Thanks, Jay. Thanks, June.
Thank you to Master Rene Rivo for the referral.
1. How and when did you get into the analog music/vinyl records hobby?
- Sometime between 1983 to 1989, I was a teenager when a neighbor gave away a tray with a bunch of case less-cassette tapes that he was willing to part with before migrating to the US. From that stash, I remember listening to The Doors' Waiting for The Sun album over and over again on our Sony cassette player.
Around the same time, another neighbor ( we had extremely generous neighbors by the way) introduced me to some vinyls available at the time: Aztec Camera's Knife, Billy Joel's Glasshouse album, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, I was hooked!
Being a teenager, I was always curious with music-related stuff: tinkering with and assembling our DIY "mobile gears"---hiring a disco mobile then was a bit expensive for us unless you were about to celebrate your 18th birthday and your parents are willing to spend 2,500 pesos for a mobile sound system to provide music for your 'debut' party.
So, house parties in my village were powered by mano-mano, sariling diskarte "home mobile disco" which includes taking apart my parents Akai furniture stereo's turntable and using it for playing music, dj style! We need another media player so, we find another phonograph from a component to mutilate or a cassette deck then patch them all up to form our own mobile set up. School and house parties were mostly done this way.
Looking for more music to "spin", I would frequent the local tape and record shops in Quezon City. During the 80's , after school, I would troop to the local SM music department store's casette tape and records section. Or, Odyssey Records. Or, for some imported stuff, High Adventure boutique also in SM (got my first UK LP Violent Femmes from H.A. for 120 pesos).
Attending to local "concert events", listening to DZRJ and WXB 102, and occasionally reading Jingle magazine and Herald X, during my teenage life, expanded my musical preference. I was beginning to go for the music that I actually enjoy listening to, rather than playing to the delight of my friends during house parties. The genres became noisier and louder and weirder! It was during this time that we formed our high school band and played U2, The Clash, Bolshoi, Urban Bandits, The Dawn, The Sound, R.E.M., etc. This time, I was buying physical format music that my band can listen to and maybe, cover for our "pondo". It was a short-lived band, we broke up before college, but the music buying and collecting continued on.
Buying music was always on top of the list of things to do wherever I go.This includes trips to the US or any other Asian countries. Locally, I would always visit music stores and sometimes go for music I haven't even heard of. It was always a passion. It was a fun passion. It was, and still is. Of course, the easier access to music courtesy of the internet made the hobby even worse. Mas magastos na!
2. What do vinyl records give to you as a listener that CDs or MP3s cannot?
-Unang-una, yung vinyls, for me, they have better packaging. That 12" X 12" album sleeve with the cover art, pictures, graphics, information sheet-liner notes, and other physical and visual element is a very big plus over Compact Discs or MP3s. The experience from playing vinyl is just not comparable with ANY digital format. That big vinyl allows you to experience to physically hold the end product of an artist or a band: the creative process that goes through to actually produce it, the vinyl record somehow represents all that.
Playing a vinyl record gets more into the artist and the music. I put on a record and I focus more intently on the album.
For some reason, CD doesn't quite do that to me. And I also collect CDS by the way.
Secondly, I think my set up also has something to do with it, but I love that old, warm sound quality thats produced by a turntable plus integrated amp plus the vinyl record.
3. How many vinyl albums do you have so far?
-At least, 2,000 LPs and hundreds of 45s na siguro, I lost count.
4. What would be your top 3 all-time favourite vinyl albums?
-Of course, excluding all the Beatles, Stones, The Jam or The Who and other related releases hehe....
1. The Specials' first, self titled album 2. Paul Weller's Wild Wood 3. The Clash's Sandinista!
5. What are the top 3 vinyl albums in your wish list (i.e., hard-to-find)?
-1. Maria Cafra-the first album 2. Juan Dela Cruz' Up In Arms 3. Blue Boy-any album
6. Which music genre do you like the most?
-Rock n roll+Reggae+Ska.
7. Who are your top 3 fave musicians?
a. OPM-solo-Pepe Smith, Resty Fabunan, Jun Lopito*** band-The Sleepyheads and Tropical Depression
b. Foreign-solo-Paul Weller, Damon Albarn, Pete Townshend***band (current fave) The Strypes
8. Kindly describe your analog set-up:
a. Turntable – brand and model
b. Amps – brand and model
c. Speakers – brand and model
Turntable-Technics SL 1200 ( I have two) , a Projekt and a GE Wild Cat--a portable TT.
Amps-Sony Integrated Amp TA,70s era
Speakers-a pair of beaten up Sony 70s era
I listen to mostly rock n roll from the 70s to early 80s so opted for a late 70s to an early 80s set up to replicate the sound.
I've wanted to have a Technics SL 1200s because it is the industry standard for DJs anywhere in the world, and it was beyond my budget when I began starting to get into vinyls. I use the Projekt for playing mostly new and electronic sounding albums. And the GE Wildcat is best for indie-folkish-rockabilly-bluesy--bebop jazzy albums.
The reason behind the choice of speakers was influenced the music/media to be played as well. Dapat tunog 70s to 80s din.
Most of my turn tables, amps and speakers are purchased in a used condition---I avoid using new hard ware, hindi bagay sa mga plaka ko and tunog.
9. What is your advice/warning to readers who’d like to get into this hobby?
-If you're just curious, an occasional music consumer, and would want a basic turntable set up, go for a cheap, budget one.
If you're a music fan, you can either start with a basic, less expensive set up and up grade later OR, start with a pretty decent set up that you like if you have the budget or extra money to spend. As a music fan, with all the amount of music that's coming out and easily available, expect to amass a number of records. Not cheap.
Siguro, lastly, if you just started to get into music or vinyl records, please don't declare yourself an "audiophile". Ang tinatawag na audiophile ay yung mga gaya nina Mr. Rene Rivo and people like him who have invested so much time trying out different audio set ups, studying different sound production, and quality and has the technical knowledge on a wide range of audio-related equipment. It takes awhile, several years to be an audiophile, so don't rush, and enjoy the ride!
