“I’m around six years old when I have my first experience with vinyl. It’s a sunny afternoon in the school summer holidays. The sun is blazing in through the burnt orange curtains behind the record player as if signifying a moment of enlightenment. What I’m listening to, I don’t know, it doesn’t matter. All I know is that I’m choosing to put a record on for the first time—and I love it.”
“I’ve got the sofa bed pulled out (a grey red and black ’80s number to complement the orange and green carpet of course) and I’m jumping around, throwing cushions, dancing, and tiring myself out. This is it, I’ve arrived. Why haven’t my parents told me about this treasure chest of creation that’s been hiding from me, only just out of reach?
Skip forward a couple of years and I’m now well and truly acquainted with my parents’ record collection. Diverse? Maybe. Interesting, definitely. Rubber Soul by The Beatles has to be my favourite, and ‘Norwegian Wood’ is my stand out track. What does it all mean? The sound of that acoustic guitar and the weird sounding instrument that I’ve not heard before, incredible. The pure simplicity always captures my attention. There’s a load of Beatles albums, there’s even a Tijuana band covers album. We’ve also got The Beach Boys and Joan Baez (which is another favourite of mine) to name but a few. There’s a load of classical albums too that look like they are antiques. I’m pretty careful around those, I think there is something growing on a few of them.
Then we have what I’m sure is my dad’s collection of Traditional Scottish music. There is enough men in kilts to merit your average wedding photo. I know they’re my dad’s as my mum has written her name and address on the back of all of her record sleeves, these are blank. Either way, my parents seem to have disowned or forgotten them, and their loss is most certainly my gain.
These records are the thing that made me first pick up a guitar or play a few notes on my mum’s piano or think ‘Wow, there is something really magical going on here and I want to know more.’ As I listened I’d try to play along on my mum’s old acoustic guitar, having no idea whatsoever about what I was trying to do and getting my fingers covered in rust from a guitar that even I could tell needed to be re-strung.
So, I grew up and those old records gradually made their way back into the box in the cupboard. But they were not forgotten, they made room for my own choices. What I’ve bought and loved over the years I don’t think really matters. I’ve gone through many phases, some I’d more happily share than others, but then again it’s all about finding out what gets you excited. The fact that you are experiencing music and making choices, discovering things that are new to you that people may have been listening to for years. It’s all part of the journey.
I think these early experiences are what really cements the connection to music in your brain. If you listen early enough those connections can be made. I’m listening to Rubber Soul right now, ‘Norwegian Wood’ has just come on and those synapses are firing off, it’s all coming flooding back.
I must make a trip to the record shop tomorrow morning.”
—Andrew Thomson
Quickbeam will release their self titled debut album via Comets & Cartwheels on 3rd June.
