Favorite Things: Jaxon Kolhoff and his record collection

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Jaxon Kolhoff, 21. who can be seen working the register at The Record Lounge, inherited his favorite thing, a vast record collection, from his father. Kolhoff details why vinyl is such a special and personal way to enjoy your favorite music. 

I got this collection as sort of a hand-me-down. It was my dad’s collection from his older brother. It’s a bunch of punk records that have been passed down from the ’80s and ’70s and it’s one of those things where it always sat on a shelf, and I’d say “Oh, what’s this? Can I look at this?” And I’d be told, “No, you’re going to mess it up and break it.”

Eventually, it got to the point where I was old enough to buy my own records and I’d say, “Hey man, now I’ve got this collection.” Once I got my own record player, my dad gave me all of his albums. I went from having one or two Orville Peck records to having like all of these original Cramps records and Big Boys records. There’s even Black Flag and the Flipper record with the cardboard van that you can cut out. It’s interesting stuff from the ’70s that my father got from his brother. He had the Cheech and Chong record with the giant rolling paper — stuff you’re never going to find today in this condition. 

Looking through the collection is kind of a treasure hunt, and it feels like passing down Excalibur. When I first got into vinyl I was like 10, I had an MP3 player in my pocket or something and I’d scroll through songs. When I saw the record collection, I thought it seemed way more like books and it gave the music way more value. 

It felt like something important, it takes space, rather than just having 10,000 songs from LimeWire. It taught me how much people had to go through to find good music back in the day. I thought about how I would find about bands just from getting a link, instead of the actual scavenger hunt that people used to have to go through. I think that was the big inspiration, it felt like an adventure. 

The actual sound of vinyl is so crisp. It’s like the difference between seeing a bird in a YouTube video versus seeing a bird in-person on a nature walk. It’s almost like a different vibration. It’s the difference between drinking a Dasani and drinking some really good mineral water. You know what I mean?

Interview edited and condensed by Skyler Ashley. If you have a suggestion for Favorite Things, please email Skyler@Lansingcitypulse.com

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