Guest Post – Scott Lamb, Pheenix Alpha
What an amazing time we had at Making Vinyl! Nashville is always one of those places you just want to keep coming back to, the host for the event was non-other than our crew at The Vinyl Lab.
They have such an incredible place with a venue, bar, outside area with an upper deck that looks over the city and of course an AD12 on display that didn’t stop pressing records the entire conference.
We had the pleasure of not only speaking there but also hearing from so many different people in our industry. A highlight was the panels consisting of talks between groups of people in the industry.
“Meeting Demand When The Industry Is At Capacity” was the kickoff discussion with:
Mark Michaels CEO & Chairman of United Record Pressing.
Brandon Seavers CEO of Memphis Record Pressing
Piper Payne Partner/Operator at Physical Music Productions
Ben Blackwell Third Man Records.
Talks about the industry being at full capacity were a common conversation throughout the whole conference, hearing firsthand from the people that run the plants were interesting and refreshing. A few key points were made on how to meet the demand and how to best prepare for it.
Piper made a point of addressing how important finding the right workers is and just because someone can change the oil in their car doesn’t necessarily mean they are the right person to work on the presses. It takes a certain character to really master the craft of record pressing and finding these people is hard work. Brandon described it as pushing someone off the side of a ship to see if they would sink or swim and that it is hard to know what sort of person to hire until they get them in there. Mark mentioned that unity was important in this time and that working with other pressing plants to share the load was a help. He was backed up by Ben that said there is enough work for everyone at this time.
The talk with the Operators was great.
Brie-Anne Andrews Third Man Pressing
Doc Holoweski Third Man Pressing
Michael Osborn Hand Drawn Pressing
Vince Slusarz Gotta Groove Records
There is something about everyone being in the same boat that really gives you a boost of hope. Anything that can go wrong in the pressing process will go wrong and will continue to do so forever no matter what press or gear you use. This was an insightful conversation that basically gave you the tools to “smile and laugh through the hard times”. Making records can be hard work but it’s an exciting time to be doing so.
There were so many highlights to this conference and if you get the chance to go to one of these events then we would totally recommend doing so. Great times, new friends, and records! Massive thank you to the crew at Making Vinyl for having us and The Vinyl Lab for being such an epic host.
The next event is In Offenbach (Frankfurt), Germany, on September 01, 2022. Making Vinyl Return to Germany co-producing the Physical Media World conference with their first in-person event since Berlin 2019. Like the Nashville event, these tickets will sell out so don’t sleep on this.
“As newcomers in the pressing industry, we were glad to have crossed the pond to join the Making Vinyl conference. The content of the panels, Q&A session, and demos were very beneficial to us, and we felt we learned a lot during those 2 days. We were also very grateful to meet other pressing businesses, suppliers, hosts, and event organizers, who couldn’t have been more supportive and welcoming to us. The highlight for me was to see in action the Pheenix Alpha press, which we have ordered and are planning to receive in Q1 2023. The Vinylab crew was pleased with the presses and had very positive feedback on Pheenix’s technical support. We can’t get to receive ours and start pressing in Scotland!”
David Harvey – Seabass Vinyl (Scotland)
