“I dated Vinyl’s mom Victrola growing up. She was a total cougar. Technically, those 78s were made of shellac so I can’t say it was vinyl, although it did have an amazing sound that I had never heard before. Warm, muddy, crackly…I used to listen to opera and classical records on that old lady. Sadly, she was sold in a yard sale.”
“I didn’t reconnect with her hot daughter vinyl until I was in college. The artwork pulled me back in initially, and the experience sealed the deal. The process of listening to a record is immersive and requires commitment. The artwork and album credits are held in higher regard than other mediums and therefore elevate the music itself. Smoking a J and listening to Queen’s News of the World on vinyl was a life changing experience for me. Many people have similar stories about albums that affected them and defined their musical lives.
Vinyl records demand your full attention and are not meant to be listened to in the Spotify-esque muzak way. They are not for working out to, studying to, falling asleep to, or any number of other second-rate tasks. Vinyl records are simply for listening to.
These days, I love the format more than ever and am an avid collector. I have possibly close to 10,000 records in storage (sadly) and hundreds more lying around my apartment.
I pressed a limited edition 45 last year. It was the first record I ever made, and was a great learning experience on how to actually create one of these guys. The artwork was designed by a well-known painter Alex Gross and came out beautifully.
I pressed it at this old plant in Columbus, Ohio, called Musicol on limited edition white vinyl. with how it came out and would love to make more in the future. In the meantime, I’ll keep listening.”
—Sterling Fox
Sterling Fox’s “Holy Ghost 45” is available now via Silver Scream Records.
