How record collectors find lost music and preserve our cultural heritage | Alexis Charpentier

Prevoditelj: Antun Zupanc Recezent: Sanda L

I became obsessed with records when I was about 12 years old.

Ploče su moja strast od 12. godine.

My parents used to give me money to eat

Roditelji su mi davali novac za jelo,

and on most days, instead of eating,

a ja sam, umjesto da kupim hranu,

I would save it and buy myself a record at the end of the week.

štedio i kupovao ploče svaki tjedan.

Here I am with a gigantic Walkman that's about half my leg --

Na fotografiji sam s walkmanom veličine pola moje noge --

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

It actually looks more like a VCR.

Ustvari izgleda poput video-rekordera.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So when I was a teenager,

Dok sam bio tinejdžer,

the obsession of buying cassettes, vinyls and CDs just kept growing.

sve više sam opsesivno kupovao kasete, vinile i CD-e.

I was even working in a record store for many years

Čak sam više godina radio u prodavaonici ploča

and only ever got paid in records.

i bio plaćen isključivo pločama.

One day I realized that I had thousands of records more

Ubrzo sam shvatio da imam nekoliko tisuća albuma više

than I could even listen to in my life.

nego što je moguće preslušati u jednom životu.

I became what many of us are:

Tako sam postao, kao i mnogi drugi:

record junkies --

ovisnik o gramofonskim pločama --

or record diggers, as we like to call ourselves.

ili jedan od lovaca na ploče, kako se često nazivamo.

Record digging, as the name suggests,

Lov na ploče, kao što ime kaže,

means getting your hands dirty.

znači dobrano uprljati ruke.

It means spending hours rummaging through warehouses,

Znači provesti sate kopajući po skladištima,

church basements,

crkvenim podrumima,

yard sales, record stores --

dvorišnim rasprodajama, trgovinama ploča,

all to find records that have been forgotten for decades.

sve kako bi našli ploče zaboravljene desetljećima.

Records that have become cultural waste.

Ploče koje su postale kulturološki otpad.

The earliest record collectors from about the '30s to the 1960s

Prvi sakupljači ploča od 30-tih do 60-tih godina

found and preserved so many important records

pronašli su i sačuvali mnoge važne ploče

that would have been lost forever.

osuđene na propast.

In those days, most cultural and public institutions

Mnoge kulturne i javne ustanove tog vremena

didn't really care to preserve these treasures.

nisu vodile brigu o očuvanju tih vrijednosti.

In many cases, they were just throwing them into the garbage.

Ploče su često bile bačene u otpad.

Record digging is a lifestyle.

Lov na ploče je životni stil.

We're absolutely obsessed with obscure records,

Opsjednuti smo neobičnim pločama,

expensive records, dollar-bin records,

skupim i jeftinim pločama,

crazy artwork,

ludim dizajnom,

sub-subgenres.

pod-podžanrovima.

And all of the tiniest details that go with each release.

I detaljima koji idu uz svako izdanje.

When the media talks about the vinyl revival

Kada mediji govore o povratku vinila,

that's been happening these last few years,

što se posljednjih nekoliko godina događa,

they often forget to mention this community

često zaborave na tu zajednicu

that's been keeping the vinyl and the tradition and the culture alive

koja se bavi očuvanjem tradicije i kulture vinila

for these last 30 years.

posljednjih 30 godina.

It's a very close-knit but competitive society, a little bit,

Zajednica je to vrlo bliskih suparnika,

because when you're hunting for extremely rare records,

jer kad si u lovu na vrlo rijetka izdanja,

if you miss your opportunity,

ako ti promakne ta prilika,

you might not see that record ever in your life.

vjerojatno tu ploču nećeš više vidjeti.

But I guess the only person in here truly impressed by record collectors

Kada bolje razmislim, dive vam se

is another record collector.

samo drugi kolekcionari ploča.

To the outside world,

Naša nas okolina

we seem like a very weird, oddball group of individuals.

doživljava kao čudne i otkačene pojedince.

