A few months ago I was looking through the Suburban Home Records website and I came across Vinyl Collective. I had heard about it but never really checked it out. As I was looking through the VC site and particularly their message board I was amazed by the insane record collections that are out there. Being a fan of vinyl myself, I found the community and the people involved really inspiring so I decided to take a closer look at record collecting and the vinyl format itself.
I got in touch with Virgil Dickerson of Vinyl Collective, Eric Mueller of the vinyl manufacturing company Pirates Press and the video-podcast dudes often referred to as the “Wayne’s World of record collecting” – Josh and Ken of Vinyl Vlog. Virgil and Eric talked to me about their work and their love for vinyl and I think they gave me a pretty good insight in what they do. Instead of doing a regular interview with the guys from Vinyl Vlog I asked them to shoot a video of them answering some of my questions. The video turned out fun and is available at the bottom of this page.
So, here we go. I hope you’ll enjoy my interview with Virgil Dickerson, Eric Mueller and the guys from Vinyl Vlog. (Click the photos to enlarge).
Started up just a few years ago Vinyl Collective has quickly become an important community for people with good taste in music and a soft spot for the vinyl format.
- It was born out of an idea I had to focus on a community of Vinyl Collectors, says Virgil. We had released vinyl when we first started putting out records in 1996, but at that time, we hadn't been putting out a lot of vinyl. We decided to license "Art Damage" by Fear Before the March of Flames and we were blown away at how well it went. We then put out a box set by Every Time I Die and that too, went really well. Vinyl Collective was born to offer a hub for vinyl collectors and since we started it, the support has been incredible.
Virgil’s fascination with vinyl started with his dad’s old records when he was a kid.
- I still remember when I was getting into hip hop in 6th grade and thinking that I could scratch on my dad's country records. Boy was he pissed, Virgil recalls.
But it was later on as he got into independent music in the early 90's that he re-discovered the format.
- I would frequent my local record stores and pick up singles by the bands I loved. I always felt a connection to the format, loved the fidelity, and I loved that the liner notes and artwork were always so much more substantial.
Virgil Dickerson is not the only one who got introduced to vinyl at an early age. Eric Mueller of Pirates Press laughs when I ask him about his earliest vinyl-memory.
- When I was like five years old I got a flexidisc from some gift shop with people singing happy birthday with my name on it. I got a fisher-price record player and the rest is history, he laughs.
The San Francisco based company Pirates Press has been around for about 4 and a half years now. They’re well known for their work with manufacturing impressive and exclusive vinyl-releases for a huge number of record labels, Virgil’s Suburban Home included. With a passion for what they do, Pirates Press stand by their products with a great deal of pride.
- We constantly strive to always be learning more about the products and the processes and technology involved in making them, he continues. We’re always trying our best to impart that knowledge and experience upon customers and colleagues in a way that they greatly appreciate and helps them grow and prosper and do their jobs better. We always try to encourage, rather than limit, our customers' creativity, constantly showing them that what we can do for them can truly set them apart from their competition as it separates us from ours.
"Vinyl collecting has for generations been the baseball card of the non-jock" - Eric Mueller of Pirates Press
Pirates Press has been manufacturing thousands of releases and ships out anywhere between 25-60 releases to labels every week. Apart from that, their own label has done about 20 releases so far. But, what is it about the vinyl format that people love so much?
- Well, where do I begin? It sounds so much better; the artwork is beautiful and there is a collectibility aspect to it, says VC front man Virgil. Vinyl is real, it's tangible, and with the fast paced/instant gratification world we live in, there is something beautiful in putting a record on and listening it from start to finish. It’s the way the artist intended it to be heard.
- Vinyl collecting has for generations been the baseball card of the non-jock, and even the occasional jock, says Eric. It has remained present in certain scenes and genres, underground for the most part, regardless of the pressures from the industry to exclusively digitalize.
Virgil agrees with Eric on the fact that the digitalizing of music plays a part in the fact that vinyl is getting more and more popular.
