“My earliest musical memory involves vinyl.”
“I was four and my mom bought me my first two records—Thriller and Synchronicity by The Police. I remember playing those albums over and over again until I had almost every word memorized. At that age the whole process of learning how to use a turntable, putting what I thought at the time was a massive piece of plastic on it, and then having this amazing music blast out of the speakers was pure magic. That was it. I was hooked for life. And looking back I think by becoming a producer/artist I’ve been trying to recapture that childhood feeling ever since.
My best music store experience involves the now closed Tower Records in Atlanta, GA. At the time I was an assistant engineer at a big Atlanta studio. I was assisting on a Lionel Richie session and the guitar player he had been using couldn’t make it that day. By sheer luck the head engineer told Lionel I play and I ended up tracking guitar on a song that night. I thought for sure they would have his main player come in and replay my parts.
But I was pretty shocked to find out he ended up keeping mine. This was my first real credit on a big commercial label release. The day it came out I drove to Tower records at 7:00am and waited in the parking lot for them to open at 8. I bought the Coming Home CD, opened it in my car and stared at my credit while playing the song probably ten times. RIP Tower Records. Thanks for one of my best musical memories!
—Graham Marsh
“I got my first record player when I was in high school.”
“My dad is a huge music nerd, and he bought me a bunch of classic vinyl from Wax n Facts in Little 5 Points in Atlanta. I would listen to Heart’s Dreamboat Annie on repeat in my childhood bedroom. It was magical to me that a piece of plastic could resonate sound like that.
There’s nothing like putting a record on and hearing the little artifacts as a song starts to play. It still brings me so much joy. In college, I would go to Criminal Records in Atlanta and browse for ages. I started building my vinyl collection with used records I found, sometimes at record stores, sometimes out on the street or at yard sales.
If I told my younger self that she’d grow up and become a musician with vinyl records of her own, I think it would blow her mind. I’m so glad that vinyl has made the resurgence that it has. It’s such a special physical format. A near perfect piece of technology.”
—Amber Renee
O, the new full length release from CLAVVS arrives in September. Preorder the vinyl here.
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PHOTO: LISSYELLE LARICCHIA