And --

I --

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And they're mostly right.

I uglavnom su u pravu.

All the record collectors I know are obsessive maniacs.

Svi su kolekcionari uglavnom opsesivni.

We know we're all crazy in some way.

Znamo da smo svi malo ludi.

But I think we should be viewed a little bit more like this.

A možda nas treba ovako doživljavati.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

We're music archaeologists.

Mi smo glazbeni arheolozi.

We're hunting down the lost artifact.

U stalnoj smo potrazi za izgubljenim blagom.

We all have a list of records that we would do anything to get our hands on,

Svatko od nas ima popis ploča koje bismo željeli imati,

that we've been chasing for years,

koje lovimo godinama,

and we actually call this list our "holy grails."

koje nazivamo svojim "Svetim gralom".

When you're digging for records,

Kad si u lovu na ploče,

you're surrounded by music you don't know.

okružen si nepoznatom glazbom.

You're surrounded by mystery and by all these dreams --

Okružen si misterijom i snovima onoga

records that people once believed in.

u što su ljudi tada vjerovali.

Imagine the thousands of artists who were destined to be legends

Zamislite tisuće glazbenika koji su trebali postati legende,

but for various reasons, were just overlooked.

ali su iz kojekakvih razloga zanemareni.

Many of these records only exist in a handful of copies,

Od mnogih je ploča ostalo samo nekoliko primjeraka,

and some have never even been found,

a neke nisu ni nađene,

never been heard.

nikad ih nismo čuli.

They're literally endangered species.

One su, doslovno, ugrožena vrsta.

I'll tell you a story

Ispričat ću vam priču

that for me sort of sums up the value of the work of record diggers.

koja na neki način daje smisao lovu na ploče.

The story of a brilliant Montreal musician and composer.

Priča je to o briljantnom glazbeniku i kompozitoru iz Montreala.

Henri-Pierre Noël was born and raised in Haiti,

Henri-Pierre Noël rođen je i odrastao na Haitiju,

but he lived briefly in the US and in Belgium.

kratko je živio u SAD-u i Belgiji.

He passed through Montreal what was supposed to be for two weeks,

Ono što je trebao biti kratki dvotjedni boravak u Montrealu,

but he ended up staying for the next 40 years.

pretvorilo se u 40 godina života u tom gradu.

When he was young, he learned to play piano

U mladosti je učio svirati klavir

and developed a very particular way of playing his instrument:

i razvio neobičan način sviranja istog:

very fast and almost like a percussion.

vrlo brzo i kao da svira udaraljke.

His style was a mix of his Haitian influences and folklore

Njegov stil je bio mješavina haićanske narodne glazbe

mixed with the American influences that he grew up hearing.

s utjecajem američke glazbe uz koju je odrastao.

So he created a mix of compas mixed with funk and jazz.

Bila je to mješavina konpa s funk i jazz glazbom.

As a young man,

Kao mladić,

he played and toured with live bands in the US and in Europe,

svirao je na turnejama kroz SAD i Europu,

but had never recorded an album or a song before moving to Canada.

no, prvu je skladbu snimio tek preseljenjem u Kanadu.

It was in Montreal in 1979

Bilo je to u Montrealu 1979.

that he released his first album called, "Piano."

kada je objavio prvi album, "Piano".

Completely on his own, on Henri-Pierre Noël Records.

Objavio ga je na vlastitoj etiketi (Henri-Pierre Noël Records),

He only made what he could afford: 2,000 copies of the record.

u tiraži od 2000 kopija, koliko si je mogao priuštiti.

The record received a little bit of airplay,

Album je rijetko bio u eteru

a little bit of support in Canada and in Haiti,

i nešto malo popraćen u Kanadi i na Haitiju,

but without a big label behind it,

jer bez podrške velikog izdavača

it was very, very difficult.

promocija je bila teška.

