“Some of my first memories of music are just me sitting in the living room while my Dad would file through his vinyl collection.”
“The first record that really sticks out is Let it Bleed. I grew up with the Stones, Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, and Neil Young pouring through the house fairly regularly. But to this day, Let It Bleed still stands out. Dropping the needle on that record and hearing “Gimme Shelter” is as good as it gets as far as album openers. So many amazing songs on that record, and of course it closes with “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” When we were making this album we talked a lot about order and needing certain types of songs for different spots, and as far as openers and closers go, that may well be the best of all time.
By the time I was in middle school/early high school everything had switched to digital. Though in our house it really created a divide between contemporary music and the classics. My dad had his incredible record collection, whereas my first CD purchase was Kid Rock… I remember my dad opened my Walkman to see the spinning disc reveal the middle finger that was printed on the disc. I don’t think he took it from me, but he was rightfully fairly disappointed.
Sam and I both grew up in the same town outside of Philadelphia. I took guitar lessons for a few months at a place called Troubador music, which was THE spot. Sam actually ended up working there for a little while. One of the reasons I loved going over there was it was right next door to Shady Dog Records. When my dad would drop me off for a lesson he would stop by and sometimes I’d go in and flip through and find a band and sort of learn their history.
For me, that is my favorite part of a good record store. I love finding a band that I like and just flipping through all the records the store has and sort of seeing the trajectory of the band. The really amazing bands stand out in a store like that cause you can physically see how few bands have made multiple stand out records. The legends have pretty thick shelf space. So, shout out to Shady Dog Records, I think they moved but hope they are still doing their thing!
We were just talking the other day about how amazing it is for artists that vinyl has withstood the digital era. As an artist, you work so hard to make a record. We poured countless hours into thinking about the importance of a debut record and needing certain songs and specific sounds. Vinyl is the reassurance that people are going to buy the entire project and listen to it the way we intended.
Streaming and digital are amazing for getting your music heard, but there is no substitute to someone bringing your entire project into their home and playing it through their system. Vinyl allows you to think about things like, “What should be the last song on the first side?” “What song would make you excited to listen to the whole second side?” It seems small, but making a record forces you to ask tons of questions of your project, and the fact that people still buy vinyl gives artists a classic and unique medium to deliver their hard work.
I really hope vinyl continues to grow. I see it as a perfect complement to what streaming does for artists and consumers. Streaming allows you to take your record collection wherever you go, while vinyl makes you feel at home.”
—Matt Quinn
Mt. Joy’s current single, “Silver Lining” is available now.
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