EXTRACURRICULAR
PHOTOS BY DANIEL COSTON
Co-creators of Vinyl Records, left to right, are Tripp Gobble, Grace Kennerly and Allen Mask at an album release party in
February for the first musicians named to the label. Below, Lake Inferior performs at the party at Local 506.
Nothing Scratchy About This Vinyl
Cplans. All students do it. Many restless nights are spent with friends
ollege is a time for making big
lying on dorm room beds looking toward
the ceiling, dreaming of making their names
household ones.
But, more often than not, those nights
end with a trip out for a late-night snack,
plopping in front of the computer for a virtual escape, or back to the grind of homework and studying.
It’s not that the plans or
dreams go away, but with more
than enough things on the to-do list, it’s easy to keep putting
the plans off, letting those sure-to-be brilliant ideas slip through
the cracks.
The three-person crew of
Vinyl Records, a nonprofit stu-dent-run record label and music
incubator at UNC, escaped that
pitfall and has created an award-winning organization that is
thriving only a year after its
inception.
“The idea was an organization that
would support student artists that was
funded by the school and other sources,
helping them facilitate the recording process
and getting them in touch with people to
help them make a better product,” said co-director and co-creator Tripp Gobble.
This sort of venture has never been seen
on the Carolina campus, and Gobble said
it’s a service students need, so that artists can
concentrate on their music and not worry
about the financial side. The goal is to gain
exposure for the musicians now, making
their transition into the professional music
world smoother.
Along with friend and fellow big
dreamer Allen Mask, Gobble set out to put
the plan into motion. While they worked
on the mission statement for Vinyl Records
in their office — which most would refer
to as a dorm room — their
friend Grace Kennerly listened
with one ear while working on
her chemistry homework.
Frustrated and stuck at the
initial stage, Gobble and Mask
floundered trying to put into
words what they believed so
strongly that Carolina needed.
Kennerly swooped in, filling in
the blanks and solidifying herself
as a leader of the team.
“We’re trying to create a
connectivity of the student
music world on campus,” Kennerly said.
