“I was raised around hymnbooks, sheet music, and cassette tapes. My dad was raised on a farm and didn’t have luxuries like vinyl, and my mom was raised conservatively enough that she grew up around hymnbooks, too. Vinyl just wasn’t part of how we listened to music. I used to think that was a musical disadvantage, but getting to do my homework and explore a massive world of music as an adult has been a blast.”
“I didn’t discover vinyl until I moved to Los Angeles in 2008. There I was, almost predictably, a new resident of Los Angeles, digging through the vinyl fortress of Amoeba Music on Sunset Boulevard. I didn’t have a record player, but my roommate did, so shopping for vinyl seemed like the right thing to do.
As I was flipping through row after row of records, a stranger standing a couple of feet away held a record out to me, and with no introduction, said, “You should buy this one. It’s my favorite.” It was Bruce Springsteen’s The Wild, The Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle. I said a simple, “Ok,” and I bought it.
Thus began the journey. I literally got to discover everything about vinyl on my own—every detail of it: how gorgeous album artwork could be, the magic of holding a record in my hands, figuring out how a record player even worked (I’m not kidding, I had never used one), and understanding what makes vinyl sound so good.
My follow-up purchases were all over the board: Elton John, Robert Johnson, The Great Pavarotti. I don’t know anyone whose vinyl collection isn’t at least moderately schizophrenic. There’s something so playful about vinyl—digging through piles of records in a music shop feels like a treasure hunt. Music that I wouldn’t otherwise purchase ends up finding a home on the shelf simply because I’m curious. Why yes, I would like to take home this copy of the Philadelphia Orchestra performing selections from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I definitely own that. But I would have never bought it if it were on CD. A CD wouldn’t have piqued my curiosity in the same way.
Understanding what vinyl sounds like has guided my recording process, too. Sometimes in this age of digital recording, we can lose the elements and delicacies of sound that vinyl is so good at showcasing. I want to make sure the sounds we’re capturing in the studio are worthy of living on vinyl.”
—Julie Belle
Julie Belle’s new EP, “You Were Younger” arrives in stores on September 18.
