Q&A Remix With Bevan Bell

Have you ever bought a record just for the artwork?

I certainly have.  The first one that comes to mind is a collection of TV Themes that had a three panel artwork of The Green Hornet, Tarzan, and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.  The images were very much like quick turn comic book panels and not great, but something about it was very entertaining. I put it in a frame and it’s in my garage/office.  Others would be these very 60s mod jazz albums and jazz compilations like Easy Jazz on a Fish Beat Bass.

What is your most memorable vinyl buying experience?

I love the dig. In every city I land for a bit I try to find a record store and go dig. I remember finding a Donald Byrd record I was hunting for in Truth or Consequences New Mexico.  I remember finding an OG copy of Tribe Called Quest The Love Movement in my favorite local record store, Tunnel Records.  The most recent was buying $5 records off of a friend’s dad’s old collection he had been carrying around since the 90s.  I found so many minty/VG records in that dig - The Dead Milkmen, the Dead Kennedys, OG Rolling Stones, OG Hendrix.  I made out well on that trip.

What’s the first area you head for in a record store?

I’m a sucker for Jazz clearance. Jazz is overlooked and underrated by a large percentage of the listening population, almost to the range of classical music. However,  those that know what to look for can often find some well loved covers with super clean disks in the jazz clearance. 

What’s the most treasured album in your collection and why?

Earl Anderza - Outa Sight. A number of years ago my mother gave me a bunch of $1 records she bought from her little town in Fruita, CO and in that pile was a super rare Earl Anderza record that fueled an insane search for Pacific Jazz label and those old rare jazz finds. That led to a jazz rabbit hole and was the reignition of my passion of collecting vinyl.  I’ve got more valuable records but that one was the bug that bit me.

What one record in your collection would you be most eager to share with new friends?

When I started saving records from the clearance bins, I would always find Les McCann - Les McCann LTD. Plays the Truth.   I always pick it up when I see it and it’s likely the album that I’ve saved the most. A close second would be Ronnie Laws - Pressure Sensitive.

Are you a completionist when it comes to artists? Which artist do you have the most records from?

I try to be a completionist in a sense.  Some albums in certain artists’ discographies are just out of reach as far as price and being out of print.  It’s kind of hard to say which artist I would have the most of but it’s likely David Bowie, The Beatles, or Neil Young.

What is/are your white whale records?

Currently I’m on the hunt for a copy of Neil Young - Broken Arrow on vinyl that won’t cost me $300, but I’m always looking.  Another would be Smashing Pumpkins’ Machina II.  I remember the rumor stories of when that collection was pressed it was given as a christmas gift from Billy.  So there are few and I’ve never seen one in person.

What is your greatest “score;” could be on value or just rarity or something you were looking for the longest?

Neil Young - Sleeps With Angels.  This one had been out of print forever and I just got lucky with someone that didn’t know what they had (and bid timing). 

Do you have a favorite live record?

There’s a record where Blitzen Trapper covers all of Neil Young - Harvest live.  It’s the first one that comes to mind, but it might only be because we’re in the Neil section of my head right now.

Who/what got you hooked on records?

When I was 16 years old the old vinyl collection and the family radio/turntable setup was put in my room.  Long before the time of the internet and being able to find anything your heart desired, this collection was my gateway to discovery.  When I moved out of that house, I took the records with me.  They were always with me.  Libraries are important.

What are your first memories of listening to records?

When I was a young child my mother used to listen to this collection of classical music by the Philadelphia Philharmonic.  Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Chopin, etc.  Whenever I hum those classics burned into my brain I think of my mother and my childhood.

What’s your favorite record to listen to on headphones?

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon. I remember really taking time to soak that one in.  It’s just transporting.

What genre is most represented in your collection?

It’s gotta be jazz.  in 2020 when I was working from home, I hit 43, (that magic record my mother gifted me), and I transitioned into my old-man jazz phase.  I was very passionate about finding more records by these artists I was being introduced to. And they’re relatively inexpensive in comparison.  Therefore, my jazz collection is DEEP.

Tell us a little about your favorite record store.

I am loyal when I find my tribe.  When I moved back to the SF Bay Area in 2017, shortly afterward I was on the hunt to find a shop to hit for Record Store Day.  I found Tunnel Records on Taraval in San Francisco.  With my purchase, I got some swag, and I kept going back. The shop is well curated, the offerings other than records are always unique pieces of San Francisco.  It really felt unique, like a little secret place.  Over the years I’ve become friends with the owner and some of the staff and it really is a great tribe.  It’s the record store you want to go back to.  They’ve expanded to a couple of additional shops in SF - which seems like an impossible insane business venture, but man it really is a gem, let’s hope for the long run.

What’s the weirdest record you own?

Torn between two, The Wide Weird World of Shorty Peterson or John Lennon - Mind Games The Meditation Mixes. I’ve enjoyed it, but 9 slowed and screwed versions of Mind Games with binaural beats and theta waves might be the most very specific record I’ve purchased.  I blame Sean Lennon for convincing me to buy it.

A filmmaker by trade, visual creative, super-dad, intermediate surfer, and collector of music; making a pay-check in the corporate world.  My love of film and creating is tied very closely to my passion for filmmaking and storytelling.  Kilimanjarowarriors.com is a portal for a documentary film I finished in 2015, which won a couple of film festival awards.  I’ve always got projects moving at different paces at different times, hoping to finish work on a couple of documentaries, and earlier this year I was talked into starting a band because most everyone my age is going into a mid-life crisis.  aaaaaand  I post a lot of photos on instagram if you like photography. @bevanbell.