Molly Bergen

Last night, a crowd of vinyl nerds, fledgling record labels and artists looking to self-produce packed the Grammy Museum for a free panel discussion called From Vision to Vinyl: A Step-by-Step Look At Album Production hosted by Dublab. The panel, selected by Origami Vinyl owner Neil Shield, was composed of people who helped him put out his first record. They included Pete Lyman of Infrasonic Sound, a recording studio and CD/vinyl mastering suite, Kevin Smith of Bill Smith Custom Records, a pressing plant in El Segundo, Jennifer Freund of Dorado Press, that specializes in album covers and jackets, and Peanut Butter Wolf, a DJ and founder of Stones Throw Records. From the mastering to the pressing to the album art, these were the people to turn to if you wanted to put out a record, and they offered a comprehensive, step by step instruction on how to do it yourself. Each of them was very passionate about their part of the process lovingly describing each step in jargon that I had never heard of. However, from what I did glean I comprised this list.

The Head and The Heart: Josiah Johnson, Kenny Henley, Chris Zasche, Charity Rose Thielen, Tyler Williams, and Jonathan Russell (Photo by Kyle Johnson) Every now and then when the wind blows just right and the planets align, an opening band will blow the headliner out of the water. It is an extremely rare occurence, but every so often, you arrive at a venue early and have your mind blown. If any of you were...