Paola Puente
If Paola Puente’s records, portable turntables, vintage toys and ephemera were housed in a museum, it would be enough to make The Smithsonian envious. The fact that one individual has single-handedly amassed such a meticulously curated collection is extraordinary.
Sounds of Slience
SOUNDS OF SILENCE JAZZ KISSA OF JAPAN BY JAMES HUSSEIN CATCHPOLE Whether jazz, soul, rock, reggae or even European classical, Japan has a bar that caters to every type of music fan. To become a regular at a music bar, you are not just a customer conducting a transaction, but an integral part of […]
John Armstrong
Listening to John Armstrong’s stories in his room with open cupboards full of vinyl records and books, I found to be very inspiring. Mahogany-colored shelves stretched from wall to wall. There were two other rooms crowded with vinyl in his New-Victorian house, most of them in boxes which he “still needs to unwrap.” I knew immediately that this interview would travel into deep and wide landscapes. John Armstrong started DJing in the 1970s while working as a lawyer at a Jewish law firm in
Carter Van Pelt
Carter Van Pelt had an inauspicious beginning for a reggae DJ, event producer, and historian. Born and raised in Nebraska, Van Pelt grew up surrounded by the sounds of John Denver, the Eagles, Simon & Garfunkel, and Bread—music beloved by his ever-encouraging, artistic mother. Although he had an ear for soft rock, Carter’s musical passion was grounded in something Nebraska knew little about–reggae. He found the genre as many would in the ‘70s and ‘80s, through Bob Marley and The W
Adam Mansbach
A transplant to the Bay Area in the mid-2000s, Adam Mansbach got his early musical education as a kid in the Boston area, obsessed with hip-hop. Like many of us caught up in hip-hop’s tidal surge across the U.S. in the 1980s, Adam was inspired to MC and DJ but he also found a calling to infuse his energies into writing as a journalist and novelist. While still a college student in the mid-90s, he started the hip-hop journal/magazine, Elementary, before launching himself as an author. Best know
Rafa Jazz
São Paulo’s Rafa Jazz has become a ubiquitous force on the capital city’s scene in recent years. As a shop owner, label boss, radio personality, heavy-weight vinyl junkie, and purveyor of some of the creamiest sounds in town, what drew her to the world of wax began as a way to procure the jazz music she loved in an affordable format.
You Dig? | Issue #07
Issue 07 | April 2025 | Curation & Artwork by Jess Rotter | | | We’re thrilled to have LA-based illustrator and record fiend Jess Rotter guest curating this issue. Jess has been a good friend of Dust & Grooves right back to her 2013 interview with Eilon for the first book. I love that Jess’s first taste of vinyl was a Fisher Price Record Player next to her bed, and how she would wake up to flip over the record. Dedication, people.
Michael Kurtz
Now firmly established as an important part of the music retail ecosystem, Record Store Day was launched in 2008 as a celebration of the independent record store, as well as a means to boost consumer awareness of the mom-and-pop retailers that were still stocking new vinyl releases even as big music chains like Tower Records were going under. Initially conceived as an annual US event (but now expanded to a twice-yearly international one), RSD introduces hundreds of new limited-edition vinyl reis
You Dig? | Issue #06
Issue 06 | April 2025 | Curation by DJ Scribe | Artwork by Soundpapered | | | This month, we put virtual pen to paper, with DJ Scribe curating the cultural choices and Soundpapered providing the artwork. Soundpapered, the alter ego of British-American artist Rachel D. Abrams, has created some truly memorable cover art for You Dig?, above. Famously, art has no rules—but not so with Soundpapered.
Kassin
If you spot Alexandre Kassin in Rio de Janeiro’s Botafogo neighborhood, you'd be forgiven for thinking he might work at a tech startup around the corner. There is little about his demeanor or outward appearance to indicate that he is one of the most prolific and accomplished musicians, composers, producers, and arrangers in the contemporary Brazilian music scene. Despite his impressive body of work, filled with legendary names like Caetano, Elza, and Jorge Ben, Kassin prefers to stay far from