Mega Music Talent

Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category

There is a very simple audio question making the rounds these days; why vinyl? The answer is just as simple-millions of music lovers are discovering the superior sound that vinyl offers. Add these newcomers to the millions of audiophiles and collectors who are already sold on the benefits of analog sound and one can understand why there is a ‘vinyl revival.’

With the renewed interest in vinyl records, many web sites have been launched to help vinyl lovers find their rare audio treasures. One such site, www.wax.fm, can not only steer you in the direction of online retailers who sell vinyl records, but in a unique twist also alerts visitors to real ‘brick and mortar’ stores in the US.

The man behind wax.fm is Rob Lambert who has, not only a keen interest in vinyl, but is developing a unique, interactive website to help his visitors with all their vinyl needs. I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Rob, let’s learn more about the intriguing site:

Why vinyl, what is the allure? When did you start collecting, what kind of collection do you have?

“I have always loved all kinds of music in all formats. I was born in the early seventies, so my mother had a decent collection of records that included artists that I still love to this day: CSNY, Joni Mitchell, etc. But by the time I started purchasing my own music, it was on cassette and then CDs. I still have a huge CD collection (and the MP3 versions of those on my computers) and so I am not anti-digital music. Initially, in the early 2000′s, I started buying my all-time favorite records solely for the artwork to frame and hang on my walls. But one thing led to another and, and as I mention in my “about” section, I bought two palettes of (random) records which led to me actually getting a nice turntable. It then became about the whole experience. Sitting down and LISTENING to the music, looking at the artwork, and yes, the superior sound.

Today my collection is all over the board (see my favorite artists below). I probably have 1500 records or so (not counting lots of leftover boxes of junk from my big palette purchases).”

When did you launch wax.fm?

“End of October 2008.”

Why the fm domain?

“On a technical level, .fm is the country code top-level domain for the Federated States of Micronesia, a group of islands located in the Pacific Ocean.

Initially, I was going to build a website primarily for mobile devices. I wanted a name that was as short as possible (easy to type on little devices). An alternative to “.com” allows the possibility of finding a good, short three letter domain. I noticed the exploding trend of music-related sites using the “.fm” extension (last.fm, blip.fm, sky.fm, jazz.fm, etc). FM conjures up the feeling of classic rock radio, especially of the 70′s, and to me, that goes hand-in-hand with the old school technology of vinyl records. The first short word related to vinyl records that came to mind was “wax” and sure enough, wax.fm was available!”

Tell me about the future plans for the site.

“For sure:

? Better integration of the main site with the blog (see http://blog.wax.fm for some videos of me and other initial blog posts)

? Continue to add more records and record data

? Continue to add more vendors where specific records can be purchased online

? Continue to add more brick-and-mortar record stores

? Add record fairs to the “Find Records in Your City” sections

Other strong possibilities:

? Allow outside users to rank and comment on record stores and fairs

? Mobile/iPhone friendly version for researching records while shopping at thrift stores, garage sales, used record shops, record fairs, etc.

? Additional audio and video samples of records (but I don’t want to make digital music a central part of the site)”

Where do you see vinyl, in let’s say 20 years?

“You know, I really have no idea. I truly hope that bands and labels continue the current trend to put out their new music on vinyl (and include a digital download with the purchase). It seems that the younger generations are currently really discovering, not only the allure of buying new music on vinyl, but also classic music on used vinyl from the Beatles to Pink Floyd to the Ramones ? I hope that trend continues too.”

What kind of music do you listen to?

“Some of my all-time favorites: Dylan, Zappa, Hendrix, Miles, Coltrane, Mingus.

More modern 90′s/2000′s favorites: Wilco, Flaming Lips, Arcade Fire, My Bloody Valentine, Sufjan Stevens, My Morning Jacket, Beck, Radiohead.

I have a place in my heart for classic metal/hard rock: Sabbath, Megadeath, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, etc.

And all over the board: Johnny Cash, Public Enemy, Fela Kuti, Ali Farke Toure, Phish, Django Reinhart, Nick Drake, Grateful Dead.”

Tell me more about your company Zabada, I understand that you are working on a new service for the web and your mobile device that will make finding and collecting vinyl records easier and more fun.

“Zabada, Inc. is my company and the company technically owns wax.fm. The initial spark for me actually getting to work on a vinyl-themed website was my desire to look up information about records from my iPhone while looking for records at fairs and stores. But once I started building the site, I decided to put most of my energy into collecting data on records and then record stores. At that point the mantra for my site came to me: “helping you find your favorite albums on vinyl-both online and in the real world” and I decided to hold off on building the mobile interface and build a standard website (by the way, the site is relatively usable on the iPhone as it exists right now!) There are lots of great options to buy records online, but I decided that it would be great to make it as easy as possible for a user to, for example, on one page be able to see all of the options and prices for buying the Beach Boys’ Pets Sounds on the internet including used versions and reissues. As I mentioned earlier, this is one area where I continue to put a lot of energy to improve the results and vendor options.”

So here we have new technology merging with a rather old audio format that is now becoming mainstream again. The future looks bright for vinyl records and the future is also bright for www.wax.fm as Rob continues to develop his plans and help vinyl lovers find their treasures.

Author Bio: Author Robert Benson writes about rock/pop music, vinyl record collecting and operates http://www.collectingvinylrecords.com, where you can pick up a copy of his FREE ebook called “The Fascinating Hobby Of Vinyl Record Collecting.” Have your vinyl records appraised at http://www.vinylrecordappraisals.com.

