Who says you need a record deal to make records?
A slew of would-be rock stars showed up at Human Head Records in Williamsburg on Saturday, also known as Record Store Day, a worldwide celebration of the analog audio technology, to have their tracks committed to wax using the old-timey equivalent of a compact-disc burner. Like the early incarnations of its late 1990s counterpart, the vinyl-cutting machine moves slowly, meaning many of Saturday’s aspiring recording artists were left in the lurch.
“We cut about 20 records for people, but easily twice that many were here interested in getting it done,” said Human Head Records owner Travis Klein.
Most musicians brought their tunes on flash drives and watched audio engineer Tyler Bisson churn two songs, one per side, onto a clear disc.
“It seemed like a good opportunity to do something both old-fashioned and modern on Record Store Day,” said Scott Campbell Duncan, who brought in his songs “I Wonder What She’s Doing Today” and “Boots.”
Duncan said he plans to show the record to his band-mates in Gringo Love Show and suggest that they make a box-set of songs they recorded years ago at the famous punk club CBGB’s.
Tyler Bisson, owner of Audio Geography Studios in Connecticut brought in the gear to press the jams.
The groove-digging process happens in real-time, meaning each record-making session took the length of the song collection it immortalized.
The vinyl-cut marathon was not the only thing that made the Johnson Avenue shop a destination on Record Store Day.
Human Head was also the only vinyl emporium in Brooklyn to carry a limited-edition instrumental LP by the legendary rap group De La Soul.
