Zone-Magazine-Wally-Lopez-Issue-040

Hi Robert Thank you for your time.
You wrote another fantastic book
“Passion For Vinyl Part III: Tales From
The Groove”. Since you already wrote
2 parts, what made you write a third
part?
Thank you. I wasn't really planning on writing a third
book, but I was asked to do so again by the publisher, Record
Industry in Haarlem. I enjoyed working on the first two parts
so much that I said yes almost immediately. I love music so
much, but it's almost as much fun talking about music.
Especially with people who are as crazy about vinyl as I am. I
also really had the feeling that there were still many stories
that deserved to be written down. There have been so many
new people, especially in recent years. Especially young
people and women; in record stores, as YouTubers, at
pressing plants, and so on.
What is different about this one
compared to the other 2 books and
why should people read this book?
Good question. Of course, they are all completely
different interviews in the first place. What also makes a
difference is that the time in which I made this book is
different from the previous two. Part 1 was released ten
years ago when the vinyl revival was just beginning. There
were a lot of questions. Is it a hype? Who buys all those LPs
these days? And why? Should the industry respond to this?
When I started part 2, most of the questions had already
been answered. Vinyl was really back. I also spoke to people
who had just started a record pressing plant or record store,
for example. Now, five years later, we know for sure that
vinyl is not going away anytime soon. So I took a slightly
more personal approach. Do you come from a musical family?
What records made you love music? Are there any albums
that changed your life? What does your musical life look like
now?
Since you did lot of interviews for this
book, who was the one you where
most excited about interviewing and
why?
It was crazy that Robert Trujillo took so much time
for me when the latest Metallica album had just been
released and the band was about to go on tour. He had also
prepared himself specially by selecting a whole stack of
records. The conversation with Kevin Shields from My Bloody
Valentine was also very cool. Not just because he rarely gives
interviews, he had a very interesting story. I also really
enjoyed talking to Gilad Tiefenbrun, owner of Linn, because I
have been the proud and satisfied owner of a Linn LP12
turntable for more than 25 years, haha!
You traveled the world and met many
interesting people. Who would you
like to interview who you haven't
interviewed yet?
I don't really have a wish list, but it is a bit
frustrating that I have never managed to speak to Pete
Townshend of The Who. I admire him very much and think he
is a very interesting man. I would also like to interview Elton
John one day, but then I only want to talk about his immense
record collection, haha!
Tell us a bit more about the process.
How do you prepare yourself when
writing such a book? And do you
have any advise for aspiring writers?
Together with Anouk Rijnders from Record
Industry, a list of interview candidates is made. That's
where it starts. Then it's up to me to prepare. Which I
do as thoroughly as possible. Then it is a matter of
conducting and transcribing the interviews. It is difficult
to give advice to someone who wants to write a book,
because no book is the same. In general: make sure you
have a good idea and make sure you have a good publisher.
Write about something that really interests you and it will
never become a job. Furthermore, my motto when it comes
to interviews is very simple: prepare well, be genuinely
interested and be on time. Writing is often hard work, but few
things are as satisfying as seeing an article published or
holding a book in your hands.
" Together with Anouk
Rijnders from Record
Industry, a list of interview
candidates is made. That's
where it starts. Then it's up
to me to prepare. Which I do
as thoroughly as possible.
Then it is a matter of
conducting and transcribing
the interviews "
46 ZONE-MAGAZINE.EU