“For me, vinyl is just the best way to go about listening to music. All of my favorite artists have released on vinyl from the old school ’60s bands to Jack White, so it makes perfect sense I would dig vinyl over digital streaming, as it just has that vintage low-fi crackle I can hear in my studio or bedroom speakers.”
“In my generation everything is digital and it’s just mastered for laptop or earbud speakers. I learned a lot about recording in my recording arts program in high school and I also was exposed to analog and digital recording studios as a child. When I was 11 I went out to my local record store, $25 in hand, and purchased The Piper at The Gates of Dawn. I flipped back and forth between both sides all night long listening on repeat.
My mom and my dad both had cool vinyl collections most of which got warped, but I did manage to find a lot of cool record covers. My Dad said he once had a Beatles Strawberry Fields limited edition red picture disc in the shape of a strawberry that got lost during his move to the US or stolen by one of his mates. My mom also had original green 7″ vinyl of “Green River” and the LP of Soundgarden that were given to her by the bands when she booked them, but those were broken or stolen.
I have a pretty nice collection myself. I just love to open the covers and read the liner notes or go over the original lyrics. I just found an OG version of Magical Mystery Tour when we played Jackson TN. Funny enough there was a super cool vinyl record shop called, Third Eye Curiosities which was attached to the venue (a beautiful old hotel) which was owned by the grandpa of the headlining band. The owner was as cool as they come and knew everything he has in stock and then clues you into the best and hidden stuff. We picked up The Kinks’ first two albums, mint condition, and also Pink Floyd Syd Barrett era 45 of “Astronomy Domini.”
There’s also just something cool about being on tour and going on the cool vinyl shop “Indiana Jones-style” hunts looking for vinyl treasures, which we did a lot of while we were in the UK and across the South these last few weeks. We came back with old school NME and Melody Maker magazines and vinyl compilations from Camden. Within 5 minutes of driving into Nashville, we realized that Third Man was just 1 mile away from our exit, so we jumped off the highway and made our way to the store and spent hours checking out and buying tons of vinyl, t-shirts, and other unique merch. I also got to record an EP in the booth that was pressed into vinyl on the spot. They have an awesome team there. It was like Jack White Disneyland for me.
I also have quite a bit of newer Jack White and White Stripes vinyl. Jack is the vinyl king. I heard there’s a top-secret project at Third Man regarding the first vinyl record in space. He also loves to sneak in little secrets to the physical copy of the vinyl. He has holograms and weird images that show up when you spin the record that are different in every single one. Hope 30 years from now a kid finds one and blows the dust off it in a Nashville record shop.
In LA, we also have cool stores, including Amoeba where I picked up the new Raconteurs’ Help Us Stranger LP and saw them perform live. As we speak we are heading over to Grimey’s Records in Nashville, where I hope to unearth some gems.
Vinyl rocks!”
—Christian Gisborne
Velvet Starlings’ forthcoming EP “Kids in Droves” arrives in stores this Fall—on vinyl.
