The Dust & Grooves Family Has Grown | The Last Two Months | Motherload Madness | Consistency Is Key | Homeward Bound | It Never Ends | What’s Next for Dust & Grooves?
The Dust & Grooves Family Has Grown
Hi, I’m Sam, the new editorial intern here at Dust & Grooves.
I’ve lived in New Jersey all my life and am currently studying journalism at Rutgers. When I realized I lacked a gift for performing music, I did what all music journalists do: write about the music they long to play. I write concert and album reviews for The Daily Targum and host Slanted and Enchanted Radio on WRSU. I’m also a record collector (check out my Discogs!); when I see an original Blue Note or a Beatles’ bootleg, it’s mine.
I’ve been interning with Dust & Grooves since January, learning the ins and outs of the publishing world. One of my tasks is polishing interviews from the OG days of Dust & Grooves. Back when it was just Eilon, pen, and paper (and no editor, so they needed some work). My favorite experience so far is editing interviews; it’s a thrill to get firsthand experience and learn about rare LPs simultaneously. During this internship, I hope to continue editing interviews and conduct interviews with collectors who can teach me a thing or two about digging.
I’m not the only new editorial intern; please welcome Caroline, who has been learning the ropes since she started in February. It’s only fair for Caroline to introduce herself since she has so much going on, so take it away, Caroline!
Hi there, Caroline here,
I’m a student at Columbia University, studying English with minors in Film and Latin American Studies. I’ve been a musician all my life, so deciding to pursue music journalism was the perfect way to combine my passions for music and writing. I write for Post Trash, Columbia’s literary magazine The Blue and White, and the arts magazine Ratrock. I host radio shows for Columbia’s radio station WKCR. I started interning with Dust & Grooves just a few weeks ago, where I’ve been working on reformatting old interviews and copyediting new interviews. I’m excited to get an inside look at the operations of running Dust & Grooves and to learn more about the record-collecting world!
Thank you Caroline.
Sam, again, let’s get into it.
It’s been a minute since our last editorial notes, so throw on Donald Byrd’s Places and Spaces or any other ’70s Blue Note jazz funk, sit back, and enjoy these notes.
The Last Two Months
With Caroline and myself joining, Fiona, the world’s greatest intern, took on an editorial role at the start of the year and will conduct freelance interviews for us. Fi has been a crucial part of the Dust & Grooves Vol. 2 release and helped edit interviews, manage schedules, start up our Me to You column, and compile mixtapes (she really did it all). Prepare for two of her upcoming interviews with Anton Spice and Louise Chen. Caroline and I will be editing these with help from Eilon—It’s a family affair.
Eilon couldn’t be more proud of Fi, “I’m really proud to see Fiona graduating into a most capable music writer here at Dust & Grooves. Starting as an intern, she quickly climbed the ladder, becoming a crucial team member, already conducting three full interviews for us! Her experience with the Dust & Grooves team will not go unnoticed, and I hope to have her conduct more interviews before she’s working for Rolling Stone or the next cool independent label out there.”
Fi hopes to work for a music label or radio station, so give us a shout if you’re looking for a hard-working, thorough, witty music writer or your next label manager!
Motherload Madness
After months of weekly additions to The Vinyl Motherlode, it finally hit its limit. With over 2,500 entries, the vinyl nut Dan Larkin took home the gold mine. “When they said motherlode, they weren’t kidding!” was Dan’s first reaction when he received the goodies in the mail.
Some highlights of Dan’s new collection include MF DOOM’s MM..FOOD (20th Anniversary Edition) from Rhymesayers, a limited pressing of Jack White’s No Name from Third Man Records, and the best prize of all, over $3,000 of vinyl goodness. Check out Dan’s video on IG opening the box of vinyl love!
Consistency Is Key
As promised, we’ve been pumping out fresh weekly interviews since the start of the year.
In January, we heard from a handful of collectors. Deb Grant, host of New Music Fix on BBC6 Music, went in-depth with Dom Servini on her preference for being on air rather than playing on a dance floor. Like most interviews, this one compelled me to dig for new genres. A week later, Christine Renée spoke with Lefto, DJ, collector and a resident DJ at Kiosk Radio. They discussed Lefto’s first rave and leaving Belgium for the Big Apple.
