’s some pretty cool bragging rights that come along with being a vinyl collector. It becomes a communal experience, showing and sharing your stacks of records with your friends. In today’s society people pop in their ear buds and music has become a more solitary listening experience. Vinyl is inspiring to me because it plays aloud for everyone, and commands the focus and attention of the group. When I create my own music, I’m always thinking about the communal listening experience, whether it be in a bar, club, or at one of my shows.
When I’m in the recording studio writing and singing I always think of vinyl, the idea of creating a classic album. We’re living in the age of the single but I try to think about how the whole album can really come together and tell a greater story. The record I’m working on is called I’m in Hate With Love and it’s all about the modern state of self and how we are struggling to connect with each other. My new track “Give Us Back Love” celebrates the return and longing of love as a top value.
Vinyl is the inspiration, and it is at the core of the music I write and create.”
—Meital Dohan
Meital Dohan’s “Give Us Back Love” is available now. I’m in Hate With Love arrives in stores Summer, 2014.
