Pad Chennington - My Vinyl Collection And Where I Got Them
Pad Chennington
My Vinyl Collection And Where I Got Them
For anyone who has been to my YouTube channel, y’all know I love collecting vinyl records. One of the most highly requested videos I am asked to make on there is how I have gotten into vinyl record collecting, what I have in my collection, and how I get them all. It has definitely been a long journey for me, even though I only started collecting records about 4 years ago, but damn does time fly.
With today's unstoppable growth of convenient digital media all at the click of a button (or these days, a touchscreen), I will always love the refreshing joy in receiving, using, and preserving a tangible, physical form of work from the creator... a chance to absorb the art within the presence of your very own palms. From discovering records at garage sales to juuussstt managing to make the “BUY NOW” button on the latest limited-edition Vaporwave vinyl record release before it sells out, there is just something so special about organizing, collecting, and playing these fun musical frisbees. Today, I want to give you my story on how I got into it all… A chance to share with you how I first entered the vinyl collecting realm and how it has become such a big part of my day to day life ever since.
The first vinyl record I had ever received in my life happened when I was in the 7th grade, I was at my grandmother’s house one day all those years ago and she knew I had recently developed a fascination with the sound of The Beatles (it was around the time of my musical-listening life where I was evolving from the “I only really listen to what is on the radio” era). Next thing I know, she hands me a mono LP of their 1964 album “A Hard Day’s Night”, and tells me it was one of the only vinyl records she ever bought when she was younger, and that she knew it would be more appreciated in my hands. Now I obviously knew at this time of my life I was never going to use this, yeah it looked pretty but in the mid to late 2000s cmon’ we had things like “YouTube to MP3 converter” or iTunes if you got a giftcard around the holidays... so, why would I need this when I can get all the Hard Days Nights I wanted nice and portable on my iPod Nano!
So that was the mid 2000’s, years would pass and slowly but surely the convenience of music distribution via online means got even easier. Today, we can simply go about our day and if we’re in the mood to hear a specific track, any track at all, it is a simple search and click away on YouTube, Spotify, Bandcamp, or any other streaming service. It is just so damn easy and there is no “discovery” feeling anymore, or waiting for your favorite song to hopefully pop up on the radio and surprise you. It’s very easy these days to “kill” a song and just listen to it so many times in the day you found it that in a mere 24 hours you can easily become sick of it.
Then… I discovered vinyl records.
The year was 2015, I used to be a big retro gaming collector back in the day but was eventually getting bored of the hobby as I found myself never really playing any of the games I actually collected, it kinda all became pointless to me. I eventually transitioned into having a passion for vinyl record collecting, as not only did it scratch that collector itch deep down inside of me, but I found way more practical use with these records over games as they supplemented my day to day activities, whether it was cleaning the house or working on my laptop, instead of having to find the time to use them. Simply, they added so much extra joy to my day.
before I knew it, I was picking up records by the boatload at garage, yard, and estate sales. I was finding incredible deals in stored away boxes of peoples homes, the hunt for vinyl record scores flooded my mind as the work week would come to a close. Every saturday morning I would wake up at 5:45am, grab a cup of coffee and an everything bagel for the long journey ahead of garage sailing wanderlust. I eventually built up quite a collection from these sales, and as I found more and more vinyl records, I was able to hold onto the mintier condition ones and flip the others on ebay, only to reinvest the money into more purchases on my garage sale adventures.
And that leads into my main tip that I would give anyone who is looking into picking up a hobby in the vinyl record collecting realm: Go to garage/yard/estate sales, but more importantly, take the time to learn how to negotiate and become confident in your approach. I always found it to be a fun game when someone was selling records and I would have to crack the code, how much could I get these records for so that I would have more money to get even more records at the next sale? Dude, talk about a rush. You gotta have that good posture, confident voice, and let em know it’s a win win for everyone: you get a deal, the seller makes some space in their home, and the records will be taken care of and preserved. This tip is especially useful for those who are looking for older stuff, I know people would blindly spend like $25 on a copy of “The Stranger” by good ol’ Billy Joel online when they do not even realize their next door neighbor has a perfectly intact copy they are selling at their garage sale you could probably cop for a quarter.
For those who are looking to pick up any new releases on vinyl, or internet exclusives, one way to stay up to date and not miss out on many of these limited-edition runs is to follow everyone and anyone on Twitter, from your favorite artists to your favorite labels. Another way is to subscribe to the vinyl releases subreddit on Reddit (More specifically for Vaporheads, go check out r/VaporVinyl). Oh, also follow your favorite labels and artists on Bandcamp too! You will get notified via email anytime anything drops so you can be first at the scene to pick up your much wanted copy. One last thing (shameless plug here!), follow me on Twitter. I retweet many vinyl releases or news of upcoming releases, there are so many ways to know whats happenin’ on the street! Bottom line, especially for the online scene, the best way to get records at retail price before they are re-selling on Discogs for 6x the price is to stay in the loop and have your notifications set!
As you can imagine, or know by now, my collection has gotten pretty chubby. Let me share with you some of my faves:
- Luxury Elite & Saint Pepsi - Late Night Delight (Illuminated Paths Limited Edition Transparent Lathe Cut / Signed by Saint Pepsi when I met him in 2017)
- The Fall Of Troy - Manipulator (2xLP with some crazy ice cream colored vinyl records and the most awesome gatefold artwork I have ever seen. Enjoy The Ride was the record label for that one)
- VAPERROR - Manapool (I have the original, 1st ever vinyl record pressing of this album that was distributed via Dream Catalogue...Damn that was a long time ago. Easily the best sounding Vaporwave record I have in my collection, the craft on here is immaculate)
- J Dilla - Donuts (This one is just your standard 2xLP via Stones Throw… just a classic I was obsessed with that, at the time, I could not wait to get on vinyl record).
- Flamingosis - Great Hair (Orange variant via Vinyl-Digital… Met him at his show in Brooklyn, NYC and he recognized my voice and signed it. Was a very proud moment for me in the early days as Pad Chennington lol! I remember there being 500 copies only that sold out pretty rapidly)
- TOKiMONSTA - Midnight Menu (Another one I copped via Vinyl-Digital I believe. An absolutely delightful yellow/blue split colored record that sounds so good. Some incredible glitchy hip hop instrumentals that I know you will love, you should check it out)
- 猫 シ Corp - Hiraeth (Oh baby, that minty seafoam green vinyl still has to be one of my favs! Edition of 300 via Vinyl-Digital...another one of those “early days” Vaporwave vinyl releases I am so happy to have an original 1st pressing of
- ALL MY TEST PRESSINGS (They are just so damn cool)
There is that old saying “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”. Screw that.
Soak in the presentation the artist has used to invite you in, and if you like it, open the door. Take that big ol frisbee, throw it on a player, and just clean your room or file some taxes as you enter a new journey of music, dedicating precious minutes your ears will never get back into finding something new, a beautiful sacrifice that may pay off.
There is a goldmine of music out there, go discover it.
Much love, your boi, Pad Chennington.
"Also known as "Youtube's Vaporwave Valedictorian", Pad Chennington is a content creator who has created a substantial following on YouTube for his videos discussing all things Vaporwave. Starting in the Fall of 2017, Pad's videos range from reviews to breakdowns, interviews to unboxings, and much more, always revolving around odd and interesting music genres found throughout the internet. Pad has also recently released an album in February titled "CONTRAST" that is available as a free download via the My Pet Flamingo label."
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