“The first time I put my eyes on a record with the real intention to listen to some music, I was 15.”
“It happened when I saw a television playback exhibition of The Byrds, I remember I asked my grandmother who were those extremely cool guys? I think she answered, “The Beatles, of course!”
After listening to the incredible “Mr. Tambourine Man,” I moved myself near the shelf in the living room. It was like the Rickenbackers drove me to my dad’s record collection. I remember every single record—that collection is mine now. Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, a rare copy of Saucerful of Secrets by Pink Floyd!
Then I started to discover the differences between vinyl and CDs. For a couple of years I preferred the “modern technology,” the digital version of music—then I came back to my first love, it was superior in every single aspect.
Fifteen years ago, more or less, I remember that in Italy it was very difficult to have vinyl record stores, the CD was at its maximum and the decline of vinyl was clear. But in Florence, the place where I was born and where I live with the other Vickers, was a rare exception. There were three or four well equipped record shops and they still have an important role in that town. There you can find classic vintage records and the new releases from all over the world.
Nowadays there is a massive use of music via internet, Youtube, Spotify, etc.—gigabytes and gigabytes of music burned in few hours. I’m pretty scared about it. Not everyone can understand the differences between click and play on a PC screen and taking a physical object in your hands, putting it on, and watching it round and round…
I hope that vinyl will never die. I think that people will need to touch something real more and more and they will always need to have a direct contact with a record, with something that lasts an entire life.”
—Andrea Mastropietro, guitar/vocals
The Vickers are a psychedelic-pop-rock band formed in Florence, Italy. Their new 7” single “She’s Lost” b/w “All I Need” was released May 14 via Cybertree Records / Foolica Records.