Back then,

Tada,

if your record wasn't getting played on mainstream radio,

bez emitiranja na velikim radio postajama,

if you weren't in jukeboxes or if you weren't invited to play on TV,

bez singla u džuboksu ili nastupa na TV-u,

the odds were completely against you.

šanse za uspjeh bile su male.

Releasing an album as an independent artist

Nezavisnim glazbenicima izdavanje albuma

was so much more difficult than it is today,

bilo je mnogo teže nego što je danas,

both in terms of being heard and just distributing the thing.

bilo u smislu dosega publike ili distribucije.

So, soon after, he released a second album,

Uskoro je izdao i drugi album,

kept a busy schedule playing piano in various clubs in the city,

paralelno svirajući po klubovima u gradu,

but his records started to accumulate dust slowly.

no, njegovi su albumi brzo pali u zaborav.

And those 2,000 copies in the span of 30 years

Od tih 2000 kopija tijekom 30 godina,

easily started to get lost

ostalo je tek

until only a few copies in the world remained.

nekoliko kopija u cijelom svijetu.

Then in the mid-2000s,

Sredinom 2000-tih,

a Montreal record digger that goes by the name Kobal

lovac na ploče iz Montreala - Kobal,

was doing his weekly rounds of just hunting for records.

bio je u redovnoj tjednoj potrazi za pločama.

He was in a flea market

Bio je na buvljaku,

surrounded by thousands of other dirty, dusty, moldy records.

okružen tisućama prljavih, prašnih, vlažnih ploča.

That's where he found the "Piano" album.

I tamo je pronašao album "Piano".

He wasn't specifically looking for it.

Nije ga tražio.

Actually, you could say it sort of found him.

Jednostavno, album je pronašao njega.

You could also say that after 20 years of record digging every single week,

Moglo bi se reći da je nakon 20 godina traženja

he had developed a sixth sense for finding the gold.

razvio šesto čulo za pronaći zlato.

He took the record and inspected it:

Uzeo je ploču i pregledao je:

the front, the artwork, the back, the liner notes,

naslovnicu, dizajn, poleđinu, podatke unutar korica,

and he was intrigued by the fact that this Haitian musician made a record

i zagolicalo ga je što je haićanski glazbenik

in Quebec in the late '70s,

snimao u Quebecu kasnih sedamdesetih,

so he was intrigued.

to ga je zaintrigiralo.

He took out his little, plastic, portable turntable

Uzeo je svoj mali prijenosni gramofon,

that he brought with him whenever he was on these digging quests

kojeg uvijek nosi tijekom "lova na ploče"

and put the record on.

i stavio ploču.

So why don't we do the same thing?

Učinimo i mi isto.

(Music)

(Glazba)

He fell in love with the music instantly,

Odmah se zaljubio u ono što je čuo,

but he had to know the backstory behind it.

no, želio je znati i pozadinu priče.

He didn't know where it came from.

Nije mu bilo poznato porijeklo.

He knew the artist,

Znao je da je glazbenik,

at the time of the recording,

u vrijeme snimanja albuma,

was living in Montreal,

živio u Montrealu,

so for months, he tried to track him down.

pa je potrošio mjesece tražeći ga.

He even found Noël's business card inside the record sleeve.

Našao je i Noëlovu posjetnicu u omotu.

That's how DIY Henri-Pierre Noël was.

Takav je bio Noël - "uradi sam" od glave do pete.

So he found the card inside the record sleeve --

Pronašao je posjetnicu unutar omota

of course he did try to call,

i pokušao ga nazvati,

but after 30 years, the number didn't work anymore.

no, nakon 30 godina taj broj više nije postojao.

So it was only in Belgium,

Samo je u Belgiji,

where the artist had once lived,

gdje je glazbenik kratko živio,

that Kobal managed to find someone that knew the artist personally

Kobal pronašao osobu koja je poznavala glazbenika

and gave him the contact.

i dobio njegov novi broj.

So when he finally sat down with the artist,

Kada je naposljetku sjeo s glazbenikom,

he made him a promise to someday find a way to get the album rereleased.

obećao mu je da će jednog dana ponovo objaviti album.

