Gear

Visit the Indie Vinyl Press Where No Order Is Too Small (Like, Even Just One)

Wesley Wolfe's lathe-to-turntable movement caters to an indie clientele in today’s increasingly fragmented music ecosystem.
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Tim Schutsky for WIRED
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The 38-year-old guitarist-turned-lather Wesley Wolfe runs the boutique vinyl pressing company Tangible Formats. His prices for custom jobs are far less than what the record-pressing giants charge. His minimum runs are small too—customers can order ten or five copies of their album, or even just a single record. Wolfe's workspace is small and efficient, and he uses a limited selection of gear to lay digital files to good old reliable wax.

Making vinyl records is complex and labor-intensive. It requires a small army of technicians, a chain of skilled subcontractors, and lots of heavy machinery. The process is neither cheap nor fast. Short runs? Forget it. Record factories have minimum orders. The going rate is 250 LPs for $2,000. And that's if they can fit you in---typical wait times are around three months.

There is an alternative. Founded by musician Wesley Wolfe, Tangible Formats is a one-man record plant where no order is too small, turnaround time is three weeks, and the prices are indie-friendly. Local bands that peddle hot wax to their fans, international DJs who want to scratch their EDM tracks, juke box collectors who crave rare Blue Note 45s, the lovesick Romeo who wants his marriage proposal recorded after the fade-out on "our song." This is the small but loyal clientele that Mr. Wolfe’s lathe-to-turntable movement caters to in today’s increasingly fragmented music ecosystem.