- A vinyl resurgence at The Vinyl Cafe
Acting on a whim and a passion for vinyl, Tareeq Musafer opened The Vinyl Cafe as a hobby store. Musafer is also Founder and Patron of the DJ Academy of Sri Lanka and author of the book Learn to be a DJ, published in 2008, so this café was the next natural step in his career.
For Musafer, who started out DJ-ing in the early 80’s, music was always a big part of life. He started out small, like every DJ; playing at school gigs and friends’ parties. In the late 80’s, he moved to Australia where he got the bulk of his experience and exposure in the mobile, club, and event circuits. Upon his return to Sri Lanka in the late 90’s, he dabbled in many business ventures in the entertainment and leisure sectors.
Speaking to Brunch on how The Vinyl Cafe started out, he said: “I have an extensive collection of vinyls due to my career as a DJ. Back in the 80’s we used to only play out of vinyls, so as a DJ, you had to have a lot.”
He went on to add that it was the lockdown that inspired him to create The Vinyl Cafe.
“I had a lot of time on my hands, so I used that time to put all my vinyls into order. Then I thought to myself, ‘why not put it in a place where people can come and look at them?’ That is the story of The Vinyl Cafe.”
Sharing some background into vinyls and their history, Mufaser told us that in the early 2000s, vinyl records were collecting dust – both in our attics and our collective consciousness. But then something curious happened.
“In 2008, music stores around the world started celebrating ‘Record Store Day’. Fast-forward to 2020, when vinyl record sales reached a record high, surpassing CD sales for the first time since 1986,” he said As it turns out, vinyl records have a history and scientific background that is as fascinating as their nostalgia-driven resurgence in popularity.
Although the place is titled The Vinyl Cafe, Musafer explained that they do not serve food, but somewhere down the line, when things get better, turning it into a real café could become a possibility. For now, it’s just a great place to chill, hang out, listen to some great tunes and unwind. Anyone with a passion for vinys can meet like minded people at the workshops Musafer holds for this purpose.
Explaining what the workshops he holds entails, he said: “I conduct these workshops for millennials or those who weren’t born into the vinyl era. People like that can actually touch and feel the different characteristics of a vinyl record. They will understand the sonic differences between different records, even though they may be the same song.”
He added that there are many technical aspects to a vinyl record, about which he also educates his audience at these workshops, while everyone that has attended has expressed how much fun it is to learn about these facts.
Using his experience as a DJ, he also gives his audience some insight into what it was like mixing and DJ-ing using vinyls. The workshop covers everything from learning all the interesting details about vinyl playing and mixing music on vinyl, like DJs do on a turntable.
“A turntable is the record player. I also give one on one instructions on how to use it, with information on the needs, how the sound comes out so they understand what record collecting entails before they embark on it as a hobby,” Musafer noted.
The Vinyl Cafe conducts many workshops to educate people on the history of vinyls and how music has evolved over history. They even organise workshops for kids to learn more about music and open the doors for a musical career path in their future.
