“Of all the near-extinct beasts in the world, the mom-and-pop local record store is the most important.”
“As a teenager growing up in South Florida, going to the record store was one of my favorite things to do–along with playing guitar, checking out punk matinees, and skateboarding. Record stores were a place where I could hangout with friends, discover new music that I couldn’t find anywhere else, and really dive into the culture of the scene. At the very least, I’d walk away having learned something about music or about myself because the people who worked in those local record stores really CARED about music and took the time to make suggestions of new or obscure artists and releases that they thought I’d like.
Before the Internet was born, I’d even go into my local record store (Peaches) and get tickets for upcoming concerts from Ticketmaster. I guess you could say that my local record store was a one-stop shop for everything music-related that I needed at that time.
Fast forward a few years and I’m drawn to record stores for another reason–these are the people and shops that are willing to take chances on up-and-coming independent artists. They were the very first stores to ever carry my music on CD and Vinyl (Peaches in Ft. Lauderdale and Uncle Sam’s in Pompono Beach.)
There is nothing like holding a copy of your own music on a vinyl record. It is just so much more tangible, so much more real, than any other medium. My very first release on vinyl was with my first band, The Outrights. It was a 7-inch single for “Come Back Baby” with B-Side “Can’t Have You.” I was maybe 16 years old at the time. I’ll never forget the day we got the test pressings back–we were so excited! Up until that point we had only released albums on cassette tape. CD burners were just starting to see the light of day, but we didn’t care. We had ourselves a 45″!
The catalyst for my record collection came from my parents’ albums, but I really started getting into collecting my own 45s and LPs in high school. By this point, my friends and I had already immersed ourselves in punk rock and attended shows regularly. We were discovering new bands all the time, and if we didn’t buy a 7-inch after the gig, we would use mail order services to purchase the music.
Thanks to bands like Green Day, we learned about the Bay Area label Lookout Records and their extensive catalogue of pop punk releases available through mail-order. By this time I had gotten my hands on just about every Ramones LP and even some rare singles. One of our favorite local bands at the time was Miami’s answer to The Ramones, The Crumbs. They were a huge influence on us growing up and later put out a few records on Lookout. Looking back on it, I think Lookout Records and the other independent record labels who released albums on vinyl had a big impact on me and the next big chapter in my life.
That next era began when I moved to New York City and I fulfilled my dream of starting my own label—Outright Rock Records. Our mission is simple: to promote the preservation of vinyl records and the artist collective, all while keeping a DIY work ethic. Outright Rock has used a number of manufacturing plants over the years, including Nashville’s United Record Pressing and California’s Rainbo Records, but for my upcoming release Love, we chose to keep it local and use Brooklyn Phono. It’s been such a lovely experience working with Fern and John on pressing this album. In all the years of making albums I have never actually visited a record plant until now. It was truly remarkable to see how it all works and see the assembly line in action. It’s something I’ll never forget. I even got to keep a re-released copy of The Sonics’ first record “Here are the Sonics” hot off the press.
I love making records and being part of the music community. I can’t wait to share my latest labor of love with all of you, my solo release titled Love. The first pressing will be limited to 100 LPs on blue see-thru vinyl and the remaining 200 on standard 33 1/3 black wax.”
—Marco Argiro
P.S. A big thank you to all the local mom-and-pop record stores around the world who supported and continue to support independent artists. A special shout to those who have helped me in my journey: Radio-Active Records, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Sweat Records, Miami, FL, Amoeba, Los Angeles, CA, Academy Records, Brooklyn, NY, Other Music, New York, NY, Rough Trade, London, UK, and Vinyl Fever, Tallahassee, FL.
Marco Argiro’s Love will be on store shelves September 24th.
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