The 411 on Record Swap Day

All vinyl junkies are asked to report to Cabaret Playhouse this Friday for the inaugural edition of Record Swap Day. Just haul a few good records that you’re willing to part with (check out our record-swap etiquette guide here) and you’re sure to walk away with some fresh sounds to spruce up your collection.

Conceived by Montrealer Jeremy Ron, founder of the Vinyl Junkies online community, the Swap will happen simultaneously in nine cities, across four countries, on both sides of the Atlantic.

The local Swap features DJ Luv and live music by Saxsyndrum and the Necrophiliacs, not to mention a donation of 1,000 records from local shops Aux 33 Tours, Phonopolis and Cheap Thrills. In turn, Ron will be donating all proceeds from the event to Dans la Rue.

“Everybody was very enthusiastic about the idea because basically it’s about building the community,” says Ron, who was feeling so charitable that he even had a few nice things to say about Record Store Day (this Saturday, April 19). “It’s all fine and good to knock Record Store Day, but the fact is that it’s still a pretty cool thing, because people need to buy music if these stores are gonna stay around and be relevant. There’s an entire generation of people that have grown up downloading music, and it’s going to take a lot of effort from the community to make them see art as something worth supporting with your money.”

Ron sees both the Swap and the Store events as part of the solution, but it’s a year-round issue that won’t be resolved by showing props to musicians and the wax they produce for two days every April.  Despite the well-documented resurgence of vinyl, collecting records is viewed as quaint in some quarters, and is one of the many traits attributed to “hipsters” (mainly by the people who like to point and laugh at these socalled blights on society).

“Anyone who equates listening to vinyl with being a hipster isn’t getting it at all,” Ron says. “If that makes me a hipster, then I guess I’m a hipster who hangs out in his basement with his records. Is there a trend aspect to this? Of course, but if supporting art is going to depend on trends and people who follow trends, it’s dead. That’s not what this is about.

“The whole point of Record Swap Day is that it’s an international goodwill event that encourages people to get together and talk about music.” ■

Record Swap Day happens at Cabaret Playhouse (5656 Parc) on Friday, April 18, 7 p.m., with music all night by DJ Luv, Saxsyndrum and the Necrophiliacs.