The Norwegian heavy rock band Toxic recently toured the UK to promote their new album Fear. I was very pleased when bassist Rolf Lura agreed to be interviewed and following you will find the outcome:

Trish: I always wanted to play an instrument well but after a screechingly dismal attempt at violin lessons and not much more success with a piano I decided that it was best to leave music making to others like yourself whom I feel quite envious of – just how many instruments do you play and which is your favourite?

Rolf: My main instrument is the bass, that’s what I play live with my band, Toxic. On our new album “Fear”, I’ve also played some double-bass, cello and organ in the studio. I like all the instruments that I play very much. If I have to pick a favourite, it has to be the bass.

Trish: Which was the first instrument that you ever played and how old were you?

Rolf: I started to play the Tuba in my local school band at the age of 9.

Trish: Why did you choose the tuba?

Rolf: In fact it wasn’t I that choose the Tuba. It was my music teacher. I was the tallest and strongest boy in my class, so therefore he advised me to play the heavy Tuba.

Trish: Very democratic of him! Is there any instrument that you can’t play that you would like to learn?

Rolf: The Church organ it’s a majestic and powerful instrument, I would love to learn to play it.

Trish: Yes you are right there; perhaps I will invite you over to learn in the church at the bottom of my street! Now for something different.

The very first single that I ever bought was See Emily Play by Pink Floyd and I still think that track is amazing. Which was the first single that you ever bought and what do you think of it now?

Rolf: It was “I was made for loving you” by Kiss. Now I wonder “Where the hell was my brain at the age of 12?”

Trish: I think that I see what you mean after watching the video on YouTube, those outfits and the white face paint eeeewh. Do you have a record in your collection that the rest of the band would tease you about?

Rolf: Maybe “Gothic Impressions” by a Swede called Par Lind. It’s an organ-based album that I adore, but the rest of the Toxic lads probably think that I’m insane in my brain because I love that album.

Trish: Maybe they have secret likes too! Which band or artist do you currently listen to the most?

Rolf: I never stick with just one artist for a long period; I try to vary a lot, so that I don’t get tired of a good artist. The bands that I listen to for the moment is: System of a Down, Opeth, Queen, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica ++++

Trish: If you had just one wish and could perform with any band or artist – alive or dead; who would that be and why?

Rolf: Queen w/Mr. Mercury or Judas Priest.

Trish: Ah!! I wrote on my blog last week that if I could go back in time the band that I would most like to see perform live would be Queen with Freddie Mercury – you have good taste.

Whenever I return home from holiday it’s a real let down having to return to work and reality. Toxic have just completed a 2 week tour of the UK, how does it feel to be back to reality?

Rolf: To be honest. This return to work and reality was the hardest ever in my life. We had two fantastic weeks and were longing to go back to England on the air trip back home.

Trish: I hope that you will be coming back soon, is there another tour planned?

Rolf: Our manager is in touch with several UK festivals, so we’re awaiting the results of his work. So the plan is to base our next UK tour around a festival next Summer, early Autumn.

Trish: That’s great, something to look forward to through the dreary winter months. This is your second tour of the UK, how did it compare to the first?

Rolf: This tour was definitely the best. Everything was well planned and prepared by our English manager, Mark. We felt so much welcome everywhere. You Englishmen are such a great people.

Trish: Er don’t forget English women! What was the highlight of the tour for you and was there any low?

Rolf: The highlights:-

Our first night in England was fantastic. We spent it at Josi’s radio studio. She works for ”Hard Rock Radio Live” We did a live radio show. Her comment after the radio session was. “You’re the craziest Vikings I’ve ever met, and this has been my funniest/best radio show ever”. Our last gig at “The Purple Turtle” in Camden/London was the best one. We had an amazing audience and a fantastic sound engineer.

The “Downside”:-

We played a gig in South London, upstairs in a pub in a crummy area. There was just a few people attending the show.

Trish: Darn it I missed the radio show it sounds great. Do you have lots of groupies flocking around you or aren’t we allowed to discuss that?

Rolf: There is only one thing to say about that. You didn’t turn up at any of our shows lol

Trish: You sweet talker! We have a saying in the UK – ‘do not judge a book by it’s cover’, but people do judge others by appearances. For instance some people see a biker and they fear them – OMG a hells angel type of reaction – when really most bikers are decent folks who love riding bikes. In the Chronos video the bikers are the good guys, was that intended as a statement or just a different twist to make the video more interesting?

Rolf: Chronos is the God of time. Our intention with the video was to make people wake up and see that things aren’t always what they look like. We try to put things upside down. Like you said. A biker can be good man, and a vicar can be a cruel one. We also turned Elvis into a Messiah. But, I have to admit that we like to be a bit provocative!

Trish: Provocative I like and I agree with what you are saying. I’ve been listening to your album Fear and appreciate the contrasts. Image means a lot for a band and the perceived image is not what I believe to be the true Toxic who from my limited contact are much nicer guys than the image dictates.

Trish: I’d like to thank you Rolf for your cooperation with this interview, you have given me some great answers. Hopefully we will see you in the UK again soon.

Rolf: I would like to thank you also for your questions. They were very good. Most interviewers ask the same questions over and over again, yours were something different. It was a pleasure to answer you back. If you feel that my English sucks, feel free to adjust it

Trish: I always like to be different. Your English is excellent, much better than my Norwegian, which is limited to Tusen takk (thank you very much)