To close out January, Grace of Spades, the master of controlling a vibe, talked to Jessica Lipsky. The interview is worth a read to see her record room alone—the type of space I could spend weeks in and not want to leave. By the end of the talk, she declared her admiration for digging, “Record collecting is like putting together a large puzzle only to realize the puzzle actually has no edges, therefore no possibility of completion.”
Other great reads are from last month, as we sat down with Alex Figueira and Coco Maria, two brilliant vinyl heads. Alex Figueria showed Allen Thayer the tropical tunes that inspired his career with Music With Soul. His vinyl room is hard to beat. Coco Maria bonded with author Pablo Yglesias over Latin beats and the gift of being a radio DJ, “I don’t just want to play music; I want people to know what I am saying about the song.”
And most recently, we talked to Avidan Weiss, who told us why being behind the counter is the best place in a record store. Avidan never gave up on independent vinyl stores, “Record stores are where I feel the most at home. I can’t explain it, a place where you feel more at home than in your own home.”
Homeward Bound
Eilon traveled to Israel at the end of February to visit his family and made time to celebrate Vol. 2 with featured collectors and longtime friends. Hosted at Nuweiba in Tel Aviv, he gathered all the Israeli collectors from Volumes 1 and 2 of Dust & Grooves for a late night of spinning vinyl.
Whenever this many Dust & Grooves legends are gathered, it makes for a good night. Ellen G & Rankin Levy, Avidan Weiss, Markey Funk, Ariel Tagar, Zack Bar, and Shay Landa came down to the party with a pocketful of vinyl to spin. It is starting to become a Dust & Grooves tradition. A night of celebrating friendship you can only express through music.
The homecoming was a special moment for Eilon, “Coming back to Tel Aviv really moved me. It’s special to work with friends and collectors on our favorite thing in the world: vinyl! I’ve been in New York for seventeen years, but Tel Aviv will always feel like home.”
Stay tuned for a full party recap soon.
It Never Ends
You thought wrong if you assumed the Dust & Grooves Vol. 2 release parties ended in 2024. We’re back with more this month; you’ll never guess where the second event is after hearing about the first.
On Wednesday, March 19th, Eilon’s off to Studio 33 in Trastevere, Rome, for an evening of talking shop and high-end vinyl spinning. Eilon and friends Luca Sapio (Blind Faith Records) and Pierpaolo De Sanctis (Four Flies Records) will drop the needle on Italian grooves into the night. Check out the invite to see the whole lineup of events.
Two days later, Eilon travels to State College, PA, for a half-vinyl sale, half-release party (Only Eilon visits Rome and rural PA in the span of three days!) Hosted by The Attic, the first two hours will be a pop-up vinyl sale before Eilon sits down with Penn State’s Jerry Zolten to discuss the book. Afterward, Eilon will be signing copies until the afterparty gets rolling with help from DJs Tiger and Araelia.
What’s Next for Dust & Grooves
Vol. 2 has been out for a few months now, and although it would be easy to take some rest, it’s important to keep pushing.
It’s no news that independent publishing is a tough business. We’ve been rolling and evolving throughout the years, expanding our reach and our network, with four book titles under our wing. Dust & Grooves has taken over Eilon’s career, with endless dedication but very little monetary compensation, but that won’t stop him from keep pushing. We’re constantly looking for avenues to grow and fund our operations, and we’re in the process of turning Dust & Grooves into a non-profit organization, focusing on what matters: preserving and celebrating music history through storytelling, education and community building. That’s been the goal since the early days, and perhaps the time has come to take that leap and make it official. Stay tuned for more updates on this front and on ways to be part of it.
We want to keep passing our knowledge to future generations and celebrate the world’s best collectors. To do this, we need your help. As usual, check out our Patreon for access to all our past mixtapes curated by your favorite collectors. Please consider supporting us with a membership to our website, giving you full access to complete interviews, music discoveries, and much more.
Spring is coming! It’s time to grab a Zeppelin tape, pop the hood of your car, and take a cruise. The world may feel dark, but remember, music always has your back.
Keep digging and finding fresh tunes,
Sam, Eilon, and the Dust & Grooves Team.