- I think the popularity of vinyl is due in large part to a response to the soul-less-ness of digital music and the disposability of compact discs, he says. Sure, digital music is great and convenient, but it doesn't encompass any of the qualities I mentioned earlier. Vinyl is doing better now than it has ever done, but it is a blessing and a curse. Because of the success of vinyl, more and more records are being pressed and repressed so it is harder for vinyl collectors to keep up especially in a down economy. I fear that it is getting over-saturated.
Eric explains how the demand for vinyl has really been growing over the last few years, even in mainstream music. So, I guess it would be fair to say that downloads and vinyl go hand in hand. Not completely, but to a certain level. Right?
- I have found that our CD sales have sharply declined with the rise of peer to peer and file-sharing, says Virgil. - This is also a blessing and a curse. I think that people discover music in a different way these days and with the vast amounts of music out there, people have to listen before they ever consider purchasing. But there are also people who never ever consider spending a dime on legal music. But I do think that lots of people have downloaded our albums and then been inspired to buy the vinyl which is a way it helps.
As Virgil explains, anyone can get hold of any release they want through a single click on the computer, and the fact that CD’s has pretty much lost its value isn’t exactly news. In order for labels to keep up with illegal downloads and the digitalizing of music, Eric thinks creativity and packaging is more important than ever.
- I think helping create tangible products that reflect an artist's visions in such a way that creates a real demand to purchase it (rather than download it) is important in an increasingly downloadable world that too-often looses the tangible dimension that once [financially] drove the industry, Eric says. Now, when the digital world that everyone assumed would replace it entirely has brought such strain to the industry, vinyl and other creatively packaged albums sales have made a tremendous resurgence, once again giving people something they’re passionate about.
What about the actual sound then? What are the main differences between digital albums and real records? What is it that makes vinyl sound better?
- If an album is mastered specifically for vinyl, there is no comparison between the fidelity of vinyl and that of digital music, Virgil explains. A true vinyl master is not compressed (cd's and digital music is compressed) so with vinyl you get higher highs and lower lows and sounds that much more brighter. Pick up either Minus the Bear's “Planet of Ice” or Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground's self-titled vinyl and listen to it side by side the digital version and you will be blown away. That can be said about most records.
- Artwork is really important to us, he continues. I love the packaging of "Bad at Breaking Up" by Drag the River which came with a custom guitar pick. I love the double LP gatefold for Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground. I love the art on Austin Lucas' somebody loves you.
And speaking of custom and exclusive releases, Eric and Pirates Press are about to release the debut 7” from the latest addition to their label. The band is Detournement which features members from Plan A Project, The Ratchets and Lifetime to name a few.
- It’s awesome!! We're hopefully going to have the band out here in San Francisco in November for the big 5 year anniversary weekend with Cock Sparrer. The jacket of the Detournement 7” is case wrapped in sand paper, guaranteed to destroy any other record it touches! Not much needs to be said than that. It’s ridiculous!!
For those of you who liked the Pirates Press 7” box set I asked Eric what’s up with the word “annual” in the title of the set.
- I put one out in my head each year, he laughs. There will be another one some day. We’ve just been so busy and excited with everything going on it's been tough to arrange. But it will happen again for sure!
Collecting vinyl is quite a big deal for some people I’ve learned from looking around on the VC message board. I asked the guys about their thoughts on different color variations and limited presses.
- We try to make each pressing on a distinct color and usually press 2 colors initially, says Virgil. There are a lot of debates on colored vinyl, but we try to press releases on limited editions on color so that people can have special, one of a kind collectibles. I personally don't care so much if my records are on colored vinyl so long as it sounds amazing.
Record collecting can get out of hand as well, he continues. - Some people try to collect every variant of their favorite bands and some bands/labels have been getting ridiculous with pressing after pressing. Fans of Against Me! and Alkaline Trio have had to shell out a lot of money throughout the years, for example.
- I like the idea of collect-ability a lot, explains Eric. But for me it’s just like an artist making prints of their work. At some point, the shit is just out there and it doesn’t really matter as long as you can pick it up, like a Van Gogh or something... But having the limited prints is what makes the whole thing tie back to the artist and their start.
