“There has always been something special about hearing a record on vinyl. When I was really young, my dad would blast Tower of Power and all sorts of other jazz, blues, and funk records on his turntable, but I didn’t have a true understanding or appreciation for vinyl as a medium until much later.”
“CD was king through my formative years. I used to save money so I could go to Barnes and Noble or FYE to buy CDs when I was in middle school, which was at the height of the emo wave in the early 2000s. So you can probably imagine my collection—Brand New, The Used, Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance, Coheed and Cambria, you name it. I got really heavy into Bright Eyes around the time Wide Awake and Digital Ash came out, and it was kind of the first time I started paying any attention to lyrics. Nuance was suddenly really important in every aspect of the music I listened to, and when I got back into listening to albums on vinyl, that stuck with me.
When I finally got my own turntable, the first records I bought were Wide Awake and Cassadaga. Then it was Room on Fire (The Strokes), Nevermind and In Utero (Nirvana), and the collection kept growing, but each one felt like it hit different on vinyl, like I was hearing it again for the first time. It felt so raw and real. These records were meant to be listened to that way. And I think that’s how Chris and I both feel about Everything Has to Fall Apart Eventually, especially after hearing the test presses from Third Man. Hopefully other people will feel the same way.”
—Parker Bengry (guitar/vocals)
“When I was a kid, my dad had this killer stereo that I adored. We used to listen to vinyl records on the same record player he had when he was a teen. It was always the most fun when my Uncle Kevin came to join us. When he was there, he blasted ABBA or the Grease soundtrack, and that really turned up the party level. Vinyl instantly became the coolest way for me to listen to music.”
“When I moved into my own place, that entire stereo system came with me, and I still listen to it today. Listening to vinyl is my ideal way to begin a Saturday or Sunday morning when I don’t have to rush out of the house.
My own vinyl collection started with the favorites from my dad and Uncle Kevin’s old collections. It mostly consisted of classic rock bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Doors. For a while, I thought that was the only era I was going to get. The record store near my childhood house closed early on, and I didn’t know of any others at the time. I also didn’t realize that new bands were still releasing music on vinyl.
It wasn’t until the late 2000s that I was able to really start expanding my collection. I would drive out to the few record stores within an hour drive and flip through the stacks looking for my favorites, mostly fuzzy stuff. Now, Parker and I stop at every record store we see while on the road. At this point it’s pretty easy to find anything that exists online, but I still think it’s more fun to go to record stores and search for cool new vinyl. It feels more like a discovery.”
—Chris Williams (drums/vocals)
Everything Has to Fall Apart Eventually, the debut LP from The Messenger Birds arrives in stores on October 7, 2020—on vinyl.
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