The
REVIVAL of
Analog Film, vinyl records retake the forefront of physical media crackle while listening to a Employee Ramal Cole, who has worked at jazz record. Sending your Groovers for three years, says he believes the film to be developed so you main attraction of vinyl is the hunt. can hold your images in “Going to the store and digging for hours your hands. Sorting through to find a record, then you find it, get home, thousands of records until you find a hidden take it out and put it on a record player,” Cole treasure. Over the years, these plights of the says. “It makes it a whole experience of finding analog age have been replaced by cassettes something new.” and stereos, digital cameras and iPhone Inside a tattered sleeve is an old record. photographs, and downloadable albums on Perhaps its color has faded and it bears a few iTunes followed by instant subtle scratches. Each record Written by Katie Kostecka music-streaming services. has a story. Each record has As fashion trends resurface Photos by Stephen Sleeper history. years later, such as high-waisted & Randy Plavajka Jericho Taetz, senior jeans and scrunchies, so has Illustrated by Taji Saleem music education and worship the popularity of analog. In an era of instant music and digital photography, millennials are finding the value of searching slowly for records and are gaining interest in film photography. One record shop that has survived the rise and fall of analog popularity is in Riverside. Opening in 2011, Groovers began small, selling the personal collection of owner Tom Allen. Over the years, it has grown into a popular spot for both record collectors and hobbyists.
48 | Pursuit
arts double major at California Baptist University, says he enjoys the stories each record tells. “People miss the aesthetic aspect because it’s got this nice cover that you can look at,” he says. “You can take it out and read it. It’s got an aesthetic value to it that people are missing now because they can just click a button. It is impersonal.” For others, the attraction is sentiment. “For me, it is the nostalgia side of things,”