He then arranged for a British label called Wah Wah 45s

Za britansku etiketu "Wah Wah 45s"

to get the two albums reissued.

dogovorio je objavu dva albuma.

And what happens very often is,

Ono što često otežava

in these reissue projects,

ponovno objavljivanje

that it becomes very difficult to find the master tapes --

je "muka" u pronalasku mastera --

the original recording of the sessions.

originalnih snimaka.

Art can be destroyed by fires, floods, earthquakes,

Dizajn omota često bude uništen u požaru, poplavi, potresu,

thrown in the garbage,

bačen u otpad,

or just lost forever.

ili jednostavno izgubljen.

But thankfully,

Srećom,

the Henri-Pierre Noël tapes were safe

Noëlove trake su bile na sigurnom

and they were ready for remastering.

i spremne za remasteriranje.

The record was finally rereleased

Ploča je naposljetku objavljena

and received praise from music critics, DJs and listeners worldwide --

uz pohvale glazbenih kritičara, DJ-a i publike širom svijeta -

the praise that it should have received in 1979.

pohvale koje je trebao dobiti 1979.

The artist was so inspired that he decided to revive his music career,

Potaknut pohvalama, Noël je oživio glazbenu karijeru,

get back on a stage, and play for new audiences.

vratio se na pozornicu svirati novoj publici.

The artist, now in his 60s,

Glazbenik, sada u svojim 60-tim,

told me, "This changed everything for me.

rekao mi je, "To je za mene sve promijenilo.

I went from planning my retirement

U jednom trenu planiraš mirovinu,

to playing on the BBC Radio in London, and on Radio Canada and more."

u drugom sviraš na BBC-u u Londonu, na Radio Canadi i sl."

But also it gave him a chance to play

Dobio je još jednu priliku i zasvirao

in front of his three sons for the first time.

svojim trima sinovima po prvi put.

To me, this story shows perfectly the work of record diggers at its best.

Ako me pitate, ovo je najbolji primjer lova na ploče.

Beyond the rarity and the dollar value --

Na stranu rijetkost i vrijednost ploča --

and I'll be honest, we're totally obsessed by that --

bit ću potpuno iskren, potpuno smo opčinjeni time --

the true beauty is to give art a second chance;

prava ljepota je kada date umjetničkom djelu drugu priliku;

to save art from oblivion.

sačuvati umjetnosti od zaborava.

The work of a good record digger is a constant loop of three phases.

Život lovca na ploče ima tri faze koje se ponavljaju.

The first thing we do is hunt.

Prva je lov.

We spend hours, days, years of our lives

Satima, danima, godinama

rummaging through dirty and dusty record bins.

kopamo po prljavim i prašnim odlagalištima ploča.

Everything that we can do to find our hands on the gold.

Činimo sve ne bismo li pronašli blago.

Yes, you can find good records online,

Ploču možeš naći i na internetu,

but for the deepest treasures,

ali za ono pravo blago

you need to get off the couch and into the wild.

moraš ustati s trosjeda i krenuti u nepoznato.

That's why we call it record digging and not record clicking.

Zato i govorimo o lovu na ploče, a ne o klikanju ploča.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So what we are is music archaeologists.

Zato i jesmo arheolozi glazbe.

But then the next thing we do is we gather.

Druga je faza sakupljanje.

Based on our taste, expertise, personal agenda,

Temelj je naš ukus, stručnost, osobnost,

we choose carefully which records to save,

pažljivo biramo što ćemo sačuvati,

which records mean something to us.

koje su nam ploče važne.

We then try and find out every little thing we can about that record --

Nakon toga prikupljamo sve moguće informacije o samoj ploči,

the artist, the label

o glazbeniku, izdavaču

and supervital information

i ono najvažnije,

like "Who's that playing trumpet on track three?"

kao npr. "Tko svira trubu na trećoj skladbi?"

