InterestZMagazine

Diggin For those

Gems...

Volume 1 May, 2014

-Street Scences art from the streets of Washington State

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Table of contentsEditorial Sputter.....................3

Diggin in tha Crates..........4-5

Street Scenes........................6

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Editorial Spu tte r

Hello Folks, The idea for Interestz magazine came out of the realization that alot of my friends and you, out there share the same interests. So we plan to cover stories that explore the habbits and interests of like minded people......like my friends and myself. We hope that our mag will be candy for the eyes and mind as well as the soul. That being said we dont want to get into too much politics but every once in a while we will run an article on anything we feel strongly about. Issues we think are important topics that cover the environment, recycling, human rights, and D.I.Y movements. Since we will be covering topics that you might feel are contro-

R. Lucero, Editor

Welcomeversial this page will act as a forum to discuss or debate those topics. As readers of this mag-azine you are a participant and encouraged to offer your opinions. This magazine is about the celebration of days spent cruising around on your bike or skateboard, listening to records, and making art all in the company of friends.

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Diggin in thacrates fo that g e mBy R.Lucero*

When I say “digging for gems” I am really talking about that surprise record find. Theres a certain amount of joy you get when you’ve have spent a day digging through crates of records and you find that one special album, that.....gem. Its funny because its not just restricted to your personal finds often a friend will show you their vinyl score and you’re excited for them and maybe a little envious. There is a bond between record enthusiasts which tran-scends ones actual intended record use. Some people are turntablists of sorts, some beat makers, but all are lovers of music on vinyl.

In the last five to ten years there has been a renewed interest in records and record players. This revival is both a blessing and a curse (more of a blessing). A blessing be-cause of the renewed interest a lot of bookstores and stores with a music section now car-ry records. This means that the records are organized and easy to find it also means that if you dabble in the turntable arts you can find doubles of the same record. Another good thing about this

is that you can get a brand new or almost flawless record album. The flip side of this is that you are going to pay any-where from 10 to 40 dollars or more for that record. I personally enjoy the pursuit of finding that hidden gem in the proverbial haystack of record bins. This why I enjoy going to garage sales or thrift stores to sift through the past clutter of peoples lives in the hope that I run across that one obscure classic beat, song, or album. In years past it was

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easy to roll up on a garage sale and find somebodies old collection of albums and pay 10 bucks and come away with as many albums as you could carry. Those days are far and few now but occasionally it happens. The only problem is that you have to check the quality of the record to see if somebodies lil brother hasn’t been trying to learn how to scratch on the record. Thrift sores for me hold a certain magic quality, I have found countless gems in small thrift stores for incredible prices. I once came across an entire DJ collection of hip hop records in perfect condition that some-body had donated or thrown

out. Usually you can find re-cords cheap because most thrift stores either don’t care or don’t know what they have as far as what is in the record bins. That being said there are small drawbacks to thrift stores the first being they are usually unorganized and sometimes the quality of the records can be very bad, so always check your finds. For those of you interested in digging in the crates theres a couple of words of wisdom that I would like to leave with you. Over the years I have learned it is extremely helpful to have a small portable record player with you when searching for records. It allows you to check the quality and it lets you listen to a record you might not have listened to before and were

not willing to buy because you hadn’t heard it. I have two more rules that you might find helpful.The first is (except for music stores where records are sealed in plastic) that I wont shop at a place that wont let me play a re-cord before I buy it, specially if it is a thrift or second hand store. The second is just a general rule of economics I try to stay away from big box stores and chains. I try to support local mom and pop type establishments. I try to establish a relationship with the person who runs the establish-ment, which usually gets me a heads up on anything new of in-terest or in some cases just some kind words and a smile.

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Street Scene

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All photos taken in the state of Washington6

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Take a R id e!WWW.Schwinn.com

Street Scene

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