Interview with ‘Monsieur Vinyl’, the YouTube channel specialized in vinyl records

Want to discover new vinyl records or stories about vinyl? You are looking for a record for Christmas? Today, maplatine.com introduces you ‘Monsieur Vinyl’, the owner of YouTube channel of the same name. He tells us more about his passion for the vinyl format and his YouTube career.

 

 

– Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Hello maPlatine.com! My name is ‘Monsieur Vinyl’ and I am, above all, passionate by music, and musician, having composed, arranged and performed my own songs for many years. Furthermore, I also knew the stage and I also hosted a radio show for a few years. I’ve been searching through the trays for thirty years, going to record fairs and garage sales, looking for albums that make me vibrate, EPs, collectors… In fact, I was already collecting records long before the arrival of YouTube!

 

 

– Where does this passion for the vinyl format come from?

From very far! My mother used to listen to vinyl records during her pregnancy; inside her womb, I certainly heard snippets of Alain Souchon’s album “Rame”, or Antonio Vivaldi’s “Les 4 Saisons”. As many sounds that remained forever engraved in my unconscious. At this time, my mother participated to a “Question & Answer” game organized by RTL into a supermarket, and by answering truthfully she won a lot of vinyl records from Paul Beuscher Paris. When I was old enough to understand, I found these records stored in a small cupboard. There were Jacques Brel, Dave Brubeck and a lot of pressing of classical music.

At home, I remember that we used to play these records on a Luxman PD-282. This direct drive turntable was a great wonder. I have a lasting memory of it. And then, I discovered the work of Jean-Michel Jarre and I became a fan. And that is how I started going to record fairs and conventions very early, to look for records of this artist. And quickly, I realized that many other artists interested me. That is how a started to collect. Since then, I have never stopped.

 

 

– What made you want to start on youtube? When did you create your youtube channel?

Youtube, it is – in a manner of speaking – my TV! I have been watching a lot of videos on this platform for many years now.
But in 2015, in France, there was no channel dealing with vinyl format. However, I was watching videos of American collectors who had been doing it for many years already. I thought it was time to get things moving in France.

In July 2015, I released my very first video… and a second one… and since 2015, more than hundred have been shared. Currently, a lot of new followers subscribe to my channel. It is a nice community. I owe them a lot. Each day, they communicate their passion and love for vinyl records to me, and this makes me want to continue to keep my channel alive. By going on YouTube, I also gave the idea to other vinyl lovers like me, to start their own channels to talk about records. I’m thinking of Hello Vinyl, Je Disque Je Veux, E.N.G. Sounds or even Vinylement Vôtre.

 

 

– What type of contents do you offer on your channel?

It is quite diversified. First, there are the “Nouveaux Arrivages” (New Arrivals) videos, much waited by my followers, where I present my recent records acquisitions, over the last two months. There is also my series “Des Vinyles Chez Toi” (Records At Your Home) in which a go to collectors’ home to film their universe and records. Without forgetting some videos filmed during my yard sale trips, and also many ‘Unboxing’ videos.

Finally, I regularly interact in LIVE with my followers. It is always a privileged moment in which they can ask me their questions live.

 

 

– How do you organize yourself to create your content and complete your website and YouTube channel?

I am not really organized. Generally, I prepare my videos very little. When a new record arrives in my collection, I take my camera, I shoot a video, and then I share it. If a subject interests me, I proceed in the same way. If I want to write an article, I sit down and I write. My main motivation is passion, and spontaneity is its essence. That is also why I am more often subject to have crushes!

 

 

– How do you see your YouTube channel in the years to come?

In the next few years, there are several projects that I would like to start for my channel. But I also want my channel to show what I live my life as a collector. There are a lot of things to do and a lot of things to tell.

 

 

– What do you think about this vinyl come back?