Then we file them, we contextualize them,

Izrađujemo katalog, stavljamo u kontekst

and we keep them safe.

i s pažnjom pohranjujemo.

We are music archivists.

Mi smo arhivari glazbe.

And the last thing we do to close the loop is we share.

Dijeljenje je posljednja faza kojom zatvaramo krug.

Most record diggers that I know have some sort of a way

Većina lovaca ima neki svoj način

to share their discovery and elevate the artist

kako dijele svoja otkrića i promoviraju umjetnika

through an album reissue,

kroz re-izdanja albuma,

a web article, a radio show.

internet članke, radio emisije.

We give records back their rightful place in music history.

Vraćamo ploče na njihovo zasluženo mjesto u glazbenoj povijesti.

We are tastemakers and curators.

Stvaramo novi ukus i čuvamo ga.

We are musicologists.

Mi smo muzikolozi.

So for myself

Ja osobno,

and most of the record collectors I've encountered in 20 years,

i većina kolekcionara koje sam susreo tijekom 20 godina,

I think that we all have some sort of an outlet

svi mi imamo neku tajnu

for these discoveries.

kako doći do otkrića.

I think it's our way to keep our sanity and sort of sense of purpose

Na neki način, to nas drži normalnima te nam daje smisao

in this very maddening obsession,

u toj pomalo luđačkoj opsesiji,

because it can be sort of a lonely one.

jer često smo u tome vrlo usamljeni.

But I think we also do it because it serves the human need

No, to činimo iz sasvim normalne ljudske pobude

to pass along cultural knowledge.

da prenesemo kulturno nasljeđe.

Speaking of the need for curation,

Kada govorimo o potrebi očuvanja nečega,

in an era of overwhelming choice,

u vremenu kada se nudi mnogo toga,

it's been demonstrated

dokazano je

that too much choice actually hinders discovery.

da veliki izbor ne potiče na otkrivanje.

For example,

Na primjer,

if you're trying to watch something on Netflix,

ako želite pogledati nešto na Netflixu,

you're actually only browsing through a catalog of 6,000 titles.

birate s popisa od samo 6000 naslova.

Now, compare that with Spotify;

Usporedimo to sa Spotify platformom;

if you want to pick something to listen to,

želite li odabrati neku glazbu,

you're browsing through a catalog of 30 million songs.

pregledat ćete katalog od 30 milijuna pjesama.

So I think as you can see,

Shvaćate o čemu govorim,

this notion of paralysis by choice

o neodlučnosti pri izboru

affects music more than movies,

koja više zahvaća glazbu nego filmove,

for example.

na primjer.

And there's a few studies

Postoje istraživanja

that are starting to show the effects of this.

koja potvrđuju ovu tezu.

A recent look at the UK music market

Britanska glazbena industrija

shows that the top one percent of artists in the UK are actually earning 77 percent

kaže da 1% glazbenika zaradi 77%

of the total revenues inside the music industry.

ukupnih prihoda u glazbenoj industriji.

That's 2013,

I to je bilo 2013.

and that's progressively getting worse,

a taj jaz postaje sve veći

or progressing.

i raste.

Anyway, if you're in the one percent, I'm sure you're happy.

Činite li onih 1%, sigurno ste sretni.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So the takeaway for me is

Sve nam to govori

it's easier for people to listen to music than ever before.

da nas glazba okružuje kao nikad prije.

People have more music at their disposal than ever before,

Dostupne su nam nevjerojatne količine glazbe,

yet people choose to listen to more of the same music than ever before.

pa ipak, većina sluša uvijek istu glazbu.

And that's a sad thing.

Što je samo po sebi tužno.

Inspired by my love for music research, record digging and curation,

Zbog te moje strasti za traženjem i očuvanjem ploča,

I started a website called "Music Is My Sanctuary" in 2007.

izradio sam 2007. godine stranicu "Music Is My Sanctuary".

Our slogan has always been "Future Classics and Forgotten Treasures."

