“Since being born in 1988, I would have to say my experience with vinyl has been based on its resurgence. Like a lot of others my age, it was a new thing to me. My parents only had cassettes and CDs growing up. They’d have huge stacks of CDs and that we’d dig into at family BBQs and put on the boombox for everyone.”
“I had a friend who used to play this Velvet Underground record every day and it made me want to get my own player. Like a lot of people my age I gravitated towards that cheap Crosley as my first player. I didn’t know any better, and probably was smart to start out with something like that to build a collection before spending some money on a good system. Most of my firsts were classic rock albums that everyone had—Born in the USA, Rumours, stuff by Led Zeppelin, etc. Whatever there was a lot of and was cheap. My collection now definitely represents my taste way more and I like to think of it as my real library of music. No one has their iTunes library gigabytes full of MP3s anymore. You can’t really show someone your sound on a phone. That only comes from a physical collection these days.
I have a four cubby shelf from IKEA and one box is for new rock/alt or pop. This consists of any new vinyl not used at all and part of this square is the entire Lana Del Rey discography on vinyl. I think it’s my only complete discography in record form. It also has many of my favorite bands growing up like Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, and Coheed and Cambria. I was a big Warped Tour kid, so when Hot Topic was one of the first places I saw selling new vinyl I started getting it from there every time I went. I try to only keep stuff I purchased or actually wanted/was gifted. I don’t like just getting a crateful and keeping it. There’s no connection. Each record has to have some kind of memory attached so at least you can remember why you have it.
Another cubby is the strictly hip hop section. In this section I really only have my OG classics. Although I buy a lot of new records, when it comes to hip-hop, the ’90s stuff really sounds the best to me. I think that rugged sound of Wu-Tang’s 36 Chambers or Notorious B.I.G’s Ready to Die really is something you gotta blast on some wax.
The newer stuff is probably more of the indie variety for me. I buy a lot from people we play with at shows, or trade my own with them. This section also includes my own record Afraid Of The Dark. I always wanted my own vinyl, and for us to sign with Kiam Records and be able to do that was a super bucket list goal of mine. There’s nothing like it. People automatically think you’re official if you have your album on vinyl in 2019. The other two cubbys are classic rock and R&B/funk. I have a bunch of Neil Young. Most recently I purchased Nipsey Hussle, Victory Lap. I haven’t opened that one yet.
Jennifer O’Connor, head of Kiam Records and owner of Main Street Beat, a record/book/clothing shop located in Nyack, NY, is definitely at some fault for my current vinyl obsession. I worked at her store for almost three years and learn the tricks of the trade. She likes to gift us some great ones on our birthdays. I always look forward to this. Sometimes, if she knows that I was listening to someone lately, she might surprise me with it later.”
—Norvin Van Dunk (TRØN)
“From buying the Wu-Tang Forever album with my own money when I was young, which my dad made me return for the Backstreet Boys album—to playing beer pong in the basement of my house, to Lil’ Wayne in ‘07 at the height of his popularity, every chapter of my life has a certain theme music to it.”
“A Kid Named Cudi—I was 18 in my friend Meira’s car when I first heard this album. Before this, I’ve never heard someone be so vulnerable on a hip hop song like that. It reminded me of the emo rock music I listened to at the time. As an angsty teenager, I instantly gravitated towards it. As an anxiety ridden and depressed adult, I appreciate it even more.
There have been so many to copy Cudi’s style and way of emoting through melodies in hip hop since then, but no one will ever connect with me like that album did when I was 16. I would like to make that type of music for people one day. Where they can listen to it and not only relate, but feel like every song, whether sad, happy, angry, or party vibe can be the soundtrack to their lives. So when you think about a moment or time in your life, you think about that album or song and it changed that moment for the better.”
—Darian Van Dunk (DVD)
Manhunt, the new release from TRØN & DVD arrives in stores on September 13, 2019 via Kiam Records.
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PHOTO: JANETTE BECKMAN
