Vinyl Collective

Visitors of Vinyl Collective

Now that we have an office again, we have been asking bands coming to town to stop by, hang out, get some free schwag, and maybe have a beer or two. We plan to update this page often with new visitors.

Joey Cape (9-25-08) - As you might have noticed, we had Joey Cape come by the office a few weeks back. We had a really great time with him, did a 30 minute interview, and had some lunch. We even talked him into doing one of our Visitor to VC spots which you can see by the image above. This could be the last known photo of Joey with a mustache as later that day, he shaved it off on stage.

I cannot say enough great things about Joey. I still can’t believe that we are putting out his debut album which will ship this week to those of you who have pre-order them. The album is amazing and I can’t wait for all of you to hear it. Joey is a great guy and I feel really lucky to be able to work with him. Joey spent quite a lot of time looking through our records, but in the end he picked a Ramones’ album (his favorite punk band), and his favorite Iron and Wine record but he said he loves all of Iron and Wine’s records.

Fake Problems (9-10-08) - I meant to post this one a while back, but better late than never right? Our buddies, Fake Problems, came through town while on tour. I unfortunately could not make it to the show, but a lot of our staff went and not only said the band were amazing, but they all said the guys were kind as can be. While here, they played us their new album which was recorded by the folks who record a lot of the Saddle Creek material (their name(s) are escaping me currently). The new album is their best material to date and it looks like they are gonna be signing with a really great label soon. I am so happy for these guys. They work so hard and it looks like it is starting to pay off. Someone recently had not so good things to say about Fake Problems, but let me tell you, the guys are really top notch folks and some of the nicest people I have met. Plus they enjoy drinking beer all night which is a hobby of mine.

The guys will be down at the Fest and as it looks right now, we will have their upcoming split 7″ with Look Mexico will be in hand by the time we go down to Gainesville.

Jr. Juggernaut (9-12-08) -Jr. Juggernaut did a lot of hanging out when they came to visit us for our 13th Anniversary. They rocked Denver a new a-hole with a blistering set of rock and roll and then the rest of the time, they boozed it and hung out. Mike bought like 20 records from us and told us that we need to put Uncle Tupelo on wax as well as his band’s album, “Ghost Poison”. Hopefully one day in the near future, we can do both. They will soon be recording for our under the influence split 7″ series where they will be paired up with label mates, Two Cow Garage.

Brian Quirk and Stephanie (8-29-08) - I feel bad because I never got Brian’s fiance’s last name, but we normally post bands in our Visitors of VC section, but we thought, why not put friends of VC, too. Brian and his fiance were visiting Denver before their big day and they caught us at the end of our day Friday. Unlike some couples, both Brian and Stephanie collect vinyl, but I got the feeling that Brian is a little more intense with his record collecting. Brian saw the Slapstick and Broadways records we had just gotten in so I sent him back with them and told him i would just bill him later. It was nice chatting with them and talking shop, but I had to cut my visit short to meet up with an out of town friend for dinner. I had given them some restaurant recommends for their visit so hopefully they got to eat good while in my neighborhood. Thanks Brian and Stephanie for the visit.

Portugal, the Man (8/12/08) - Usually when Portugal comes to town, they come in for one night and have to do an overnight drive directly afterwards. Luckily, they had a night off and were able to hang out for a few days. They came to the Kay Kay / Wild Orchid Children party the night before and hung out at VC with the Kay Kay folks. We all went out to get some Mexican food, I got them to sign a copy of “Church Mouth”, and we took the photo you see above. We talked about the new album quite a bit and although we are bummed, we won’t be putting it out on vinyl, we are excited to announce that we will have an exclusive color for our store. More details to follow, but it should be the most limited variety of the pressing. The new album is so amazing, I think I might go so far as to say it is my favorite Portugal album. It was great to see the guys who are some of my favorite folks in a touring band and I can’t wait til they come back through on their headlining tour in October.