Slogan glasi "Budući klasici i zaboravljeno blago".

And it shows our love for discovering music

Ona je pravi dokaz ljubavi prema otkrivanju glazbe,

and introducing music both old and new.

gdje se predstavlja ono staro i novo u glazbi.

From humble beginnings,

Od skromnih početaka,

we've built a worldwide platform with a massive audience

razvili smo međunarodnu platformu s ogromnom publikom,

with over 100 collaborators.

s preko 100 suradnika.

We've created over 10,000 pieces of content,

Pokrili smo preko 10,000 naslova,

over 500 hours of audio content.

s preko 500 sati glazbe.

Our audience consists of people

Naša su publika ljudi

who just want more than what's being offered to them

koji žele više od onog što im nudi

by mainstream music channels.

prosječna glazbena industrija.

They want to do --

Sve što ta publika želi

they want to dig deeper,

je istraživati,

but they don't necessarily have 20 hours a week like us nerds,

ali oni nemaju 20 sati tjedno poput nas za svoje potrage

so they trust us to do that for them.

pa im zato mi pomažemo u tome.

Curation is at the heart of everything we do.

Očuvati nešto je srž ove priče.

We believe in human recommendations over algorithms.

Više vjerujemo preporuci nego algoritmu.

I could talk about the passion of record digging for days,

Mogao bih vam pričati o "lovu" danima,

but let me conclude this way.

no, dozvolite mi da zaključim.

After many years of doing it,

Nakon mnogo godina traženja,

a record collector's collection becomes sort of his autobiography.

kolekcija "lovca" postaje njegova autobiografija.

Last year, I was DJ-ing in Poland,

Prošle sam godine bio DJ u Poljskoj,

and the people that were hosting me,

ljudi koji su me ugostili

they had this amazing record collection,

imali su divnu kolekciju ploča,

and of course I was intrigued

što je zaokupilo moju pažnju

and I said, "Are you selling these?"

i pitao ih, "Je li na prodaju?"

They then explained to me that it was the collection

Objasnili su mi da je pripadala

that belonged to their dear friend Maceo who passed away a few months earlier.

njihovom prijatelju Maceu koji je nedavno preminuo.

And they were doing a project of inviting different people

Pokrenuli su projekt i pozvali zainteresirane

to take the collection and to create something new from it,

da koristeći kolekciju stvore nešto novo,

whether it's sampling or DJ mixes,

semplove ili DJ mikseve,

you know, just to give it a second life.

da joj daju novi život.

And so after a few hours of going through the collection myself

Nakon nekoliko sati preslušavanja

and creating a DJ mix from it,

i stvaranja DJ miksa,

even though I never got the chance to meet him,

iako ga nikad nisam upoznao,

it felt like in a special way,

obuzeo me onaj osjećaj,

me and him,

on i ja,

we got to talk about records for a few hours.

razgovarali smo kroz tu glazbu par sati.

So, as record diggers,

Misija lovaca na ploče

our work and our record collections are there

je prenijeti naš rad i kolekcije

to be passed on to the next generation.

novim generacijama.

Beautiful art deserves to be cherished, shared and rediscovered.

Umjetnost zaslužuje pažnju, dijeljenje i otkrivanje.

Embrace curators;

Poštujte nas;

we are alternative voices to the mainstream music channels,

mi stojimo nasuprot komercijalnim kanalima,

digital or otherwise.

digitalnih ili nekih drugih.

Go beyond the algorithm.

Gledajte dalje od algoritama.

Whatever kind of music you like,

Bez obzira na vrstu glazbe,

there are so many websites, radio shows, DJs, record stores out there

postoji toliko stranica, radio emisija, DJ-a, trgovina,

that are just waiting to share their discoveries with you.

koji će podijeliti svoja otkrića s vama.

We do this work for you.

Na usluzi smo vam.

All you have to do is open your ears and take risks.

Trebate samo naćuliti uši i riskirati.

This music will change your life.

Ta će vam glazba promijeniti život.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)