“I’ve had an obsession with the 7″ single ever since my brother brought home Beatles reissue 45s from local Drug Fair when I was a kid. Being physically small at the time might have been a catalyst for why I was so intrigued; the vinyl single was perfectly my size.”
“As I grew older and realized that indie rock bands had taken the 7 inch single by storm I was incredibly excited. It was the perfect way to take home just a song or two from any band you had any interest in—and no matter what said band did before or after, it was a small but quality investment in their career.
When I was given the opportunity to intern at Teenbeat Records I was enthralled as one of the first 7 inches I’d ever purchased was Unrest’s “A Factory Record” (a Sub Pop Singles Club submission). Working there I spent numerous Saturday afternoons assembling records by hand and it never remotely felt like “work”—just the thought of someone buying and putting one of those records on at home made it all worth it.
In high school one of my first bands ever, Grubby, crudely jammed a few songs into a 4 track recorder and in turn made a single (with a lot of help from my older brother’s record label). An extra 50 cents or so per record to press it in white felt like a boatload of cash at the time, but I just had to have it. I truly believe if releasing that piece of vinyl was the only thing I ever accomplished in life, I’d still be totally content.
These days the music that Harness Flux has released (at least so far) has been exclusively digital, but that magical feeling of the vinyl single hasn’t left me. I make sure there’s cover art for every song, as if there’s a physical copy to be had—because the tunes are created from the same fascination I had when I first laid eyes on 7″ records.”
—John Masters, Harness Flux
Appearing with Greenland, Sunday, June 14th at Galaxy Hut in Arlington, VA.
