“The first record on vinyl I remember listening to was Tattoo You by The Rolling Stones.”
“My mom, sister, and I used to pull out this box of clothes, dress up like rock stars, and dance on the couches in the living room. “Start Me Up” is the song that really got us going. One time two women walking on the street saw us through the window and smiled or laughed, and after that I was too embarrassed to ever do it again.
I’ve only started interacting with vinyl again recently. 2 years ago I put out my first record on vinyl through the supervision of my friend Jason Hiller. Jason, my drummer Laura Doolin, and I recorded 8 songs live onto a 4-track tape machine at Jason’s home studio, most of them first takes. The final product was a 12” all-analog vinyl played at 45RPM. The earnestness of that sound is what sold me on collecting and producing vinyl. I suddenly needed all of my favorite albums on vinyl.
My parents weren’t big collectors, or much of music nerds, but they loved what they loved. Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen. My dad got me into Fred Neil. My mom remembers staying one summer in Woodstock with her older sister and listening to Blood On The Tracks on vinyl all summer long. Sometimes I’m envious of the restrictions people had when listening to music in those days. I feel like you really got to know an album, whether you loved it or not.
I’m not too much of a luddite when it comes to digital music, though. I think it’s beautiful that more people are able to produce music and have it heard. I try hard to recognize my own narrow-mindedness when it comes to music, because it’s not always obvious. Sometimes I just don’t get it. It seems to happen more as I get older. But overall, I think there’s a place for everything, and I’ll be damned if the best place for my Blonde On Blonde mono LP ain’t my record player!”
—Paul Bergmann
Paul Bergmann’s “Old Dream” b/w “Summer’s End” vinyl 7″ is in stores now.
