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Holiday Records is a full vinyl experience that houses New Zealand’s only vinyl record pressing plant. This is an opportunity for artists from here and abroad to press vinyl in our purpose-built plant located in the heart of Auckland Central.
Not only is Holiday Records pressing world-class vinyl records, but we also sell them in Auckland’s newest record store. We proudly boast a curated collection of brand-new records, equipment and merchandise – all of which is available online so those not in Auckland can experience their very own holiday at home. – www.holidayrecords.com
Joel – My name is Joel Woods / 28 years and born in Taupo, New Zealand. I have a varied background, working as both a criminal defence lawyer and web designer in my past lives before Holiday Records started in late 2018. Like most, music is a massive part of my life and I am so fortunate to make it my job.
Ben – My name is Ben and I grew up in Hawke's Bay which is on the East Coast of the North Island. After school I attended University of Otago studying Economics and Music Technology. I then moved to New York where I lived and worked for a year before heading home to Hawkes bay where I worked and played in a folk band.
Harry – My name is Harry Gorringe, 26 years old and born in Palmerston North. I’m from a rural background but have focused on the music industry since university. Prior to working at Holiday Records, I have held roles at Rhythm & Vines and Shout Media. During the summer months I supplement my work with Tour Managing and Artist Liaison responsibilities for a variety of acts and festivals.
Cheers — firstly we can’t take full credit for its design — our good friends/geniuses at Sunday Best Design Studio in Auckland took the reins on its creation. We had the name locked in and they brought it all together. Basically, it’s a nod to those iconic logos (think old school airlines) and classic gig posters from a time when vinyl was the only way to listen to music. We want to be seen as an international brand and pressing plant so incorporating the globe was key when we are based at the bottom of the globe in little ol’ NZ.
The idea started with Ben’s desire to press records for his band a couple of years back. After doing a bit of research he realised that was impossible to do in New Zealand since our last plant closed in the 1980s and all the other plants nearby (Australia only has the one) were backed up with orders for months.
There has been a massive resurgence in vinyl of the past decade and we saw a great opportunity to bring vinyl production back to New Zealand to service both the local and international music communities.
We did a couple of trips to North America to visit other pressing plants, train on our extraordinary machine and test the viability of our idea with people in the industry. We learnt a lot and gained more confidence with this somewhat outlandish idea — so we hit the ground running about one year ago when we started the process of opening up our very own vinyl record pressing plant in the heart of Auckland City.
We think in an age of convenience, and being able to access everything immediately and digitally, people desire something more meaningful. Buying records and collecting records makes music more meaningful in our eyes. Streaming music and the intangible nature of digital music makes it so disposable.
Vinyl was the original physical format of music and holds true to the original medium that everyone is familiar with — whether nostalgic or otherwise. The sound is warming and the album art is life-size which brings added appreciation to the art form.
As we always say – you can’t pass your playlists onto your kids but you can pass on your vinyl collection.
We have pressed (and have in our pipeline) mostly local NZ music — Stellar*, Six60, Pluto, Die! Die! Die!, Daffodils among others.
Without getting too technical — audio is cut into a master record with a machine called a lathe which converts the audio (usually digital files) into grooves. These master records (called lacquers) are used to created negative metal moulds of the record i.e. instead of microscopic grooves, these metal plates have microscopic ridges.
These negative metal moulds (called stampers) are placed in our machine and a hockey-puck shaped bit of hot PVC gets pressed between them. This in-turn imprints the PVC with the grooves of the record (think how a waffle iron imprints waffle batter with the waffle print). A bit of excess comes out the sides and gets trimmed off to a perfectly shaped 12” vinyl record. These stampers can be used over and over again pressing records every 30-seconds.
The following video is the property of FloorTwelve
Holiday Records - Floor Twelve Creative Spotlight - Episode 1 from Floor Twelve on Vimeo.
There really is something magic about vinyl, from the sound and feel to the enlarged, collectable art that a complete vinyl package is. Are you guys offering a full service for print and packaging also?
Yes, we totally agree — nothing compares and great to have an equal appreciation for the audio and artwork! We are indeed a full service pressing plant. Leave us with your audio and artwork files (we provide the appropriate templates) and you can leave Holiday Records with a fully shrink-wrapped record with inserts, download cards — the works. We also offer a range of different vinyl colours.
The music industry is so broad so naturally, we would love to explore different areas of the industry and locations around the world – whether it be the distribution for records we press, music events or even artist management — the music world is our oyster. But right now, we are focusing on our bread and butter (and biggest passion) — pressing the best vinyl records in the business to service both NZ and the world.
Holiday Records is in Auckland which is arguably the best place for live music, food, vintage clothing and bars. We love music to catch as many live shows as possible is something we find important to keep on the pulse of the NZ music industry. Few of our favourite establishments include Food/Drink – Odettes Eatery, Honey Bones, Lillian Osteria Restaurant, Seabreeze / Bars: Madame George, Conch, Wine Cellar, Dr Rudi’s, Caretaker / Venues: Powerstation, Galatos / Clothing: Waves Vintage, Shakes. We also host events at Holiday Records – album launches, DJs, Record Store Days, acoustic gigs with help from our buddies at Rudi’s Beer who supply us with the good stuff!
You can check out Holiday Records website here and there Instagram here
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