“For me, vinyl is memories of growing up and discovering music.”
“My mum had a pretty big eclectic record collection that she’d picked up over the years. But at the time I was just getting into music and we didn’t have a record player, so the records just sat there under the TV for years. And I’d look at them, flip through them. I couldn’t imagine what any of the music on them sounded like, but I loved the sleeves. They had a real personality. Compared to the shiny plastic jewel box CDs I saw in the shops, vinyl seemed much more like works of art.
I loved looking at the graphics the bands had chosen and trying to imagine what their sound was like. My favourites were the Moody Blues albums with the smoky, creepy artwork, and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. I badgered my mum to get a record player so I could listen to them all. Turns out I wasn’t so fussed with some of them then! But I really fell for others. She had these big Wharfedale speakers and I can still remember the first time I heard Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” through them… Those days really set me off on a path to finding more music, and then to start making my own.”
—Jess
“So I got my first taste of vinyl at the age of 5 when I’d stick a record on the turntable when my parents were out the room (no doubt without permission). I hate to think what scratches I left on some great records!”
“I can still remember the suspense of dropping the needle on the lead-in grooves and waiting for the music to start. I think the first album I ever played on my own was probably Beats International, Let Them Eat Bingo. The 5-year old me used to dance around listening to that album, and Jackson’s Bad (with a wooden spoon in my hand)…
Other than that, my parents’ record collection was filled with Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Hendrix, etc. Those classic sounds have stuck with me for life. The lack of a “skip track” button also makes me listen to every track on an album and treat it as a complete story. It’s amazing how many times that track I didn’t initially like becomes the track I end up loving the most.”
—Matt
“Out of Line,” the debut EP from Tanners Pool is in stores now via Alt/Logic.
