Dogs. Records. How can you go wrong? That's the exact formula on Trois-Rivières, Québec resident Frank April's Instagram page, @vinylyorkies. Naturally, the page has amassed over 30K followers. Being the nosy bastard that I am, I reached out to Frank to get the skinny on his vinyl habits for the Record Collector series.
When did you start collecting records?
I started collecting on July 31, 2012. I remember the exact date because it was the day of the passing of [No Use For a Name vocalist/guitarist] Tony Sly.
Where do you find your records these days?
I would say its a mix of crate digging and online shopping. I much prefer going into a record store because you never know what you'll find, and sometimes it leads you to an artist or an album you never wouldve thought of or run into. But buying online is much quicker.
How much is the most you've played for a single record, what is it, and how did you obtain it?
Its a bit embarrassing cause I know I went way overboard, but I dropped $180 to get In Reverie by Saves the Day. It was a sealed copy I had been after for years. I found it on Discogs, the seller was from Japan.
What is your most cherished record in your collection?
A good friend of mine gave me a copy of The Alchemy Index by Thrice as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago. This album was my white whale, most definitely my most prized record. I was happy to get it, but even more so to get it from a dear friend.
Is there anything that annoys you about the current record collecting scene?
The state of the vinyl industry right now is a double-edge sword. Now that the sales are back up we get to see tons of reissues or even first pressings we wanted to see happen. In the other hand, it is very frustrating to see prices go through the roof as well as seeing labels put out low quality pressings just for the sake of laying it down on wax. But We'll take the bad with the good I guess...
What are some records that you've had a tough time tracking down?
- Underoath, Define the Great Line
- MxPx, Life In General
- AFI, Sing the Sorrow
Matter of fact, if anyone reading this has a copy of the records listed above, hit me up.
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Follow Frank (and his doggies) on Instagram.
Tagged: record collector
