Q&A Remix With Josh Gondelman

The Q&A Remix is a frequent column on IHTOV in which people from all walks of life answer a set of pre-written questions about their vinyl collection. Today we welcome comedian and Emmy award winner Josh Gondelman.

Have you ever bought a record just for the artwork?

I can’t say for sure if I’ve ever bought a record for the artwork, but I definitely gravitated towards some in my parents’ collection for that reason when I was a kid. Santana’s Abraxas album was on that list for sure. I love the music too, but that album cover is so eye-popping.

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

I tend to look for either hip hop or comedy. There’s something so fun about the meta-vinyl experience of hearing a rap record that sampled another record, or you can hear those DJ Premier-type scratches played on their native medium. And old comedy stuff is always such a trip to sift through. It’s a lot of the classic albums you expect to find and then you’ll see something like Fartin’ Johnny Parton and the Armpit Orchestra.

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

I put my third standup album Dancing On A Weeknight out on vinyl, and I am so glad I did. So much comedy is now about capturing and sharing ephemeral moments on social media, which I get, but I also love having a big project made to be listened to continuously for 50ish minutes. This answer is cheating, but it is my answer. No take-backs.

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

I am extraordinarily scattershot when it comes to what I own and by whom. I find completism extremely satisfying as a concept, but I do not practice it out of laziness and a lack of physical space in my apartment. So I do have to stick to buying things I like and realllly want rather than like…obscure overseas releases and unlistenable demos as well. Although, I got a Mitch Hedberg box set as a gift from my friend Julian, and Rhino Records sent me their new Steve Martin box set, and those complete collections are really nice to have. It will be very gratifying to hold onto these pieces of comedy history when it’s either vinyl or you let Applezonify (they’ve all merged in this future) install their hardware directly into your brain and you have to listen to records that way.

What are your first memories of listening to records?

When I was very little my dad would put me up on his shoulders and we’d dance around the house to Little Feat’s Let It Roll and Graceland by Paul Simon (which I know is controversial but I was very small at the time). The structural integrity of my parents’ home is such that you can only dance so hard before the record skips, which I would like to (dubiously) blame for my general stiffness while moving to music to this day.

Tell us a little about your favorite record store.

In high school, a fun night out would be to go record (although to be honest, mostly CD at the time) shopping across the border at Bull Moose Records in Salem, NH. They had some more indie stuff than the Coconuts in my hometown, and we would delude ourselves into thinking that the lack of sales tax was saving us money that we were absolutely spending on the gas it took us to get out of Massachusetts. I haven’t been in years, but I think the Bull Moose stores are worker-owned now, which rules.

How has your record collection and appreciation for vinyl evolved over the years, and what has influenced your tastes?

Even though I am currently between turntables, I have been buying new albums and reissues by bands I listen to a lot. Between putting up the money for albums and other merch, and buying concert tickets, I let myself off the hook a little bit for streaming the same music for convenience.

As I said, I don’t have a ton of space in my home for a big collection (and goodness knows I would accrue one as a method of self-soothing; just look at all my sneakers), so my little shelf of albums is really representative of lots of my favorite working artists, especially including ones I’ve seen live. It feels a little more like a curation than a collection if that makes sense, which it probably doesn’t. But it’s less for me about building an archive and more about directing a few bucks as directly as I can to the artists who mean a lot to me.

What’s the last record you played?

It was probably my friend Claire’s record Magic that she made as Tiny Deaths. It’s a little more sultry than I usually go for in my headphones but it sets a nice tone around the apartment. It’s a little less intimate when it’s coming out of the speakers and not piped directly into your ears. Geez I sound like such a Puritan, but this is how I feel!

Josh Gondelman is a comedian, Emmy-winning television writer, and the author of the newsletter That’s Marvelous!

I Have That on Vinyl is a reader supported publication. If you enjoy what’s going on here please consider donating to the site’s writer fund: venmo // paypal