Above: Memphis Record Pressing Co-Owner Brandon Seavers
For more information please visit memphisvinyl.com
The first record I ever owned was Joan Jett's I Love Rock and Roll and boy did it have an impact on my life most specifically my career going on to become an on-air personality with our legendary station. There was just something about pulling that record out of the sleeve and dropping the needle and getting lost in those tunes. So unless you've been living under a rock (heh heh) then you know there has been a resurgence in the vinyl record industry. Now what you might not know is that one of the industry's leaders in the vinyl pressing biz is located right here in Memphis, TN called Memphis Record Pressing. I've had the opportunity to tour MRP and it's most impressive. Brandon Seavers and his business partner Mark Yoshida (Rockingchair Studios) first started manufacturing CDs and DVDs at Audiographics Masterworks in 1997 and eventually started pressing vinyl records in 2014. The business has grown to produce 250k records per month and right on the brink of Record Store Day coming up on Black Friday they just pressed 320k in October! Amazing! I had Brandon drop by to talk about Memphis Record Pressing on last weekend's Memphis Made. He believes that people still want to have something that is tangible which is why folks are buying vinyl again. He calls pressing vinyl "dark arts magic" rather than manufacturing because it is such a special process. MRP has pressed the entire Hi Records catalog, along with many other Memphis Music gems, and he considers it an honor to be able to continue that Memphis Made Music Legacy though MRP.
Brandon's had his own plentiful experiences with Memphis Music having played and recorded with many bands including Hyper Cadaver, Six Million Dollar Band, Rufus T. Firefly and Whalebone among others. His band Hyper Cadaver (think RHCP or Fishbone) was one of the first I ever saw at the now legendary yet defunct Rascals which was in Overton Square in the late 80s/early 90s. Have a listen to my two-part interview with Brandon where he relives some of the good ole days and tells the story of Memphis Record Pressing below.
Support Record Store Day on Friday, November 23rd by picking up lots of vinyl! Don't forget our amazing local record stores Goner Records and Shangri-La Records for awesome gems that day! Recordstoreday.com