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground (8/12/08) - Having Kay Kay in town was such a treat. They are not only one of the most talented group of musicians I know, they are some of the nicest and most grounded. They absolutely love playing music and being on the road. They played amazingly on their first show of the Rx Bandits/Portugal the Man tour and it made me feel really proud to be able to work with them. They played me some new tunes from Wild Orchid Children, Delific (Phil’s 9 and 7 year old kids’ band which is a cross of Delicious and Terrific), Lizzie Huffman (Kirk’s sister who is amazing), and told me of other projects they were working on.

I got them to sign a copy of their album and of course, Kirk put a pot leaf on the record, we took this photo that you see here of them all picking a record they love, and we went out for Mexican food. We had a great couple of days with them and I really look forward to our next hang sesh.

Anthony Germinaro (from Stereotyperider), Dad, and Girlfriend, Stephanie - Anthony and family were doing their summer trip out to Wisconsin and we were able to grab a bite and a few beers with him on his way back home to Phoenix, Arizona. Sounds like they had a great trip. Anthony rocks in both Stereotyperider and The Revenge. Stereotyperider recently finished recording their 4th record for us and we are deciding to do vinyl only or just on CD, depending on what the band wants.

Rocky Votolato and Dave Barker (7-20-08) - Rocky was on tour and after playing a hell of a show the night before with Chad Price, he stopped by the office to pick up copies of all of his records. I asked him and Dave (dave plays drums with Rocky, used to be in Pinhead Circus, Love Me Destroyer, and Drag the River) to pick a record they loved for my picture. If you see him on this tour, he should have copies of every color of every record of his. And if you haven’t picked up a copy of his “End Like This” 7″, it will soon be out of print. we have 13 copies left and he has 20 on the road with him and then that is it. While at our office, I got him to sign a copy of “Suicide Medicine” for our office and we spoke about him getting back home to record a cover for our under the influence series which we will be doing with Chad Price. I am stoked. Lastly, I gave him a copy of the Mike Hale album and told him that I would like more anything to have him take Mike out on tour. Cross your fingers!

Ninja Gun (6/18/08) - We had Ninja Gun in town for a week and we just fell in love with them. They are some of the most genuinely nice folks around, they are super funny, and they put on one hell of a show. We all miss them and can’t wait for them to come back to Colorado. When they hung out at the office, we asked them to grab a record they loved and pose with it. There are some really great selections.

Bomb the Music Industry! (5/29/08) - Since my son has been sick, I only spent half the day at the office yesterday and the BTMI guys attempted to catch me, but the Breeder’s bus happened to be blocking their van and they couldn’t come over til the afternoon. Luckily they made it by and the rest of the Vinyl Collective staff said that the guys were super cool enjoyed some beer, and took this snappy photo. Now the question is, are these records favorites of the band or are they being facetious? I will let you decide. Come back to Denver so we can meet up properly guys.

Lemuria (5/29/08) - The members of Lemuria are all really nice folks. Since my son has been sick, I wasn’t able to see them rock Denver, but luckily they stopped by the office the next day. And guess what? I asked them to do a split for the Vinyl Collective under the influence 7″ series and they said yes!

Murder by Death (5/9/08) Murder by Death were our first visitors to our new office. They hung out, drank beer, and talked shop. Later that night, they put on one of the best damn shows I have seen all year. Their new album is their best work to date and if you haven’t heard it, you are truly missing out. These guys are so committed to vinyl that even when the labels that have released their albums declined on doing vinyl, they put it out themselves. Great folks. Side Note: the terrorist looking guy is my good buddy Dylan (I call him T-bone). He does merch for Murder by Death.

Dan from Second Nature Recordings (5/21/08) Dan from Second Nature and his girlfriend Jane came to drop off lots of records since we are now handling their mailorder for their store. I totally spaced on taking a photo of them when at our office so I took a photo of them eating at Watercourse, Denver’s best vegetarian restaurant. They are good people and I am glad to be working with them. Their drive home was hit with storms and they almost had a run-in with a tornado. Luckily they got home in one piece.