Manny

Vinyl is something very close to my heart. To me, how you manipulate, mix, blend and scratch vinyl to create a musical journey is art. It’s not just “spinning records”. It’s not just “playing other people’s music”. Not to me.  

I didn’t start DJing because it was popular or cool. I started DJing in Lawton, Oklahoma in 1988 so there was no rave scene or really much of a club scene. There were no fellow DJs to hang out with or collaborate with. There was barely a record store. I started DJing because I love music; specifically the music I was hearing DJs spinning in other cities. I didn’t want to be a DJ. I wanted to be a producer; I wanted to make the type of music I was hearing. DJing was an accidental alternative to not being able to afford gear to make music. Eventually, I got my recording gear in 1994.

Fast forward to 2014 and I still am 100% vinyl, but I do get it. Trust me. I do get it. I hear what Hype is saying and it makes a lot of sense. I’d love to press up vinyl for all of my upcoming releases, but to do so I’d have to charge people $12-$15 possibly more with shipping; and that’s just getting 100 copies pressed and still probably not breaking even. In 1998, I could press up 1000 records and just sit by the fax machine and sell every single piece within 30 days.

Since the Napster days, all that has changed. The majority of people don’t even want to pay for mp3s so they’re definitely not going to buy vinyl. The new generation has no concept of the idea of vinyl other than those strange things on the shelves at Urban Outfitters. And let’s not even start with what is considered a DJ these days.

I was eating at a diner a few weeks ago and overheard a loud conversation where a girl was telling her friends where to freely download all the latest music. “I don’t pay for any of my music.”, she bragged. I have accepted that this is where we are now.

I will continue to spin vinyl, there’s no question. I will never switch to Serato or use CDJs for any of my DJ sets. If I press vinyl in the future, I have to accept that it will be at a loss and strictly for sharing the love of the music and culture. One can only hope that it will be reciprocated.

I can promise you this, there is no money being made so it’s definitely not for a profit.

#Props!