For the
Record

With the emergence of the digital age, most would say that the time of vinyl is dead. But with the unexpected rise of young’uns in their endless crusade to become ever more distinguished from the ‘mainstream’, the appreciation for anything old or analogue started to increase again. But is it just an ephemeral resurgence, a fad, or a catalyst giving life back to the near outmoded subculture? Such is the worry of Cheah Mun Kit, operator of Cool Record Shop in SEA Park, PJ. A truly old school guy with a shop that matches his biological antiquity, this is definitely the man to talk to when it comes to the obsolescence of physical media.

“When I first joined the vinyl industry in ’87, it was just at the turning point as CDs were coming out. Record stores started disappearing while the cassettes are still there in the middle, then towards the ‘90s, vinyl in Malaysia was practically gone,” said Cheah. He added that the bigger companies were beginning to notice that sales were dropping, which led to dealers becoming sceptical. CDs and cassette tapes were still selling, but vinyls only at a limited quantity, mostly for promotional purposes. But Cheah believed that there were still people out there with huge collections who just wouldn’t throw it all away.

Fortunately the advent of the internet catalysed the industry as specialty websites catering to vinyl collections emerged, and although seemingly dead, he explained the scene was kept alive by the audiophiles and hi-fi enthusiasts. “These people, for them, the sound of vinyl is different. It is warmer and not the same as a digital sound from the CD, which is more metallic,“ elaborated Cheah. With prospects into keeping things going, the hopeful Cheah tirelessly sourced from wherever he could. “We would get it mostly from Hong Kong, the US or Japan, but only specific requests because it was expensive due to the fact that only the US, the UK, Japan, and Germany have vinyl factories now.”

It was in the late ‘90s that Malaysia experienced her own vinyl renaissance. “Word spread among the community and friends, we started to build a clientele base that was slowly expanding,” recounted Cheah. Then a decade later when the duties on vinyl records were removed in 2007, it aided a lot in helping the scene burgeon. Naturally, record companies started to slowly produce them again. Regardless of whether vinyls saw a revival, Cheah said no matter how the scene was like, it was the passion that kept him going: ”I’m a collector myself, what makes vinyl special is, well you’ll have to listen to it yourself, on a good turntable, that is (laughs).”

When asked about what he personally thought brought vinyl back, Cheah slanted his head downwards slightly and despite the gesture, said something cynically optimistic, if there is such a thing. “The younger people now are beginning to discover vinyl, and they like it because of the sound, but I don’t think I’m that correct, I would say a lot of them buy because it’s more like a collectable,” he explained. If it’s something unique from their favourite artistes and bands, they would collect every damn record – or so he claimed: “I know people who are crazy fans of Dépêche Mode… the Japan version, buy! The A-track, buy!” Lessening the jaded view, the geriatric collector posited tangibility as the main reason of vinyl’s popularity now. While everybody is downloading their music, a vinyl record is something you can’t download.

Everybody wants to be a DJ. Be it for the true love of driving a crowd wild with your mixes, or the fame, or the promised ladies. But the harsh truth is, it’s not that hard being a DJ now. Of course we’re not saying everyone can be a DJ (we are not deadmau5…), although admittedly compared to the days when vinyl was a prerequisite requirement for DJing, things are much easier today. It only makes sense then for us to talk to Bryan Burger, of Excessive Records fame, about vinyls and old school DJing.

Bryan Burger, a DJ himself, has been operating Excessive Records since 1999, focusing mainly on DJ gears, music for DJs, as well as running several club nights and events. He also operates Royal DJ Academy, a school for people to learn the trade. “I have been dealing with vinyl records since 1996 where back then I was working in a local club supply record shop as a store manager,” he explained to us how he got into the game before continuing that, “… to me, towards the late ‘90s, the record game never really died, it just got more and more expensive. It was still being manufactured overseas but yes it did go down as people moved more towards using CDs and USBs to DJ instead.” To wit, even he did.

Yet, despite the convenience of modern media, the good thing about spinning with vinyl is the analogue sound that it provides: “It’s loud and clear, it really gives a different quality.” Using a vinyl to spin offers the DJ more feel as the sensation of touching the vinyl is different. You almost feel the music, the beat, and the rhythm. Spinning on a vinyl, without any displays and BPM info, you can’t cheat as everything has to be done manually. Bryan, perhaps reminiscing of the past, said that there was satisfaction to be gained when DJing with vinyls next to a crowd. “It’s the ooohs and aaahs that get me,” he said. Beyond the technicality of the DJ world though, he’s attracted to vinyl due to the covers. ”Some artistes look for street artists and fashion designers to help design the cover, making it a valuable collectable while others have opted for black plastic vinyl instead, picture pieces printed on it making it really cool,” said Bryan.

We were curious as to why vinyl usage waned off in the noughties, and Bryan offered an alternative explanation to the clichéd ‘convenience’ and ‘easiness’ of digital storage. He claimed that younger DJs often time play for free or lower pay just to get their name out. With the prices now, they simply can’t afford to spin on vinyl. “A vinyl record probably has about 10 songs. That said, DJs seldom buy LPs, they buy singles that have 2, 3 songs and will cost you RM50 and above. Also, when performing, you’ll have to carry the whole bag, which has hundreds of pieces, to a club and it is heavy,” he added, finally validating the aforementioned oft-repeated reasoning. It’s also hard to DJ with vinyl because most clubs just don’t have the player. “Pen drives and CDs are much more convenient! Plus with the new DJ time code technology that uses an empty vinyl to control music from the laptop, it still keeps things alive in a way.”

“But honestly? The mp3 and USB stick culture is killing vinyl.”

Fortunately, the younger generation are beginning to pick up on vinyl again. “A lot of new artistes are coming out with new vinyls and reissues, plus the hipsters are starting to enjoy the whole vinyl subculture, which is why in our academy all our students must learn how to play vinyl,” Brian sternly asserted. Elitism or not, he demands that they learn the history and culture – they have to realise that it’s not just about downloading music and playing it, you got to know proper music and have skills. Still, he’s aware that no one can force the youngsters to play vinyl, although from his point of view, music is akin to fashion and design whereby everything moves in a cycle. It is just a matter of time before technology creates a hybrid: “Old school things will combine with new school things and create something new.”