Dust & Grooves in the Wall Street Journal

We were just featured in a beautiful article in the Wall Street Journal by David Shapiro. “Mr. Paz,” he writes, “acted at times like a fellow record enthusiast and at other times like a psychoanalyst.”

Here’s a preview:

Edan Portnoy played his vinyl on the turntable in his living room, then drifted into his kitchen to spin some on another record player on top of his microwave. The walls of his Kensington apartment were lined with between 7,000 and 10,000 records, which he estimates to be worth several hundred thousand dollars.

Mr. Portnoy, a record producer and DJ, was the latest subject for Dust & Grooves, photographer Eilon Paz’s documentation of obsessive vinyl collectors in the midst of their collections through photographs and interviews.

On Saturday, Mr. Paz will release his first book of photos and interviews, also called “Dust & Grooves.” The book’s release coincides with Record Store Day, a world-wide celebration of a medium that has returned from the brink of death to become the fastest-growing music sales format.

Mr. Paz gets a shot of one of the records. Cassandra Giraldo for The Wall Street Journal

Vinyl sales shot up 32% from 2012 to 2013 to more than six million, according to Nielsen SoundScan, a sales tracking system. That increase that would have been unthinkable during the middle of the last decade, when fewer than one million vinyl records were sold annually.

Mr. Paz’s self-published coffee table book was funded through Kickstarter; the Brooklyn-based photographer initially asked for $27,000 and was ultimately pledged $41,375. It was enough to get the book made—with a little help from his friends.

“Every person who I photograph and profile has some knowledge of media or publishing, so it was easy for me to get advice about how to publish the book,” Mr. Paz, 39 years old, explained gratefully while preparing for the shoot at a restaurant a few blocks from Mr. Portnoy’s apartment. “A lot of people feel willing to help because they’re very passionate about records and they see me as their ambassador.”

Much of the money pledged to Mr. Paz’s Kickstarter campaign went to fund a cross-country road trip. He tried to visit cities with storied music histories like New Orleans, Chicago and Detroit, all a far cry from Arad, the small desert town in Israel where Mr. Paz grew up.

“The closest cultural center to Arad was Tel Aviv, which was two hours away. I would drive to Tel Aviv, watch a movie, catch some street life and get some records. I came back with 15 records and that would be a big load,” he explained, smiling, seemingly at his former provincialism. “I mean, that is nothing like what I see here.”

His record collection. Cassandra Giraldo for The Wall Street Journal

The grandest collection Mr. Paz says he has photographed is owned by Craig Kallman, the CEO of Atlantic Records.

“He had custom-made floor-to-ceiling shelving on almost every wall in his apartment. He actually has a second apartment just for a production studio and for his records. There are some vintage gig posters, including one of the only existing original Sex Pistols gig posters.” Mr. Paz paused to reflect. “It was in the bathroom, like above the toilet,” he said, with a hint of amazement.

When asked if he had come to recognize characteristics common to the obsessive record collectors he photographs, he identified a few telltale markers.

“They’re generally educated, highly meticulous, fanatical about details. About 80% of my subjects are men. And a lot of them have cats; definitely many more cats than dogs. And, if you think about it, what’s a better companion than a cat to stay at home and listen to records with you?”

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