The Michael Dixon Interview

Michael Dixon lives and breathes vinyl recordings. He runs multiple successful vinyl companies – based on his longtime love of education, records, outsider art and repurposing junk into handmade art pieces. He makes records by hand, one at a time, on 1940’s record cutting lathes. He runs several record labels and travels the world teaching crowds at events and festivals the secret art of vinyl record production. Michael's vinyl mini-empire is delivering living documents that are deeply rooted in a rich history and treasured artifacts that travel well into the future.

From Dixon’s site:

When and where were you born? What was your childhood like growing up? When did you first begin to fall in love with music and what initially fascinated you about it? Was music relevant around your household growing up and do you play yourself?

I grew up in Wichita Falls, TX on the border of Oklahoma. It was a lame little city that had very little in the way of culture or art. But, that meant that like-minded weirdos could find each other and connect quickly, because we were all so much different than the Texas football jocks that made up the majority of our high school. I first got interested in music when I was about 10 or 11. My parents took me to a “Chuckwagon BBQ” in Durango, CO. It was a dinner show with a 4 piece band doing blugrass and cowboy songs. I was fascinated by the banjo player, so my dad pulled his banjo from college out of the attic and I took lessons for about a year. I never did get very good at it, and after I found punk and alternative rock at about 13, I put the banjo away, and talked my dad into buying me a guitar. Never got very good at that either. I started my first band with a few friends from the neighborhood. I was on guitar, my friend Brandon was on bass and our friend Matt played snare drum in the high school band, so he was put on drums. Unfortunately, Matt couldn’t get his hands and legs to communicate, was an awful drummer, so I moved to drums, he moved to bass, and Brandon moved to guitar. I continued to play drums through college in various bands, none of which did much. I stopped playing once I started making vinyl records using vintage record lathes. It was so less drama, more fun, and if someone I was working with started to be a flake I could just stop working with them. That is harder to do if you are in a band together.

Do you have any siblings? What would you and your friends do for fun growing up? Who were some of your earliest influences in your formative years? Who would you say has impacted you the most?

Playing music, throwing shows, smoking Mexican brick weed, listening to records and just generally trying to get away with things we weren’t supposed to do was our main hobby. The early 90s were an interesting time to grow up. In general, I look back on it as one of the best times in my life. My first two major influences were my English Teacher, Linda Merrill, and a guy named Johnny Divine. Johnny owned a studio called Outback Studios in WF. Mrs. Merrill sensing (or maybe smelling) my counter-culture tendencies, gave me a copy of On The Road when I was 14 and said “Don’t tell anyone I gave it to you… it’s got sex, drugs, jazz and travel….”, which is exactly what a 14 year old boy wants to read about. Merrill gave my junior English class the chance to take an “internship with a local business that is doing what you want to do for a career”, so I chose Johnny’s studio. I went to Outback five days a week to work on whatever project Johnny had; local metal bands, singer songwriters, country guys, etc. He turned me onto a lot of great older stuff; like Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, and just generally gave me a crash course in inexpensive home recording. I learned a ton about the science of sound, tone, and dealing with the obnoxious world of local band dynamics. I continued to work with Johnny and record small projects for many years after the internship, and still consider Johnny one of my favorite people.

Did you participate in any groups, or projects prior to launching your labels and business ventures? When did you first become fascinated with cutting records and the whole process of lathes, etc.? Tell me about your labels PIAPTK and Soild Gold Records. When did you initially launch the labels and what were those early years of running the brands like for you?

I started teaching high school business when I was 23. I continued to do a little home recording, playing all the instruments, and played in bands here and there but was slowly losing interest in trying to be in an active band. A chance conversation with Lance Hahn from the band J Church in 2005 turned me on to the existence of lathe cut records. He told me about Peter King in New Zealand who would make you as few as 20 copies of a vinyl record. I started PIAPTK in 2006 to release my home recordings and those of my friends. I didn’t expect it to last, but here it is 335 releases later. Peter turned out to be the single most influential person in my life so far and really set me on the path I’ve been walking since then. He single handedly invented the lathe cut record game, which allowed broke, unknown bands to have their music on vinyl. It also allowed bands to make cooler, handmade artwork and packaging that would be impossible to mass produce. I loved the format, the artwork possibilities, and the weirdness that was possible. So, I started to buy broken record lathes and experiment with different cutting methods and just got obsessed with it. I spent more time working on the machines and making records than I was at my 40 hour a week job. After years of slogging away in my spare bedroom, the “vinyl resurgence” started to kick off and it accidentally became a viable business. I quit my teaching gig and started restoring machines (www.RecordLatheParts.com), making lathe cuts for hire (www.LatheCuts.com), training new cutters (www.LatheCutCamp.com) and cutting records at events and festivals (www.MobileVinylRecorders.com), while still running my vanity label (www.PIAPTK.com).

You’ve collaborated with folks such as Wooden Wand, Little Wings, Golden Boots, Be Gulls and so many more. What inspires you the most when supporting and believing in an artist and their music? What do you seek, or look for when investing in folks and their craft? What do you find yourselves expressing, or exploring the most through your work?

I’m primarily a songwriter guy. Lyrics and vocal melodies are what I focus on for music that I listen to, and what I release for PIAPTK. That, and a unique musical vision. I love artists that have a pop foundation, but with a esoteric bend. Little Wings and Golden Boots are prime examples of that. They write catchy and beautiful pop songs and then wrap them up in a weird crunchy psychedelic shell. I’ve had the honor of working with some of my all time favorite artists like The Flaming Lips, Dr. Dog, Grandaddy, Mike Watt, Money Mark, Jad Fair, Mirah, Luna and totally (criminally) unknowns that I love like Lazer Zeppelin, Forest Fallows, The Gift Machine, Graves, SM Wolf, Mr. Husband, etc. I always try to treat a release as a collaboration between the artist and I. Sometimes it begins with me finding some sort of weird material, coming up with an idea for packaging, and then approaching an artist about giving me music that fits it. Sometimes the band will give me music and we will work together to find a packaging idea that accentuates the audio. What I really love is to work with musicians that are also visual artists and are willing to make unique covers.

What have you got in the works as 2023 continues to roll out nearing Spring/Summer? Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?

For PIAPTK, I’ve got new releases for Floating Action, Toby Leaman (from Dr Dog), Mastadonna, Mr. Husband, and Gift Machine on the horizon. But, my main focus these days are live cutting events with Mobile Vinyl Recorders. We’ve got events all over the country coming up this summer. I’ve also got a warehouse full of broken record cutters that need restoration so I can sell them and train their new owners. There seems to be no end to the work around here!