by DJ Golden Slumbers
In celebration of Vinylthon, I wanted to show off my collection of old vinyl records that I have been painting over the course of the past couple of months. I was gifted a whole bunch of old vinyl by an old friend of mine that he got at a thrift shop. I have been painting them in hope that I can put them on my dorm wall next semester, and I also love the aesthetic of painted vinyl. Currently I have 16 records that I have painted, and I try to make each vinyl stand out on its own. I don’t like to make them look like each other because I have such a limited number of them. I choose to only paint the black part of the record and to not paint the label. I feel like it looks more like a record with the label showing rather than if I just painted the whole thing. My only exception is the one at the bottom left, because when I painted it, I felt like it was too pretty to remove the center painting to show the label.
For all of my vinyl, I put tape onto the label and paint over it so it all looks even. Then I remove the tape when it has all dried. I am still in the process of painting more records; I only have three left to paint, and I’m excited to work on them!
I have always loved the concept of having vinyl records to listen to, as well. Over the course of three years, I have been curating a collection of albums that I love. I mainly collect indie rock and music from movies. I believe I have about 70 records, which I keep in a metal box fitted with foam. To be able to physically hold a vinyl copy of my favorite album is one of the things that makes me feel more connected to the music, and the band then feels more personal to me.
One of my favorite albums is Elephant by The White Stripes. This was the very first record I ever got. It was a gift for my 16th birthday by my sister’s husband. I remember being fascinated by watching the needle go through the grooves to play the music, as this was the first time I remember seeing a record being played. Elephant made me fall in love with collecting, and with cherishing the actual vinyl and the art on the sleeve. There is so much more art to albums in the back of the record case and inside it that goes unnoticed without having an actual copy. I hope to continue my hunt for more records to add to my collection and to also work on painting more and more vinyl in the future to fit my aesthetic.