Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Vinyloscopy with Scott Loose of Stellar Death

There's a post rock instrumental duo from the filthiest city in the USA...home of the original swamp, and some absolutely wonderful people and sea food.

The soft shelled crab for one thing is delightful!

New friends Stellar Death have their first album dropping in late January. You should probably look into that here on BANDCAMP.

1.  Listening to Black Sabbath's eponymous debut the night I got it blew me away. What's the album that sounds the best on vinyl compared to digital sources? 

Scott Loose:  One album that always stood out to me as sounding particularly great on vinyl is Miles Davis ‘Kind of Blue.’  It just really works in this format. 


I listen to it frequently when I’m trying to relax, and just want to unwind.  But funny that you mention Sabbath, as I have a memory of jamming Master of Reality on my dad’s old record player when I was growing up.  


My dad had a great collection of what we’d now call classic rock, but old Sabbath and Zeppelin really stood out to me – and I’m happy my first exposure to these bands was through records – as I not only would listen, but I’d read through all the liner notes and got to take in the album artwork, etc.  


Much preferred to these days of just streaming without having something physical to hold.


2.  I was laying in bed one night and couldn't sleep and I figured, it was time to start buying records. How did you come to the idea that it was time to start buying vinyl instead?

 

Scott Loose: I actually had records growing up since my dad had a record player, and then I had my own in high school – so early/mid 1990s.  Back then, it was mostly classic rock and early DC hardcore, ska, reggae music.  


I skated back in the day, so some of the early alternative stuff made its way into my collection.  However, I did switch over to CDs primarily after moving out of my parents – I must have sold my record player, and didn’t get another one until probably 2015 or so.  


I still have some of my old records, but have also been buying new ones for the last 5 years or so.  The main reason being, as stated before, I prefer to have physical copies of albums.  And I like looking at the artwork and really focusing in on the music.  


Vinyl generally just sounds great anyway – especially for particular styles.


3.  For my old stuff, it's vinyl worthy, for new stuff, it's all vinyl if available. Do you buy everything on wax or do you have a vinyl worthy category?

 

Scott Loose: The only music that I buy is on vinyl at this point.  


I haven’t bought a CD in years, and generally don’t buy downloads.  As for categories, I’ve recently delved more into classic rock, alternative, soundtracks, and some post rock type stuff. 


4.   My second living room is where I keep it all. Upstairs, my 1971 Sherwood 7100-S, Receiver,  1975 Pioneer PL-200, and 70's Sansui 5 way speakers. Tell us all about your vinyl set up.

 

Scott Loose: I have a very simple set up.  I’ve got an audio-technica AT-LP60 and two mica PB42X speakers, sitting atop two wooden wine boxes in my basement.  


But it’s a great place to chill, drink a couple glasses of wine and get lost in some good music. 


5.  Do you read the lyrics and go over the inserts when you're spinning?

 

Scott Loose:  Yes, sometimes.  I usually do this when I first buy a record, but then I just listen from there.  


Sometimes it’s distracting to me to listen to music and read lyrics at the same time. 


6.  When someone says, I'm stupid for buying records, I tell them, thanks, more limited edition colored vinyl for me, what's your answer?

 

Scott Loose:  Well, if they want to support musicians it’s better that they buy physical merch, and records/CDs etc.  As a musician myself, it’s ridiculous how little you make off of streaming services – it’s literally a small fraction of a penny per stream.  


You have to get millions of streams just to buy lunch.  But otherwise, I dig vinyl so don’t really care what people might say!


7.  My first album ever was Live Evil by Black Sabbath, so I'm stuck on live albums. What's the best live album on vinyl?

 

Scott Loose:  That’s a great question – though I don’t think I own any live albums on vinyl.  


My favorites live albums, however, are Maiden’s ‘Live after Death’, and Ozzy’s Randy Rhoads tribute album.  


I should probably pick these up on record now that you mention it. 


8.  Tell me about your latest vinyl release. (If applicable, if not, skip)

 

Scott Loose:  The last vinyl release that I played on was While Heaven Wept ‘Suspended at Aphelion,’ released via Nuclear Blast in 2014.  


All of the WHW stuff came out on vinyl at one point or another, going back to the early/mid 1990s.  I joined this band in 1998, so played on a number of those records.  


I guess that’s another reason I bought a record player in around 2015, I had all these WHW albums on vinyl but couldn’t listen to them!  The new album that I have coming out is a new instrumental project called Stellar Death, and the album is entitled ‘Fragments of Light.’  


We are only doing a digital release for now (release date 8 January 2021), but if it seems people are interested, we’d love to put that out on record too.


9. Listening to records is my comfort food for my soul. As mentioned earlier, I have a living room dedicated to it. I normally drink a beer or two whilst listening to music I love. Describe your normal listening experience.

 

Scott Loose: Yep, likewise – just switch out beer for wine and that’s pretty much it.  

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