An Interview With Dan Bass
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An Interview With Dan Bass The following pages are consisted of an interview with one of my peers, on the BA (hons) Graphic Design course, Dan Bass who is a fan of vinyl and has a few in his collection. I asked him to bring in his top three favourite records, that attracted him to vinyl. The first of which, is ‘Journey: Don’t stop
Believing’ followed by ‘The Beatles: Sargent Pepper / Lonely Hearts’ and finally ‘Beastie Boys: Hello Nasty’. The purpose of this interview was to define what it was about a vinyl record that made it evocative and relevant to today’s day and age.
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Journey: Don£t Stop Believing One it’s in a blank cover, but it’s a picture disk You don’t need a cover for a picture disk The cover is on the disk I don’t actually like the album though. It’s just blank. The thing is with that though, is you don’t know it is like that, unless it was specified, but you need some form of label to know.
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Picture disks are quite sought after. My dad was always like, if you ever get a picture disk, get it. No matter what it is, get it! With picture disks, don’t play them. Keep them in mint condition. A picture disk I saw, was a hip hop collective called scar face, it was a 10� single for 30 Quid. You can get some that sell more than that.
Do you remember how you got into vinyl?
Do you remember your first record?
It was the people I hang out with at college. My grandparents obviously had vinyl, they’ve always been there but haven’t dived into it till now. It’s a new experience.
Yes, it was ‘Prince 1999’.
A CD is a plastic case, so you can keep it in nice condition, but with vinyl, the card sleeve can get ruined. No matter how you store them, they get damaged.
I’m sort of regretting it now, because I have not really found it again.
I bought it in Camden. There were two, it was that or the grandmaster flash album.
I have some of my granddads old records, they are absolutely battered and taped up to keep them together, and some have writing on them.
What attracted you to it?
It annoys me because I like to keep them in good condition.
The size. It’s a statement. With a CD it’s nicely packaged, but the sound quality is there as well. You get the crackles, and the best sound ever. As the whole experience.
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Do you think album art work is valued in the same way?
Is it the experience of looking through it, that you enjoy?
Probably not in the same way no. Because when you download the music you have to find the art work.
Yeah, obviously the music tells a story and you look at the cover, you’re in the a mindset. You’re in that story.
Sometimes it comes up automatically. But people don’t care.
What is it about Vinyl, you like so much? It’s something to collect isn’t it. I have a little shelf for them, and flick through them, It has a different style, It adds the whole experience of reading through and looking at the artwork.
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The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts There are theories of Paul McCartney dying, It’s his funeral with a look a like hence why he has facial hair. There are lots of stories around the artwork. It’s really interesting artwork, and you get the song lyrics as well, which you get back in the 60s. There was no internet so you couldn’t look them up online. I still have the Meatloaf album, that still has the
lyric insert You don’t get that with a digital download.
the creepy tone of Paul McCartney is dead kinda thing.
Some people mount the inserts, and frame them.
I think the album cover is a big part of the experience for my self.
It’s the Idea of value; it’s more valuable if you have one. People recognise the quality.
Especially with a gatefold, it’s not just a quick glance, you can focus on all of it.
The last track, ‘Day in a life of’, goes into a loop, it trips out. It goes on loop. There’s a few different versions of it. If you play it back there is nothing. But I think it just adds to 10
If you put a mirror on the drum kit, it says the date McCartney died, an arrow points to him and says he dies. Each image represents things. Peter Blake designed it. It’s very iconic. Obviously people would still buy this. Everyone knows the Beatles. People would still get it because of the cover. But it wouldn’t matter, unless they were into the design style.
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HOLLY COOK I bought this because of the album cover. Hollie cook. I was into scar, and I heard ‘Milk and Honey’. I bought it in Brighton. It’s a subsequently a really good album. The label is brilliant.
What was it about the album, you liked the most? I was quite into scar, so it was discovering something new. I listened to it because of the album cover. It was pretty cool.
The problem with vinyl though, is that they are expensive to buy. They can range from 60 pounds or more. It’s the idea of you save up your pocket money for, and you’ve worked hard for it. CDS aren’t relevant to the younger generation, because they’ve all got iPads now. I have loads of CDs, but I don’t listen to them much, I have my iPod, my mac and my phone,
You get a record, but you get an mp3 too. SO it’s an additional thing. Some of them don’t so you have to go out and buy them.
would stop you.
Apple music is like Spotify on iTunes, but you pay £10 a month it’s unlimited. It means I can buy records or have the download code and I can still access it when I am on my travels.
I remember being looked after by my aunty as a baby, and being played oasis.
Vinyl used to be a big thing, because it was the new technology thing. Television and things like that, I think
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You wouldn’t have had video games. It’s a family thing, definitely back with the music.
When I went to my uncles I’d listen to something I have never heard before. It could be one of the reasons why I am into graphic design, because I have always been
interested in it and appreciated the design. It’s horrible when you have an album you like, but the album cover looks shit. It’s got to sell, along side that, you get your single covers that relate to the album in that sense. The Beastie boys, intergalactic album for example. It relates to the music video, but the album is really science fiction.
I really want this album, MF Doom Operation doomsday, because I can’t find it ever. I found it on Ebay once and it was going for £80 odd quid, which I can’t justify right now. The reissue isn’t that great, it’s a good design but not the same as the individual. It’s on multicoloured vinyl. The modern re-issue isn’t that good.
‘I think now I’d appreciate now, just a blank cover with the label with a fun little album. I’d still buy that because it’s cool. ‘
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Beastie Boys: Hello Nasty I got the CD for my 13th birthday. I absolutely loved the design of it. But I think, I dislike it now. I prefer the vinyl so much, Because of the weight of it. It’s neatly packaged, the same themes. The labels are pretty cool. It’s weighty. It’s not the same, a different experience.
Did your ideas change about the cover? I got the CD when I was 13, and I got the vinyl two years ago. It’s just the colour is different, it’s not cropped. It fits on the cover. I don’t like the border on the CD, it looks unfinished. You can pull it all out and have it, and still get the experience. But the vinyl is a bigger scale. A good piece of art I guess.
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