As Sujit G Ponoth drops the needle on the record, Amy Winehouse’s deliciously deep voice pervades the room. She sings ‘Rehab’ from her final and autobiographical album Back to Black and Sujit asks: “Hear the difference?” Amy Winehouse on vinyl sounds markedly different, I agree, more intimate and warm. “This is how authentic vinyl sounds,” he says.
Sujit wants everyone to experience the joy and warmth of analogue music, the traditional way of recording music on physical formats such as vinyl records, and cassettes. “For a generation that is used to streaming music for free, this could be a revelation,” he says.
A turntable at JD’s Jukebox | Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat
Sujit, who grew up listening to records his grandfather and mother used to play, converted his childhood home at Kaloor in Kochi into a record store, JD’s Jukebox, where he has curated a collection of over 5,000 records spanning 24 genres including progressive rock, metal, soul, and alternative, among others. He started collecting 10 years ago, crate-digging in obscure places in India and abroad; but it was when COVID struck that he catalogued and shared his collection on social media. “People started asking me if they could buy the records and I found that there was a burgeoning market for vinyl.”
The collection of vinyl at JD’s Jukebox | Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat
The cosy space is for anyone who wants to listen to music, buy it or simply talk about it. Sujit is part of a growing tribe of vinylheads in India, who are preserving the analogue experience. It is a sort of conscious slowing down, they say. The analogue format records sound as continuous waveforms and it is not immune to ambient sounds. This makes the music seem organic.
For most vinylheads, it is this vulnerability that makes the romance with vinyl real. Founder of record store, Kinjal Gosar from Mumbai, recounts her experience listening to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon at a vinyl listening session her friend took her to in Mumbai in 2017. “I knew the album inside out. But that day, on vinyl, I could hear things I had never heard before,” she says.
Kinjal Gosar, founder of Drocer Records | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
There was no looking back since for Kinjal, who started collecting records and invested in a player and speakers before launching her online store, Drocer Records in 2022. Drocer now hosts events in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune, selling records, turntables and more. “We have tied up with Mumbai-based music school Adagio to host vinyl nights every Thursday,” adds Kinjal.
People check out records at the Turntable Festival and Record Store Day 2024 at Khar in Mumbai | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini
At the Turntable Festival and Record Store Day 2024 at Khar in Mumbai | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini
In the past decade, retro musical formats have made a comeback globally with vinyl taking the lead. Reports indicate that the market is set to see a spike between 2023 and 2028. In 2023, Taylor Swift became the first best selling artiste on vinyl, with one of every 15 vinyl albums sold in the US being hers. Things may not be as swift in India, but it is growing. Though there are no pressing plants in India, new releases are being pressed abroad. The collectors are predominantly millennials, but Gen Z is hooked too.
“Gen Zs are my biggest clients,” says Nehal Shah, founder-director of India Record Co., an independent record store in Mumbai. “It is beautiful to see this interest among the younger listeners. All the artistes they listen to are on vinyl now and they are looking for a connection with the artise. They believe in fair pay and that is the thing about vinyl; it pays its artiste. Some of these young buyers cannot afford a player, but they buy records to preserve,” says Goa-based Nehal, who grew up listening to the records her grandfather used to play.
Nehal Shah, founder of India Record Co. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“I have always wondered why I couldn’t find my favourite Indian independent artistes on vinyl. I wanted to see what I can do about this.” And that is how her store was born, in 2021, with an aim to help people create a deeper connection to music. Listeners can buy records across genres, including Hindi vinyl LPs (Bollywood, ghazals and classical); turntables, stereos, amplifiers, even record cleaning kits and vinyl sleeves. If you are an artiste, India Record Co. will help get your music pressed on vinyl, too.
Chinmay Madhusoodanan with his collection | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Vinyl owes part of its charm to the artwork. Art is a huge part of what drew Chinmay Madhusoodanan, from Bengaluru to vinyl. This includes posters, stickers, cover art and inlays. “Even the records come in different colours, some have stuff put into them, such as leaves imprinted...” says Chinmay With over 500 vinyl records in his collection, Chinmay enjoys this tangible aspect as much as the music. He started collecting in 2012 when he was in Malaysia, which has a vibrant vinyl culture. Chinmay, who works in a gaming company, is a jazz aficionado, with it comprising 50% of his collection, including rare bands from Japan, and South Africa.
Reuban Jacob | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Lovers of vinyl are also storytellers, collecting experiences as they go crate-digging. Reuban Jacob, a vinyl enthusiast who started collecting in 2016-17, made a documentary Back to Grooves, which features 17 vinyl collectors from across India and one from South Africa to document this revival story. The 45-minute documentary, which won an honourable jury mention at the 11th Delhi Short International Film festival, 2022, will be released on YouTube soon. A Government of Kerala employee in Thiruvananthapuram, Reuban swears he is not a filmmaker. “It was a labour of love. I just wanted to document the journeys of the keepers of analogue music,” he adds. A Beatles fan, he has over 500 records in his collection across genres.
Rajdeep Mukherjee with his collection | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
For the serious audiophile such as Rajdeep Mukherjee, technique is as important as nostalgia. A copy-writer based in Kolkata, he believes one needs to understand how records are pressed to be able to appreciate them more. “A record groove has left and right channels and both your ears pick up the sounds. That is how the human body is designed to hear,” says Rajdeep. “Of course, you need to have a good player, cartridge, amplifiers that would decide the quality of the sound,” he adds. Hailing from Asansol in West Bengal, Rajdeep, who is a fan of psychedelic and progressive rock, dug out most of his collection (over 300) from shops at Lenin Sarani, Wellington Square and Free School Street in Kolkata. “This is a hobby that modifies itself as you go with it,” says Rajdeep. “From a basic turntable with a ceramic cartridge, I have now progressed to a Project Debut 3 turntable, made in Austria,” he says.
Turntables on display at the Turntable Festival and Record Store Day 2024 at Khar. | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini
Vinylheads unanimously agree that it is an expensive hobby. Records are available even on e-retail platforms such as Amazon costing ₹1,000 upwards, depending on the artiste, vintage and label. A basic turntable model costs ₹5,000 upwards.
The Revolver Club (TRC), a store specialising in vinyl and music equipment in Mumbai, has been at the forefront of the revival in India. Launched officially in 2018, TRC grew organically, selling records across genres, then players, stereo systems and home theatres. “We started slowly, but thoroughly,” says Jude de Souza, CEO of TRC. Today, it has branches in Kolkata, Indore, Goa and Hyderabad, and plans to expand to other cities as well. It isn’t just for the niche hobbyist, says Jude. “We want everyone to learn about vinyl and dispel apprehensions. We want to tell people who love vinyl that we get them,” adds Jude.
Trinayan Baruah’s vinyl collection | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Ultimately, it is about going back in time, says Trinayan Baruah, for whom the ritual of listening to a full album is key. “We have lost the connection of listening to a full album. The sequence of the songs are laid out for the listeners in a vinyl record; and that was how it was intended to be listened to,” says the musician and advertising professional from Guwahati, who now lives in Bengaluru. He inherited much of his collection (over 600) from his father, Hemendra Kumar Baruah. Trinayan’s Instagram feed is a poetic expression of his love for vinyl, with videos of various records spinning. “Playing a record is therapeutic for me,” he says.
For all those who need to slow down, take the vinylhead’s advice — just spin the record and soak in the music.
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