“As a child of the ’80s and early ’90s, I mostly listened to my Beatles and Weird Al Yankovic on cassette tape. If I got sick of pressing the rewind button or it stopped working, I would just grab a pencil, put it in one of the cassette holes, and twirl it around my head a bit. It wasn’t till the later ’90s, right around the time I became a frisbee enthusiast, when I began taking an interest in vinyl.”
“My mom’s vinyl collection consisted of what could have been either completely random or a thoughtfully constructed history of jazz and world music. She had records by Robert Johnson, Mose Allison, Dave Brubeck, Art Tatum, Billie Holiday, Otis Redding, oud viruoso Hamza El Din, Umm Kulthum, and various albums featuring the music of India, Iraq, Greece, and other countries. I listened to all of them. My initial fascination, which came from putting the needle to the record, soon grew into an anticipated routine.
A few years ago, I befriended a neighbor who’s an incredible painter and obsessive record collector. When I entered his studio, it was less about painting as it was stacks of turntables, receivers, speakers, and thousands of records. He sold me a killer record player with speakers and let me dig through the records. He wouldn’t sell me the ones I wanted so he let me borrow them instead; Mingus The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady, Talking Heads 77, Zappa The Grand Wazoo, and more. I still have them.
Morning Ritual released our first album The Clear Blue Pearl on vinyl in addition to CD. It was worth the extra cost because it’s still our best-selling item at our shows. Vinyl will never die!”
—Ben Darwish
Morning Ritual Official | Facebook | Twitter
