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DILLON & BROOKLYN
@thegrapevinyl
They live in Barrie, Ontario with their young son and have been collecting vinyl for around four years. As with a number of collectors, Dillon’s interest with vinyl began through his parents and his father in particular who was a big music lover. Brooklyn’s introduction to records came through meeting Dillon and them going on a first date to a concert (quite the story but more about that later).
Dillon & Brooklyn’s collection currently stands at around 1,200 records which in the relatively short space of time they have been collecting just highlights how passionate and addicted they are to collecting records. Their collection expands across a number of different genres of music with Metal, Doom and Hip Hop being some of their favourites. They are keen collectors of limited edition pressings and some variants of records from their favourite artists and have been lucky enough to collaborate with some artists through Instagram.
How long have you guys been collecting records?
Dillon: We’ve actively been collecting since the end of 2016 when we moved in together.
Brooklyn: Around that time we were gifted a turntable but we already had a few records that we had never played so this gave us the opportunity to play them and it started from there really.
How many records do you have to date?
Dillon: Probably around 1,200 records.
Wow that is some going in just over four years?
Dillon: Yeah but it’s our primary hobby as we are always listening to vinyl. We don’t have a TV in our living space and we probably spend the same amount of time watching TV as other people might do listening to records. Playing records is our main form of entertainment and it’s something we do even when we are doing things around the house.
Brooklyn: The Vinyl Community is a really cool collective hobby for us both and when other people might be spending money on other hobbies, we are investing money in our record collection.
Is there a favourite genre of music you both enjoy the most?
Brooklyn: I love Doom Metal and it’s many variations like Stoner Doom or Heavy Doom stuff and I also love Hip Hop. I love music that engergises me.
Dillon: I love dark and experimental music which I know isn’t a genre as such but that can spread across a number of different genres. If a Rock band has a particularly dark or experimental record I will buy it. I totally fit the bill of those type of people that like dark progressive music. I will buy a record by Bauhaus as I think that music was so ahead of its time but you can also buy a more modern record by a band like Type O Negative that will scratch the same itch. Brooklyn and I tastes don’t clash and pretty much harmonise with each others.
So, why vinyl then? Why are you hooked on buying vinyl and not another format?
Brooklyn: It’s the whole experience for me! You don’t cherry pick a song from a record like you do with other formats, you get the artists entire vision for their record as well as getting the physical artwork to pair with it. Also, what they are doing with pressings and variants makes it really cool. It’s the complete package as an experience for me.
Dillon: I equate listening to vinyl as worship at a temple! Your record turntable becomes a shrine and you are celebrating these artists your home. It’s the experience that vinyl creates that other formats do not replicate themselves.
Brooklyn: If there isn’t music playing in our house then our son feels uncomfortable I think and he has started to interpret music himself recently which is really cool. He has grown up in this environment where music is always around him and the music has been very different genres and types also. He loves the song “Shout” by Tears For Fears and points at the record when it’s playing on the turntable and then when that song has finished he wants it on again and shouts “Again! Again” until I turn it back over. expressions and creative medium being welcomed into
Do you guys have a favourite record shop you like to visit?
Brooklyn: We probably have a few so that’s quite hard to answer.
Dillon: The one that most people would be able to visit that we love to go to is called Rotate This (@rotatethis) in Toronto.
Brooklyn: Yeah I’d say that Rotate This was my number one actually as they tend to have those more obscure records that you can’t seem to find anywhere else. They also have a really cool “used” section and we find most of the records we are looking for there.
Dillon: If you are just getting into collecting records then I’d say Sonic Boom (@sonicboommusic) also in Toronto would be a great place to start. We also have our local shop called The Record Market (@therecordmarket) in Barrie, Ontario which is a great little shop that has that really personal appeal where they will learn what music you’re into and put things aside for you if they think you will like it.
Brooklyn: They also have a really good Heavy Metal section which I love.
Do you have a list of records you are still looking for? A want list we will call it, and how big is it?
Brooklyn: I feel like it’s getting smaller and smaller. I have a few white whales that either haven’t been pressed on vinyl or haven’t been pressed for a long time meaning they are so expensive and I can’t afford them. At the top of that list is Queens Of The Stone Age’s self titled debut but It’s so expensive. Even the second pressings are being sold for $150 every time. We used to see them all the time in shops but then they became so rare and became out of print.
Dillon: Because of social media and online market places you are always aware of what is available and if you can’t manage yourself and your wallet you can put yourself in a dangerous economic position. We buy more modern music than older stuff and I get that the older pressings from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s are more of a pull for the more classic record collectors but not for us. I have a list of records I want but I’m patient until I find them at an affordable price. I’m trying super hard to find the Cake Discography boxset at the moment.
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