Love Wax

A decade into the 21st Century and the music industry is but a shade of what it was when the Millennium Bug had us all scurrying around like ants caught in the glare of a five year-old’s magnifying glass.

Dwindling CD sales, the gargantuan growth of digital downloads and a glut of bedroom producers releasing all manner of indie music has re-defined the industry in so many ways. One area that remains unchanged, and has done so through so many evolutions of the music world, is the vinyl record.

Around for more than a century, when 78s were sold in plain brown paper sleeves, the vinyl record has been a mainstay on the music landscape, outliving such dinosaurs as the cassette tape, 8-track, and you could even argue the CD, if you look at current sales charts.

As Gen Y revels in the convenience of one-click song shopping, others are still out there promoting the merits of the old school and the analogue richness of records. One such crew is Weird Gear, who’s monthly night of strange and exotic beats has led to the inaugural Brisbane Crate Diggaz Co-Op Record Fair, to be held this coming ANZAC Day at West End’s Rumpus Room.

“The Brisbane Crate Diggaz Co-Op is a bunch of likeminded individuals who share a passion for records and digging,” begins DJ Sheep, one of the masterminds behind Weird Gear. “As a product of that, we’re able to sell directly, the music that we’re interested in, which is like soundtracks, funk, soul, psych, hip hop, the beathead stuff. I get up at 7am and go to (record) fairs, but with this sale, we’re starting it late, we’re going to put deodorant on; if you come to this record fair, you have to wear deodorant because it generally stinks at the record fairs usually. It’s like dudes who haven’t showered for a week diggng through records; buy some shampoo, some Palmolive.”

Whilst it would seem personal hygiene isn’t a prerequisite of other record fairs, Sheep says the launch of the Weird Gear fair is not in reaction to a dirth of quality local record fairs.

“There are a lot of good record fairs in this town y’know. I’ve been going to them for years. It started off with a record fair in Mt Gravatt that became my favourite fair forever, which Sully used to run, but it’s gone now. But I still go to all the fairs in Brisbane. They’re all great, but the difference with our fair is we’re targeting a niche audience, which is like DJs, diggers, hip hop heads.

“And the fair is also a product of Weird Gear; it just came about that we had this great venue, Rumpus Room. It’s the same crew involved with Weird Gear who are now sellers. We’ll continue inviting sellers along. This time we have Blunted Stylus aka Jigsaw Geoff; everyone has different kind of stuff, I’m certainly saving my cash.”

And so should you, with Blunted Stylus to be joined by regular sellers: Sheep, DJ Damage, Bruce Highway and Milesago spruiking an array of records covering every genre; from exotic beats to outright strange pressings.

“I’ve been travelling the world for the best part of the last decade digging for records and I have a lot of Japanese soundtracks, a lot of Russian psychedelic music, stuff that you’re not generally going to see turn up at your local Lifeline.”

And the fair will also be a point of call for local producers looking for a particular drum or break loop.

“We’re going to have the crates situated in the back area of the Rumpus, the raised level. So the records will be there and people can peruse at their leisure. There is no rush, you don’t have to get up early. We don’t want 50 birds frantically digging through the records. We just want people to have fun and talk to us and ask us what they want or ask for advice ... There may be kids out there who may be like ‘I need some drums for my beats’ and we’ll be able to point them in the direction of some nice drum breaks.”

Held at West End’s Rumpus Room, Sheep says the venue was a perfect location for the mood they wanted to create for their record fair.

“Those guys are great. I was playing at all these mega superclubs and I just decided that really wasn’t my scene and Rumpus Room is pretty much family and they had a home for me. And also the Weird Gear blokes because they’re both open - and it’s refreshing to see - to new ideas and open to people who are genuinely passionate about music; not passionate about DJing, not passionate about... they’re generally passionate about people who have a passion for music and that’s why you won’t catch me anywhere else than Rumpus Room pretty much these days.”

Brisbane Crate Diggaz Co-Op presents ‘The First BC/DC Record Fair’ at the Rumpus Room on April 25; 3-7pm. Free entry.