A new record label from London, as well as a record shop and a club night, Love Vinyl is the ambitious new project led by Zaf Chowdhry and 3 of his mates!

Love Vinyl is at the same time a record shop, a record label and a club night. Can you explain how you make everything works together?
Nothing is easy, but we have many years of experience between us and it’s just the love of music that drives us to keep on keepin’ on. We need to work harder on the club nights though, that’s the hardest part, we have some plans this year to do some killer club nights with some special Dj’s.

Your shop sells both new and second hand records, do you think this is the only way to make a record shop working these days?
When we started it just made sense to offer the best of both worlds to our customers. The best record shops are the ones with the most choices and variety.

Who’s buying your label records? DJ’s, collectors or just music lovers?
DJ’s, collectors are music Lovers!

On a more personal tip, when did you start digging records?
Simple answer to that question is around 10 years old. My first digging trip as a record dealer was in the late 80s.

What LP’s did you buy at first? Do you still listen to them?
I started collecting singles first, then 12’s and Lp’s and my tastes changed as I got older, but I love all the first records I bought and always will.

Do you have a particular style or favourite period?
I love all styles of music but my fave period would be the 1970’s if I had to pick one.

Are you still diggin’, buying vinyl, visiting other record shops?
When I go abroad yes I love to check other record shops, not so much in the UK. I buy records most days of the week.

What was your first release on Love Vinyl?
It was Eugene Record-Overdose Of Joy on 7’.

What could be your editorial/esthetic line?
Love Vinyl is synonymous with quality music whether that’s new or vintage vinyl.
We offer the best from the fields of soul, funk, disco, house, techno, jazz, hip hop and even pop in a warm and friendly environment. Why not pop in for a perusal whilst you’re in London!

What could be the label’s leitmotif?
We believe that our beauty is that the four partners love music and that we hope that our enthusiasm comes across with the stock that we hold on site.

LP’s, 7’’ or 12’’, do you have a favorite format, and will you publish all formats on your label?
Plan is to do all formats…

You just reissue the fabulous Wally Badarou ‘Back To Scales To-Night’ LP! Any plans to focus on african/tropical disco sounds or just a one-off?
Our tastes in the shop cover a wide variety of genres and limiting ourselves by focussing in on one style isn’t in our plans and doesn’t tell our story.

There’s a huge competition on the reissue market and getting the rights to reissue LP’s getting harder and harder…
Yes, everybody is doing it now… It’s sometimes a problem as you have an idea to possibly release a record but then find out some other label is doing it.

There are more and more reissues of old LP’s, and more and more record labels (major or indie) now release their new artists on LP, or EP. Do you think that the LP reissue market could ever reach saturation point?
Like most sectors everything has a peak before declines. We like to think that we’ll be ahead of any curves whilst maintaining our approach for high quality releases.

What are your other next releases ? And could you give us your feeling about each?
We have a number of releases in the pipeline which focus in on quality across all musical genres some of which are re-issues and some of which are unissued that haven’t been heard for decades. We are also working with current artists that we believe in. Quality is the key of all.

What is the LP you dream of issuing/reissuing?
An unissued recording from the 1960s of a Siberian modern jazz quartet that’s sat in a can unheard of until its release. One that wows all with a majestical spell for all upon first listens.

Each month, we are focusing on a record label founded by an active digger. Stuart Baker is the man behind one of the most exciting reissue labels : Soul Jazz Records. Since 1992, he has contributed to release numerous reissues of rare LPs and high-end compilations in very diverse styles such as reggae, funk, samba soul, punk, spiritual jazz, folk…

When did you start digging records? 
I started buying records when I was around 10 years old.

What Lps did you buy at first? Do you still listen to them?
Hmmm… The Sex Pistols ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’, Rolling Stones ‘Get Stoned’, Ian Dury ‘New Boots And Panties’.

Do you have a particular style or favorite period? And why?
No. Growing up my taste in music coincided with the fashions of the day – disco, punk, ska.

What was your first issue?
The first album we released was called ‘Fresh Out’ by Eddie Russ. 

Why have you chosen this name : Soul Jazz ?
The label came out of a shop. We put a sign outside the shop on white board in letra set that said SOUL and JAZZ underneath it. Seemed to make sense at the time!

Does that mean it was actually your main music styles ? 
Well it started off that like this but changed soon after into encompassing many styles of music.
 

Dealin by Richard Davis

 

When and why did you create another sub-division, called Universal Sound ?
I think Universal Sound started a few years later, as a way of releasing more specialist releases, or albums that followed on from our releases on Soul Jazz.
 
What could be your editorial/esthetic line? 
Not completely sure I can express it in words, although it all makes sense in my head.  

You published numerous selections on New Orleans… Do you believe this Crescent City is in the center of all your concerns? Tradition and creation, urban and rural, body and soul, does it combine all that you like in music?
Hmmm, I would not say it is at the centre of my concerns, but I would say it is a reflection of my interests. My interests are in “hot” musical places, points in time and people. Some of these are New Orleans in the 1960s, Jamaica in the 1960s/70s, Chicago in the 1980s, New York in the 1960, 70s, 80s etc.
 

I’ve Never Considered by Inell Young

 

You published many books focused on LP art-work (black jazz, disco…)… Does a LP artwork already tell many about the music played inside the record?
Yes I would say. A good sleeve is a reflection of the values of the music inside and makes you want to hear it.

You also publish books more on the societal aspects. In what the social dimension and the political question are connected to the musical creation?
Music is a cultural expression of a place in a period of time. I am interested in any form of cultural expression, often but not always of a rebellious nature.

Do you think that the buyers of vinyl are the buyers of books ?
Not sure. Some yes, some no.

How do you decide on the choice of reissues? 
Normally what I am interested in at that point of time. I’m actually not that interested in reissuing albums. I like to explore areas and put together records as ideas. We often reissue albums later that follow on from a broader concept album, to fulfill an interest that this may have created.
 
Your were well known for your 100 % Dynamite serie and for your Spiritual jazz reissues/compilations, and still appreciated for that, but now – and for a long time in fact – you do reissues in other styles, like new wave, post punk, or disco. Is it difficult to go out your (supposed) speciality?
I think we would have closed many years ago if we had not consciously moved into different areas of music. For my own sanity and passion I need to look at new areas of music, and this is what I hope I can share on our albums.

 

Get Up and Get It by Jackie Mitoo

 

What is the best deal/business : to make reissue or to produce new records? 
Hmmm, well I like both new music and music from different periods in time. Either way in my head I approach them as if they are new.

Is it two different jobs? 
No, same.
 
Have you received many negative answers on some of the LPs you were trying to reissue?
No!
 

Christmas Time In Nassau

 

There is more and more reissues of old LPs. Do you think that the LP reissue market could ever reach saturation point? and why ?
Well as I say my main interest is in exploring musical themes rather than reissuing albums. I agree there is a lot of these now!
 
What are your next releases?
Punk 45 – Punk from Cleveland, Ohio 1974-80. Punk 45 – Punk from Akron, Ohio 1976-80. ‘Studio One Jump-Up: Jamaican Rhythm and Blues, Gospel, Boogie and Early Ska’, Popul Vuh – ‘Kailash’ (unreleased film and album), Lloyd McNeill – ‘Tanner Suite’, Sounds of the Universe (Hieroglyphic Being, Andres, Kaseem Mosse). That’s all I can think of.
 
What is the LP you dream of reissuing?
‘Nu Yorica! Experiments in Latin Music 1970-77’. It was 20 years ago we first released it!

Idle Hands by Harlem River Drive

 

http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/