“Every time I consider writing a song or a letter I say to myself, ‘Where do I start?’ Well, the first thought is always ‘from the beginning and from the heart.’ So, I will begin with the fact I don’t actually own a record player and the beginning starts here and now.”
“I have always been fascinated by how a record is made in the first place. I mean how was the idea even conceived and how did it work? ‘A needle runs along a groove in a piece of vinyl’… errr what?! It still fascinates me now even though I’ve read so much about it.
Having said that, I look like a huge fraud for not owning a record player and this is simply down to the fact I knew that once I owned some records I would then become addicted and would never have the space or money for it (and also the fact that CDs and downloads are so much more accessible and I’m a lazy sod.) I held off this ‘musical drug’ for so long until now. Now I am exposed to it more than ever and this is mainly due to my job.
I currently work for Demon Music Group and we along with most record companies in the UK are releasing more and more vinyl these days. My colleague and friend David Beaufoy runs Demon Records and has been releasing limited edition vinyl of The Jesus & Mary Chain, T. Rex, and Suede to name a few. Another colleague decided it made sense that we actually have some ‘decks’ in the office for us to listen to these records, so as of about 6 months ago I heard a record properly for the first time in my 29 years.
Since that very first crackle I was sold…
I now own a variety of records from Otis Redding to The Black Keys to Backyard Babies. All with their different appeals and reasons as to why I now don’t listen to these records on CD anymore. (Even though I can only listen to them at work!)
For a birthday present (Thank you Kelly Porte) I was given ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ (B-Side being ‘This Boy’ my favourite Beatles track) and wow, it seriously doesn’t get better than that.
My mum passed away in January and I found a box of vinyl she had collected when she was in her teens and to say she had impeccable taste is an understatement. More Elvis, Otis, Small Faces LPs smiled back at me in delight as if they were saying ‘we’ve been waiting for you…’
My journey may be short, my journey feels slightly embarrassing, but my journey is about to fully take off and I can’t see it ever ending. Ask me to write a blog next year and I may even have a books worth of stories and gems I have discovered.
We (IC1s) have released two singles now through Two Sisters Records and I can’t wait to hear our debut album on vinyl. One day I hope I can pass on a proud record collection to my children and hope this circle of vinyl life continues for them. (If you sell them and buy a big house son, I will haunt you…)”
—John Campbell, Guitar
