The Spark
Public Vinyl Radio started with a simple idea: share great vinyl music with the world, no paywall, no elitism, no pretense.
The seed was planted after I found myself binging vinyl shows on YouTube — My Analog Journal and Humanos Studios were two that stood out. Around 2017, I had gotten into vinyl mostly by buying cheap records to sample for music production. A trip to Florida netted me a box from my dad's collection, and over time my library grew, fed by Seattle's record store scene (RIP Bop Street Records) and plenty of afternoons at Sonic Boom in Ballard.
During the pandemic, my vinyl listening lived mostly in the living room. It was personal, local, and tactile — and I realized that this experience was something worth sharing. I wanted to create a different take from the studio-focused channels I admired.
I'm also a design and architecture nerd. I like seeing how people live — their spaces, their objects, their style. Public Vinyl Radio became a way to combine that with music: to show the vibe of a lived-in space, not a sterile set.
The Push to Start
The real nudge came one Halloween, on the way to Cumbia de Muertos. I was dressed as Giorgio Tsoukalos from Ancient Aliens, and I joked with friends about starting our own vinyl channel. Both of them work in video professionally and have deep collections, so it wasn't an idle thought — it felt doable.
From the start, we wanted to keep it down-to-earth and accessible. No $4k audiophile amps, no gatekeeping over rare pressings. We play represses, we play common finds, and we mix them with the occasional rare gem. If you like a record we play, we want you to be able to buy it without spending $200. We want to inspire people to dig in, buy music they love, and create their own analog experience.
The Mission
Our core mission is simple:
- Create a vibe.
- Bring happiness.
- Inspire people to find their inner artist.
We're 100% vinyl because digital, while convenient, can feel too perfect. Vinyl has character. It carries the patina of life — pops, wear, the human touch. Just like people, records carry the marks of their journey.
Public Vinyl Radio isn't just a DJ channel. It's an artistic movement. We don't follow a formula, and we never want to become predictable. We evolve, we experiment, and we stay true to what feels real in the moment.
The Craft
Most sets start with a theme — lately, a lot have been tropical (cumbia, salsa, afrobeat), but we're slowly expanding into broader genres. We want to eventually cover a huge range, especially music overlooked by the U.S. and U.K.-centric lens.
Vinyl selection is deeply personal. We dig for tracks that fit the mood, but also for those that challenge expectations.
For filming, we use a mix of cameras: vintage lenses, GoPros, iPhones, mirrors for creative angles. I edit in Final Cut Pro, and Ben edits in Adobe Premiere Pro — our styles differ, and that keeps the visuals fresh. We design our own branding, from logos to merch, and we make most merch pieces as unique, one-offs.
Accessibility is a big part of the process. We publish tracklists in the video descriptions and on our website, often with links to buy or stream the records. We maintain Apple Music and Spotify playlists, and we post blog entries for each set. The goal: make it easy to discover and support the music.
The History
The music we play comes with history — collaborations, cultural roots, regional scenes. Right now, we share that history mostly in blog posts, using research and AI-assisted notes. Eventually, we want to bring more visual storytelling into the videos themselves.
Understanding the story behind a track makes the listening richer. It can open doors to entirely new genres or artists and connects listeners more deeply to the culture that created the music.
Community & Accessibility
Our audience is wide:
- DJs hunting for fresh material
- Casual listeners discovering new sounds
- Crate diggers who live for the hunt
- Music historians curious about context
We believe in accessibility — in multiple languages, in clear tracklists, in cultural notes. Right now, content is in English, but Spanish and Portuguese subtitles are on the roadmap. We're building a website where every set, tracklist, and link will be easy to find.
Milestones
Two standouts so far:
- Rapha Seattle live set — Playing to a real crowd instead of just a camera is an entirely different energy. The connection and feedback are immediate.
- Tropical Sunsets set — Our most popular to date, a mix of cumbia, salsa, and afrobeat that found its audience and keeps growing.
We're now exploring brewery and coffee shop spaces for more intimate live events.
The Future
In 3–5 years, I see Public Vinyl Radio as:
- A known name in the vinyl community
- Hosting live events and collaborations
- Releasing vinyl compilations
- Running a listening lounge and physical space for music lovers
We'll keep it independent so we can stay true to our vision, experiment freely, and maintain authentic connections with the audience.
How My Background Shapes PVR
As a software engineer, I approach repetitive parts of the process — uploading, metadata, playlist publishing — with automation. AI prompting, scripts, and my own playlist app save time so the creative side isn't buried under admin work.
I'm guided by my data-driven creativity philosophy, but I'm careful not to let analytics dictate the art. The playlist app helps us find tracks and avoid repeats, but curation is still a human, emotional process.
My endurance athlete mindset also plays a role. Building something like PVR takes consistency and patience. There are plateaus, just like in training, and the key is to keep showing up.
Community building here feels different from tech — less about deadlines, more about shared passion. But ownership and independence are the same in both worlds: staying in control means staying authentic.
Public Vinyl Radio is our way of keeping vinyl culture alive, visible, and accessible — and of showing that the analog experience still has a vital place in a digital age.