So, do these guys remember which vinyl record they first bought for their own money?
- Funny you ask, Virgil starts. This is a question I ask our vinyl collectors of the month at Vinyl Collective and I can't remember for sure the first piece of wax I picked up with my own money. Embarrassingly enough, it might have been the "License to Drive" soundtrack, but it could have been an REO Speedwagon album. When I went to college and discovered punk rock, some of the first records i ever picked up were 7-inches by Eighty Eight Fingers Louie and NOFX.
Just like Virgil, Eric is not quite sure of his first vinyl purchase.
- Yeah, that is a tough one... but definitely a single. Probably a record by some local band from San Diego who I saw live and picked the record up from at the show.
Both Eric and Virgil were also kind enough to give some info on their own private collections.
- Hell yeah, I collect records, says Eric when I ask him. But, my collection is miniscule compared to some of my friends. In all honesty, I'm too busy pressing other peoples' records to spend time searching out and collecting the stuff that I'm on the hunt for. I have a few hundred records, besides the Pirates Press archives. I guess the most expensive ones I own are my Redskins’ singles. You can’t find ‘em anywhere.
"I try to live by the N.W.A. credo, 'Don't Get High on Your Own Supply'" - Virgil Dickerson of Vinyl Collective
A favorite record of Virgil’s is his copy of the “Live” LP by Jawbreaker which released by Allied Records.
- After the band had broken up, Allied Records announced the release of a live album that would be released as an edition of 100 copies. You had to write a letter to Allied Records explaining your interest in getting a copy and they would send you a postcard if you had been selected to purchase one. I got one of those postcards and gladly shelled out $20 to own something so special, he recalls. My personal collection totals around a thousand records. I don't pick up every record we carry but do try to grab everything that I find special. I try to live by the N.W.A. credo, "Don't Get High on Your Own Supply”. There are certain bands that I try to make sure I have their entire catalog, not every variant necessarily, but I collect Nada Surf, Gaslight Anthem, Portugal the Man, Minus the Bear, Justin Townes Earle, and most of our bands.
Shortly after starting up VinylCollective.com the VC message board was launched. By now there’s about 2,400 members registered on the board and about 30,000 different topics have been and are still being discussed by people from all over the world. For Virgil, the board has quickly gone way beyond his expectations.
- I am constantly amazed at how passionate the message boarders are and how for the most part it is a welcoming community for vinyl collectors. My goal all along with Vinyl Collective was to have a central forum for Vinyl Collectors to discuss and share their thoughts on vinyl. The board has become much more than I ever thought it could be as people trade and sell records, labels announce their releases, and even non-vinyl topics are discussed on our Everything Else board. I still remember when we surpassed 100 registered users and thinking how huge that was. Then we hit 1,000 members and I could not imagine it getting bigger. It has surpassed my expectations for sure.
I also asked Virgil a little bit about the VC collectors of the month. What does it take to become a collector of the month?
- We just wanted to show and share some of our vinyl collectors with the world as they all collect records for different reasons and have different collections and want to see different records pressed. I think that we try to have a rapport with our customers unlike any other retailer or label. We view our customers as our friends through music and want to share this passion with them. There is no set way to become vinyl collector of the month. We select them for random reasons.
A number of people have been selected as collectors of the month and you can have a closer look at some interviews with them by visiting VinylCollective.com. However, two of the people who have been selected are Josh and Ken of Vinyl Vlog. As I mentioned earlier I sent them a bunch of questions about their thoughts on vinyl and they decided to shoot a video of themselves answering. So, finishing up this article on vinyl and record collecting I’m happy to present to you – Josh and Ken from Vinyl Vlog:
VINYL & RECORD COLLECTING | RELATED LINKS:
Vinyl Collective
The Vinyl Collective MSG Board
Vinyl Collective's MySpace Profile
Suburban Home Records
Pirates Press MFG.
Pirates Press Records
Vinyl Vlog
Vinyl Vlog on Vimeo
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