Steve Holub

Hello internets, I just got a nice email and some rad pics from Tim who hails from Forest, Virginia.  I will leave the back story of this display to the creator, but I just wanted to get my two cents in the there before I let him take over..  This checkered record frame style is something I’ve had in mind for sometime, but have yet to try it out myself.  I think it works really well, and gives the records that much more space to stand out individually as works of art.  And the story below makes the display that much better..

“The framed poster on the left is a reduced version of the promotional poster for the rock band I played in during my college years (1975 – 1979).  I was the drummer.  We played clubs, college dances, small concerts, etc. in the Virginia, and Washington DC area.  Our sets included about 25% original compositions and about 75% covers of other groups’ songs.  The 20 albums in the arrangement each contain at least one of the cover songs we played.  Lots of memories.”

Thanks for sharing, Tim.  And I have to commend you and the other members of AFTERMASS on your choice of bands to cover.  Awesome!  I’m sure you did Neil Peart justice.  Cheers, Steve

These pictures were posted on our facebook page by Thomas from Morrison, Colorado, and they are simply wicked!  I don’t think I need to write too much and just let the images of the record album display speak for themselves.  One thing I must say is that the use of the gatefold album cover feature in the first image looks incredible.  This is a home theatre / mancave that any guy would be proud of.  Nice work, and great use of the record frames!

This picture comes courtesy of Brad from Colorado.  Brad had ‘wallpapered’ his music room with album covers a few years ago, but when he found my record frames, he saw an opportunity to mount a few a more. Brad came up with the novel idea to mount a few LP frames on the entrance to his music room – records on doors before you enter a room with album covers wallpapering the entire room is beyond bad ass.

I need to add a little disclaimer here that these frames are meant to be treated like any other frame, and in general, should not be mounted on a moving surface (doors or otherwise).  The reason being is that the movement could knock out the record or the album cover from the frame.  Ok, now that I’ve made that little disclaimer, if you are going to use the frames on a moving surface, I recommend doing two things. 1) Remove the vinyl record, so there is no chance the record will go flying out when you need to make a hasty exit from the room before the cops get there. 2) Cut the foam strip into four pieces, and put one piece in each of the four corners of the frame, which should ‘lock’ the album into the frame.  If you do these two things (especially the first), then you should be in the clear.

Thank you to Brad for sharing this awesome installation.  And again, there are some choice records mounted in this pic. The first to catch my eye is the one that Brad had been tracking down for sometime: Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharaos. I haven’t even though about that track, Wooly Bully, since I was a kid (my Dad raised me on one-hit wonders from the 50’s and 60’s), but it’s a classic Garage rock tune and definitely worth checking out.  And you can never go wrong with a little Sun Ra.  If by some chance, this is the first time you have heard of him, then you are in for a treat.  Truly one of a kind.  I can’t resist the opportunity to link to my favorite Sun Ra track, Nuclear War (“if they push that button, your ass gotta go!”). Cheers, Steve

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Records on Walls! I just wanted to sincerely thank everyone who has visited the site and has purchase some of these frames as gifts for others (or for themselves).  I really hope you’re enjoying them, or at least planning on ways to make your space burst with musical inspiration.  To honor the holiday season, I thought I would (naturally) turn this blog post into something adversarial…  Namely, Lennon Vs.  McCartney: Christmas edition!

They are both great tunes with very different messages (let’s not even get into the instrumentation).  I may receive some flack for this, but I’m a McCartney man, so I have to cast my vote his way.  Don’t get me wrong, there are tonnes of incredible Lennon songs, but being a Hofner playing bassist myself, I guess you could say I’m a little biased. And I’m also a sucker for the cheeriness of the tune, at least in comparison to John’s song.. “Crap. It is Christmas. And what have I done?? Oh man, he’s got a point there – I’ve been an apathetic jerk!” But for the record, the Lennon song has almost 5 million views (and many more counting duplicated videos), while McCartney has yet to cross the 1 million mark. I guess that says something.

Thanks again for stopping by, and remember to like to us on facebook or twitter if you want to read more of these amazingly entertaining musing.  All the best in the new year, Steve

Did you know that RecordsOnWalls can display gatefold album art? There’s nothing else in the world that can make your double LP’s and gatefolds look so good, while still being accesible for playing on your turntable. This is a revolution in vinyl record style.  Gatefold records on your walls!

There’s great art on the gatefolds as well as the covers, and RecordsOnWalls offers a way to display these gatefolds – as long as two record frames are mounted next to each other.

Alright..  For those of you who are curious, the album that is open as a gatefold in the middle is In The Future by Black Mountain.

I received an email recently from a customer, Graham from Halifax, who had some neat new ideas for displaying records.  With his permission, I want to share them with you.  The first photo shows how the record frames can be staggered, as if they were bricks.  And this effect looks great, in my opinion, especially with the asymmetry (2 LPs on the top and bottom, and 5 in the middle).  The second thing that caught my eye was the middle row of albums in this creative display.  It has a neat pattern of closeup / band of four / closeup / band of four / closeup.  Very cool idea which also works very well, in my opinion.  And to top it off, the middle row has all American artists, and is sandwiched between some good old fashioned ‘Can-Con‘ (Canadian Content, for our friends south of the border).  Got Goddo?  Yes!

This second photo showcases an awesome selection of classic albums from the U.K.  And again, a very creative display that fills the space between an entrance and a bookshelf nicely.  These two pics are good examples of what I personally love about these record frames: they let you be creative and have fun with your record collection.  I’ve spent several hours going through my collection trying to pick out great combinations based on color, themes, and other (more abstract) connections.  And the best part is that you get to repeat the fun whenever you feel like switching up the display.  So thanks again to Graham for sharing his awesome displays!  And please feel free to email me if you have any display pictures to share, and I’ll be sure to blog about it.

I just wanted to drop a little tidbit of good news..  Our record album frames are now available in the United States at two locations (Brooklyn & Los Angeles), as can be seen on our store locator.

 Turntable Lab will have them available in the next couple of days at those two locations, just in time for the holiday season, which is neat.  To be honest, I haven’t pursued too many record stores, but I’m grateful to those that have approached me about the record frames.  So if you’re a record store owner, feel free to drop me a line.  I’ve been primarily focused on making them available  online, but it’s always nice for someone to be able to see and experience the frame in person.  I am planning on adding another youtube video in the coming weeks that will hopefully give everyone a better look at the product.

And to commemorate every post, I need to add a bit of media, and in this case, the song California Bound by my favorite artist of all time, Mr. Frank Black Francis:

I’ve been using posters for the in-store displays which are beautiful, but were missing something. They weren’t really letting people actually try the product in the stores, which was unfortunate, because the functionality of the frames is such a big part of the product. So I used the poster as the base inspiration, and I basically shrunk it down to the size of a record album cover. So now, the poster actually sits inside the frame, so people can actually try the product in the store.  And notice the new pictures featuring the album Now, More than Ever by Jim Guthrie.

I will be calling some more stores early next week as soon as the posters come back from the print shop, so hopefully the frames will soon be available in select stores across Canada and parts of the US soon.  If you have any suggestions for the in-store poster, shoot me an email, or a comment on facebook. Thanks for reading!