Highway Hi-Fi Podcast Vinyl Artist Mike Dixon (Episode 73)
If you collect vinyl, you understand the power of tangible, physical media. You know the thrill of finding a new record, staring at the cover art, pouring through the liner notes, and, of course, the disc itself. Holding sound. Looking at the grooves, the labels, the wax. The record is truly a piece of art far beyond the music contained within.
There is perhaps no one who practices this craft with more skill and dedication than Michael Dixon. Based out of Tucson, Arizona, Mike expands the boundaries of vinyl art through creativity, collaboration, and innovation. He views a vinyl record as a blank canvas which will hold unique one-of-a-kind artifacts that are both beautiful and will play music for perpetuity. Drawing from lifelong loves of education, records, outsider art, and re-purposing junk, Mike uses 1940s record cutting lathe machines to handcraft sonic objects. He has made records out of up-cycled plexiglass, laser discs, picnic plates, cd-rs (playable on both turntable and standard CD player), mirrors, place mats, x-rays, and even 90% cacao chocolate. He has made records that use multiple sides, holes, groove patterns, locked grooves, and overlapping or concentric circles. He has made records that are absurdly entertaining and visually stunning.
On top of this, he runs a record label called People In a Position to Know that focuses on putting out records by artists that he believes in and records that are as individual as the bands. He has made ultra-limited releases for a huge range of big name indie artists like The Flaming Lips, Dr Dog, Ariel Pink, Mike Watt, the Microphones, and Grandaddy as well as making essential music available to fans from bands that you should know like The Graves, Sugar Candy Mountain, and Golden Boots. He has also put out music by several of this podcast’s favorite artists including Wooden Wand, Simon Joyner, and Luna.
Oh and when he’s not doing that, he does short run lathe cuts for bands, fixes lathe machines, is a DJ specializing in private press and bizarro honky tonk, and, coolest of all, educates kids at schools and libraries about the science behind sound and the evolution of sound recording.
We were fortunate enough to spend some time with Mike talking about his passion and his art as well as some mutual interests. We strongly encourage you to check out his process and his products by visiting his websites, michaeldixonvinylart.com and piaptk.com. We guarantee you will find incredible unique music and records that you cannot find anywhere else.
Now, it is another chapter in our continuing series of interviewing people who are truly vital to the vinyl record industry and the fans of vinyl records all over the world. Here’s our conversation with lathe master, label owner, and vinyl artist Michael Dixon.
People in a Position to Know Vinyl Recordings (PIAPTK)
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