Lost in today’s digital age can be the oh-so-sweet feeling of holding vinyl in your hand. It’s crazy to think that there’s an entire generation of human beings that have had little perceived use for the physical record, or on a larger scale the record store which houses them. While it’s tough to argue with the convenience of having an infinite library at your fingertips in the comfort of your own home, it serves as no substitute to the intimate relationship you can have with the dedicated record store of your area busting its ass day in and day out. Record Store Day was made to celebrate the uniqueness of each store, and to recognize the impact throughout the years they’ve had on their entire community.
Created in 2007, Record Store Day is an internationally recognized day to celebrate the independently-owned record store. Focusing on each record store’s individuality and rich history, RSD is observed by the 1400 record stores in the United States, as well as thousands overseas. Participating artists will go out and show support for the day by offering meet & greets, interacting with fans, and showing an overall sense of gratitude to the record stores that are alive and kicking today. Notably last year, Derek Vincent Smith sat down with fans offering photo ops and signatures for any copy of ACMOTS that was bought in the store that day.
Picking up steam each year since its inception, artists all around the world have shown support of their own by offering special RSD releases or re-releases of albums. Last year Pretty Lights led the way for electronic music by releasing his double vinyl Hidden Shades LP which contained four previously unreleased tracks off his hugely successful A Color Map of The Sun. Outside of simply electronic music, the roster of supporting artists is seemingly endless: boasting names like Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Nirvana, and many others adding to the frenzy of Record Store Day support.
All of the above is great to know, but we wanted to reach out and see what some well respected artists inside of electronic music had to say regarding the day. Being immersed inside the scene and potentially holding a more passionate view on the day than your average fan, we reached out to RJD2 and ill.Gates to find out their thoughts on RSD. Both making their livings by pushing the limits of where live electronic shows can go, these two immediately came to mind when seeking opinions of the special day. Check out their quotes below:
“RSD is like what April 20th is for weed fans, but for people like me. The ONE day a year when people who may not think about buying a record hopefully head to a record store and round up some vinyl. This one is of particular importance for me because it’s the first year that I’ve done anything specifically to be released on RSD. I’m super excited about the Icebird record finally coming out on 2xLP colored vinyl; it looks fantastic!”
– RJD2
“Record Store Day is a touching tribute to the unsung heroes that made the music you love possible. These beautiful souls aren’t in it for the money, they aren’t in it for the fame, they often don’t even come near a stage. These amazing humans give their lives and labor to the art they believe in and it’s about time we recognized their contributions. Even if you’ve never been into a record store in your life you owe it to them (and to yourself) to stop in and smell the roses. Please join musicians all over the world this April 18th and support your local record store. They deserve it.”
-ill.Gates
It was great getting these two fantastic opinions on the day, and we hope this might spur you into action and hit the road down to your nearest record joint! Go out and support your local businesses and while you’re at it, take RJ’s advice and grab his Record Store Day release in a record store near you. There’s innumerable artists this year celebrating the day, and you can view the entire list (as well as what’s being released) here. Check it out, odds are one or more of your favorite artists are releasing a special pressing just for the day.
(photo credits to recordstoreday.com and factmag.com)
Connect with Record Store Day:
http://www.recordstoreday.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RecordStoreDay
Connect with ill.Gates:
https://www.facebook.com/illGatesMusic
https://illmethodology.com/
https://twitter.com/illGatesMusic
https://soundcloud.com/ill-gates
Connect with RJD2:
https://www.facebook.com/RJD2
https://soundcloud.com/rjd2-1
https://twitter.com/search?q=rjd2
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