Backtracking Forward: Wax Poetics

posted in: Features

School is in session and it’s time to break out the textbooks. As more people continue to jump on the vinyl bandwagon, they will look for reputable sources to help discover, uncover and rediscover all the incredible music that exists for their collections. It’s a dizzying amount of material to digest so where does one turn for this highly specific information? Look no further than the magazine racks for a copy of the highly-acclaimed Wax Poetics. Rather than focusing on the contemporary music flooding the market, Wax Poetics backtracks over the past six decades and spotlights the crí¨me de la crí¨me of artists and platters that are essential to anyone’s collection. They chop off the fat and serve up the meat via a bi-monthly journal that looks feels and reads like an academic publication catered to diggers. OurStage had the opportunity to catch up with Editor-in-Chief Andre Torres to talk about the magazine and its impact on the vinyl digging culture.

OS: Although there are countless number of music magazines on the market, Wax Poetics stands out as being the only one in town that caters to the vinyl digging culture. With each issue, the records being featured are what your readers dream about finding when digging. Do you feel the magazine has played a role, however big or small, in helping vinyl regain a foothold in today’s culture?

WP: I’m not sure we’ve played a role in the emergence of vinyl regaining a foothold, but I am happy that we have been there as it has occurred. I have seen certain records go for major money once we’ve published something about them, so it does appear collectors and retailers alike are paying attention to what we’re talking about.

OS: Wax Poetics recently launched a Japanese version of the magazine. The Japanese are notorious for being rabid vinyl collectors and consuming all aspects of American culture and music. How has the Japanese Wax Poetics been received in that country? Have there been thoughts of bringing this concept to other countries?

WP: The response for Wax Poetics Japan has been overwhelming. I went out to Japan for the launch party and people were lining up for my autograph! That’s just insane to me, but it shows you a bit about how grateful they are to have something like Wax Poetics in their language so they can finally go beyond just fetishizing the record covers and photos. We have talked about bringing the concept to other countries. We’ve been in talks with companies in both France and China, but nothing’s been solidified as of yet.

OS: Similar to vinyl, early issues of Wax Poetics have developed quite a track record on the second hand market for fetching some top dollar. When you started the magazine, did you have any idea that the physical product would end up becoming collectible?

WP: When we started the magazine, I didn’t know if anyone would even buy it, so I certainly wasn’t planning on them becoming as collectible as they have. But it was our intention to make a magazine for collectors that they would want to collect, so it’s been great to see that’s exactly what happened.

OS: Although the core foundation of Wax Poetics is all about the music, the preferred medium for those grooves is a vinyl platter. You ventured into mp3 territory a few years back with Wax Poetics Digital, offering up a choice selection of essential downloads for your readers. Has this been a successful venture for the magazine?

WP: Being a vinyl-based magazine as you mentioned, we weren’t looking to Wax Poetics Digital to blow iTunes out of the water. We just know where music consumption is heading, and we want to be prepared as more heads open up to the mp3 experience. So we weren’t looking at WPD in terms of selling millions of downloads, but for providing listeners an alternative to hear rare music and having another platform to build our niche. So in those terms, it’s been extremely successful in allowing us to broaden the brand and turn on a different audience to Wax Poetics.

OS: What was your first exposure to the underbelly of the vinyl world as you have come to know it now? What was the first rare record you obtained that laid the foundation of your vinyl stacks as a serious collector?

WP: For me, vinyl was always there. My pops owned a record store in the Bronx before we moved to Florida when I was a kid, but he left all of his records. But my grandfather still had his collection, and eventually my pops began building his up again as well. Many of the records I cherish to this day have come from the two of them. But once I got to college and began dissecting hip hop tracks for samples and started to find a lot of them on records I was picking up at thrift stores, I became mildly obsessed with finding those funky bits of vinyl anywhere I could. I’m not sure if there was one Eureka! moment that turned me from a new jack into a so-called serious collector, as far as I’m concerned, I’m still not as heavy as a lot of cats out there.

OS: Stranded on a desert island with no hope in sight ” you’re stuck to the bitter end. What would be the 5 records you would want by your side for the rest of your life?

WP: It’s funny, I’ve been asked this question a few times over the years and one thing I’ve noticed is that the list always changes. What may have seemed like something I’d never part with at one point in my life because it’s rare or expensive, eventually finds its way to the trade pile years later. So for me, it’s not really about rarity or price, but how deeply I’ve connected with the music. So right now, these are a few I know won’t be going anywhere any time soon.

Doug Carn – Adam’s Apple
Curtis Mayfield – Sweet Exorcist
Fela & Afrika 70 – Shakara
Talking Heads – Remain In Light
Louie Ramirez – Vibes Galore

Keep Digging!
-Gregorious-