It is often said that this is the “come back” of vinyl. But, for me, the word “come back” is not appropriated because the vinyl record never left. It survived to the CD, the Mini-Disc, and even the MP3. We often forget that it is an analog support. We invented the digital book, but paper and libraries still exist! It is the same with vinyl records. Since I started collecting, I have always seen it. During the 90’s, it was much less visible, because the CD was preferred from the public. However, this has not stopped vinyl record manufacture across the world. But there is a dark aspect: during those digital years, being an independent record dealer with vinyl in its trays was a challenge, because – at the same time – many important labels were selling CDs at all costs. If the vinyl record remained, some record dealers of the time – them – did not survive, in part because of that.

Today – and since about 2013 – the vinyl record has a second youth. Proud of this renewed interest, I note that new record shops are opening their doors everywhere in France. And I am pleased of that.

 

 

– As a vinyl lover, how many records do you think you have in your library? What kind of music is more present?

I know how many I have in it, but I hate talking quantitatively. If there is one question I would always be resistant, it is this one, because for me, emotional quality takes precedence over quantity. The connection you can have with a record, the memories you have with, it cannot be quantitative. By the way, a lot of collectors will answer you the same. If you are looking for quantity at all costs, you can fall into compulsive buying, and I do not call it collecting anymore… but accumulating. My vinyl records collection is mostly composed of Rock, Pop and Electronic Music. I also have a lot of film music, because I think that cinema is a wonderful extension of music.

 

 

– When did your history with vinyl begin? What was your very first record?

I do not remember the first record as such, but I remember the first vinyl records I had in my hands. There was volume 3 of the Jacques Brel collection released in 1967 by Barclay (Amsterdam), but also Prince with the 45 rpm of “Batdance”. I also remember a single by Patricia Kaas (called “Quand Jimmy Dit”) or a record by Philippe Lafontaine. I also kept in my memory the album “Concerto” by Rondò Veneziano, which – still today – is one of my favorite albums because I am emotionally impacted to it.

Each of these records is like a Proust madeleine.

 

 

– What are your biggest crushes of 2018?

I usually answer this question at the end of the year on my YouTube channel, during the “Bilan” videos. But, this year, I have bought much less recent albums compared to last year: I have had less favorites than in 2017. By the way, musically speaking, this year 2018 has been very special. But if I had to remember some highlights, I would tell you about the Norwegian Sigrid, who is clearly an emerging artist in the Pop field. I cannot wait for his very first album (which is long to be announced).

My followers know how much I love Lauren Mayberry, the singer of Chvrches, a Scottish band. She does an exceptional work since 2011, I saw her in concert not too long ago.

 

 

– If you had to choose only two records from your own collection, which ones would it be? For which reason?

It is hard to answer to this question for someone who is eclectic where the heart reigns supreme! The first record I would choose to keep is “Dark Side Of The Moon” by Pink Floyd, for the reason that it has not aged since its release in 1973. Its themes are universal and will always be topical: madness, money, death, war, work… It is a rather blackened aspect of the current society, but wonderfully set to music, with incredible arrangements for the time. This album, it is a whole.

The second record I would mention is “Tubular Bells” by Mike Oldfield. From the very first listening, I loved this album. Many people only know the first minutes of the work these were used as the main theme of the film “The Exorcist” by William Friedkin. But many people ignore that “Tubular Bells” is composed in two parts of twenty-five minutes each. Technically, Mike Oldfield sought to record on more tracks than was possible at this time, and he managed to do so. It is the most eclectic album I have heard, very harmonious and much sought-after in its writing. What is more, Oldfield composed it when he was only seventeen years old. A genius album.

 

 

– On which model of turntable do you listen to your records? What is your Hi-Fi system made of?

I decided to remain simple regarding to my sound system. I spin my records with a Gemini XL-500II turntable that has been following me and surviving for more or less 20 years. By the way, I really love direct drive turntable. To me, the faster is to start and stop, the better it is! At this level, I am much less “ritualistic” than my other videographer friends! For the amplification, I opted for a 7 channel Yamaha RX-V2500. And to diffuse the sound, I chose a Chorus speakers from a French manufacturer that I like very much and which is called Focal.

 

 

– Thank you Monsieur Vinyl 🙂

See you soon maPlatine.com! I wish you a lot of music in the ears!