Q&A Remix With Owen Brazas

Q&A Remix is a thrice weekly column where people anwer a pre-written set of questions about their record collections.

Today’s Q&A features Owen Brazas, record collector and guitarist in Chicago band Weaklung.

Have you ever bought a record just for the artwork?

All the time, sometimes the frame is better than the picture. I bought an LP from a band called The Chambermaids who opened for some bigger band. The moment I saw their handmade LP covers that they lovingly made I threw down my cash. I am a total sucker for that sort of thing.

What is your most memorable vinyl buying experience?

When I was first getting into underground music in the 90s. The little local stores that my parents would be willing to drive me to didn’t have any of the weirdo punk and hardcore records I was reading about in Thrasher. Somehow I got hold of a catalog from Crank (a record company/distro) who was doing the punk/emo thing. They had tons of records that sounded amazing, but I never heard a note. I just picked a few that sounded cool. LPs were $8 and 7” were $3.50, not bad. I remember telling my mother I was going to send away for records and I just put a $20 bill in an envelope, wrote a letter saying what I wanted. My mother thought for sure I was getting scammed. About two weeks later a package arrived with two LPs and a 7” with two quarters for change in the box. I also got a nice letter with recommendations of other records I might like. I placed another order the following week. I was a revelation that there were was a world of music I didn’t know existed, and that there was a network of people that fuckin loved it and wanted to help you hear all this cool stuff. 

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

I head to the “recently arrived used records”, at my main store, it is broken-up by loose genres, one for punk/metal, pop rock/indie, jazz/r&b, hip-hop, etc. I usually just start at the front and work my way through the whole thing. 

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

I have my Mother’s copy of Patti Smith’s Horses. This is a very important record as I have a very clear memory of being three and washing the dishes on a chair with my mom and she put this record on. It was literally the moment I realized I loved music. It was kinda scary sounding, it didn’t sound polished like a Beatles album, but I remember listening to the song “Kimberly” and not being able to stop my little hips moving and I was just IN, this music just pulled me in. I was now all in for this music stuff. So, it’s the actual physical object that made me a music fan.

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

The first two Shellac 7”s, when I first heard them, they sounded like nothing else.

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

I think when I LOVE a band, I want everything, even some of the stinkers. I love a lot of artists, but I only LOVE a handful. We inherited all my in-laws Zappa/Mother’s albums, I think we have all of them, minus one or two. I fuckin hate Zappa and he’s the guy we have the most of which I think is fucking funny. It’s wild how collections grow and evolve and where stuff comes from. That said, I have personally bought a ton of Melvins records and I have every Jesus Lizard record they put out.

What is/are your white whale records?

Big Black - Bulldozer (Metal Cover Version) Melvins - Lysol (with Lysol still on the cover) Dinosaur Jr - You’re Living All Over Me (no Jr on the cover)

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

My uncle Mark gave me his original pressing of The Velvet Underground & Nico that he bought from the band. Beat to shit, but it’s an amazing document. 

Do you have a favorite live record?

Iron Maiden - Live After Death The Who - Live at Leeds Motorhead - Live at Hammersmith Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous Joy Division - Les Bains Douches

Who/what got you hooked on records?

We were raised in a very working class family and didn’t have much money growing up. My parents had a very solid record collection and all of a sudden people were going to CDs. CDs were expensive and popular. All of a sudden people were getting rid of their LPs and I could go to the record store (Record Swap, Korvettes, Hegewisch) and buy 10 LPs for $5. So I could get almost 30 LPs for the price of 1 CD. The racks runneth over as people upgraded their whole collections to CDs. Thankfully my parents had a great stereo and I heard how good records sounded. 

What are your first memories of listening to records?

Putting a John Cougar Mellencamp “Jack & Diane” 7” single on the turntable over and over. (Loved those handclaps)

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

SUNNO))) - Black One. It is a very zen record for me, I can just lose myself in the thickness of sound, oddly meditative. 

What genre is most represented in your collection?

Rock, Soul, Hip-Hop.

Tell us a little about your favorite record store

My friend Scott opened Pinwheel Records in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. He was the first person I knew that opened a record store. It’s not the biggest or has the most cache, but it is well curated and reflective of the people that own it. I have never left the store empty handed. I also found Pylon’s Chomp LP there when I desperately needed it. I was so excited that he had it I think I jumped up and down when he pulled it from the rack.

What’s the weirdest record you own?

Dick Clark’s 20 years of Rock n Roll. The music is not really weird, but the cover has this big giant image or Dick Clark’s face that I found terrifying as a child. I still think it’s kind of scary, it’s like he is looking deep into your soul. 

Ever since Owen’s parents taught him how to flip a record as a child he has been hooked on vinyl. Never one to get into arguments about format; of what sounds the best, he just liked the way records sounded and the ritual of playing them. A Chicagoland native, Owen was lucky to have so many great record stores to visit and discover all sorts of cool sounds. Owen has been playing in bands since the 90s and is currently the guitar player of noisy rock band Weaklung, you can find him a few times a week browsing the bins at Reckless in The Loop on his lunch break.