“The new record, Woodland Echoes, I made for vinyl. That was the main thing, to make it an album. This is my first album that came out on vinyl since, well, the late ‘80s probably.”
“Even though it was made in my spare room, it’s a record, so I planed it like a record. I compiled it like, Side A, Side B, six tracks, six tracks, and there’s a story. So I thought, OK, and I made an album.
The concept of an album hasn’t gone away at all. I think people misunderstood. They thought when vinyl wasn’t selling they mistook it for the album going away. It’s a bit like thinking if books aren’t selling, then the novel is obsolete. It’s not. The stories are always going to be there. People will need—I will need—stories in that way.
The album concept is always there. I was brought up on albums, so I think albums. So even through the time of CDs, it was still an album, really. It just wasn’t vinyl—even if I wanted it to be vinyl. I didn’t like the plastic thing—I wanted it to be vinyl.
So I still think of vinyl, even though it’s digital—I look at it and it’s an album. With Woodland Echoes I have made an actual, genuine vinyl album now, with the label and everything. It’s back to how I wanted it to be in music—back to having my own label.
I’ve become infatuated with labels, the way that records look and every last detail, even the runout groove—the little writing you got around it. I remember “Porky’s Prime Cuts” and how you could put little messages on the vinyl in the inner groove…”
—Nick Heyward
Nick Heyward’s Woodland Echoes, the seventh solo album from the former Haircut 100 frontman—and his first in 18 years—arrives in stores November 3, 2017—on vinyl.
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PHOTO: SARA JOHNSON
