Anyone who is metal in a conservative stronghold deserves a god damned metal. Anyone who's willing to fight for non-conformity, the expression of negative emotions, and and an exploration of self, whilst living in where they seek to destroy us...
Is awesome.
So, today, we're checking in with Nate Dahlquist, the drummer of Salt Lake City, UT's Arsenic Addiction.
Listen to the bandcamp while you read about records.
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?
- Alien by Strapping Young Lad. It is a hard album to find these days, so I had to borrow it from a friend for the experience. 'Love?'
Is one of the best and most well-known tracks from that album and the vinyl version is slightly different than the final version on digital formats.
Bonus answer: My girlfriend's favorite band is Type O Negative, so I got her the None More Negative box set for her birthday when it came out.
I have never liked the way their music is mixed but the versions of their albums in that set are the best that I've ever heard that band sound, by far.
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?
- Vinyl as a tangible, physical form of music that I love has always been the most appealing to me.
Owning the vinyl copy of an album, for me, is the most real it gets. It's the best that the artwork ever looks, too.
Now that streaming services are the primary digital platform, I can have that for convenience (at the cost of about one CD per month) and spend the real money on something more personally fulfilling to me.
My collection was kickstarted with my parents' collection that was already sizeable, but neglected. It definitely got me into it and made me want to take much better care of the ones I got on my own.
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?
- Over the years, if I was really into an album, I'd pick up the vinyl along with the CD. Slowly, I started getting vinyl more often and in multiple editions and I eventually stopped buying the CDs altogether.
Now, I'm at the stage where I am trading all of the CDs in to replace them with vinyl editions as it's the only physical media I really care to own anymore.
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.
- Again, my parents lack of interest in vinyl worked to my benefit, when it comes to my setup.
My turntable, receiver, and speakers were part of their Realistic brand package from 1985-ish. It sits in its own dedicated nook in my living room.
The turntable itself is a Realistic LAB-800 Belt Drive, the amplifier is the SA-800 Stereo, and the speakers are the Optimus-800's.
The whole set also included a bulky radio and separate tape player as well as a glass cabinet to keep it all in. I took the parts that I needed and have been taking care of them since I've had the space to do so. It sits on and around some fancy Ikea cube storage shelves for my records.
Just last week, I took the time to re-foam the cones in the woofers of my speakers and they sound as good as new.
5. Do you read the lyrics and go over the inserts when you're spinning?
- I will sometimes look over the inserts and artwork as I listen to an album. In fact, I tend to do that, even more, when I'm not even spinning one.
I like to admire the artwork and organize them just as much as I enjoy listening to them. The fact that they make music is almost like a bonus at this point.
While a record is playing, I like to have at least the sleeve on my lighted "Now Spinning" stand next to the turntable.
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?
- I have personally heard plenty of "it's not for me" and "I don't get it", but never an insult about it. Someone taking genuine care of a collection of anything they care about is respectable.
When someone is genuinely asking why I love it, I try to explain how satisfying it can be as a tangible representation of an album.
If they ask if it really does sound better, I say that it can. But that, these days, most vinyl formats of albums are literally either the exact same master version of a digital copy or a special master for the analog version made digitally, to begin with.
Then I like to pull out the tidbit that, while digital sample rate qualities are at an all-time high, analog sound waves are closer to how our ears actually hear things.
It's a lot more about how satisfying it is to use and collect vinyl and the ritual of playing them than it is about the sound waves, for me.
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?
- The first vinyl record that I ever bought myself was also Black Sabbath. Mine was Paranoid and I still have and love it.
As far as live albums go, I tend to avoid them, for the most part, unless it is something special for me. I'd usually much rather watch the concert live or on video.
That being said, I do have Devin Townsend's Eras IV box set which includes his Retinal Circus and Ziltoid at Royal Albert Hall live performances and those are gold. Aside from that, I'd more regularly prefer studio albums.
8. Tell me about your latest vinyl release.
- No vinyl releases, yet. But, Arsenic Addiction is planning to release our 2019 album 'XIX' in vinyl format sometime in early 2021.
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.
My normal listening experience is either just sitting on the floor, right in front of my setup, or whatever other piece of furniture I happen to have in that area, at the time.
I like to be able to comfortably lay out the record sleeves and/or gatefolds and look at everything, whether I'm actually listening to the album or not. I do sometimes put on a record, pop the sleeve on my Now Playing stand and do things around the house.
But, I usually reserve the vinyl listening for when I can sit and listen intently. For more casual distracted listening, that's what Spotify is for, right?
My ideal listening experience, though, is to either sit in my Lovesac or on a couch in front of my speakers and maybe eat some good food while I listen. Especially if it is a heavy cut version of a full album that I love.
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