Women in Vinyl

Los Angeles-based mastering engineer and vinyl cutter, Jett Galindo of The Bakery, has worked on albums spanning a wide array of genres and artists (Barbra Streisand, Haley Reinhart, Weezer, the La La Land OST, to name a few). Jett Galindo carries on the legacy left behind by her late mentor, mastering legend Doug Sax (The Mastering Lab). Recipient of Summa Cum Laude honors and the 2012 Robin Coxe-Yeldham Audio Scholar Award from Berklee College of Music, Jett Galindo was mentored by luminaries in the music industry including George Massenburg; producer Prince Charles Alexander; recording engineer Susan Rogers (Prince’s Purple Rain); and mastering engineer and AES President-elect, Jonathan Wyner. Jett kickstarted her post-Berklee engineering career in the world-renowned Avatar Studios in New York (now known as Power Station) as the recording engineer for producer Jerry Barnes. As Barnes’ engineer, Jett engineered for veteran artists such as legendary singer-songwriter Roberta Flack, Nile Rodgers, Bashiri among others.

Amanda is a record junkie and music history archivist who continues to find new ways of contributing to the music industry’s ever-changing landscape. Her work’s core mission is to connect fans with more music and get artists paid. Amanda’s interjection of random facts during our conversations inspired the factoid’s section of the Women In Vinyl podcast. She is a member of the Association For Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) and works with Universal Music Group’s Strategy & Tactics Team focusing on new products.

Owner of Calgary based Red Spade Records, the only (currently operating) female record cutter in Canada. Red Spade Records creates bespoke, handmade, lathe-cut records. Her lifelong passion for music and vinyl records inspired her to create the company, and her keen eye for detail is what makes her vinyl impeccable and unlike any other. Bringing artists’ music to life on vinyl is Raymond’s true calling. She is adamant about making vinyl accessible and co-hosts The Women in Vinyl Podcast alongside Jenn.  She cuts on a desktop Vinyl Recorder T-560, apprenticed on a VMS70 and formerly worked in the QA department at a Precision Record Pressing.

An avid record collector, Ray has been surrounded by vinyl for most of his life. His love for music reaches back to childhood, but his passion for vinyl solidified when he began djing in the mid nineties. Now with over 30 years as an all vinyl DJ, his musical tastes and his record collection have grown exponentially. His time spent managing a record store in Savannah, GA were invaluable in his research of sounds both old and new. Years of buying, selling, spinning and talking about vinyl led him to working in the industry, starting first as a QC operator for United Record Pressing in Nashville TN, and then as the Quality Control and Press Room manager of Furnace Record Pressing where he worked to uphold standards and deliver the best quality records possible. Ray edits The Women in Vinyl Podcast making sure we sound our absolute best and works full time as the Production Director at Gold Rush Vinyl and Gold Records USA in Austin, TX.

As a Sales Rep for All Media Supply, the one stop wholesale distributor for new release and reissue LP’s (and CD’s), Amanda is working her dream job; as she once explained on the Women In Vinyl Podcast. She gets to work with over 200 record stores! Her father was the owner of Slipped Disc Records on Long Island from 1982-2008, so she was raised in the record store. Since the closing of the brick and mortar, her dad started selling at record shows all over the east coast. Together they now run the Vinyl Revolution Record Show  in two locations, four times a year. Through meeting people at these shows, she got to know many collectors and shop owners. These connections lead to her becoming the buyer at Generation Records in Manhattan, she then went on to become the manager of Needle + Groove Records on Long Island upon opening in 2018. Supporting independent record stores has always been her passion. In her spare time, she helps build websites for new stores and is currently working on her own site that highlights every independent record store in the US.

Celeste is an accomplished artist manager, overseeing the careers of critically acclaimed and award-winning acts Alessandro Cortini, Cut/Copy, and Sofi Tukker. With over 25 years of experience in marketing, she has specialized in the digital space and DTC strategies, working with both start-ups and corporate brands such as Warner Bros. Entertainment, Disney | ABC Television, ASICS America Corporation, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association at the Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Her work has been recognized with multiple awards from prestigious industry organizations, including Webby and Digiday. As the former owner/operator of CT&Co., Celeste was a pioneer in leading experiential programming at major events like SXSW, Coachella, and Pitchfork Music Fest. Her extensive music industry experience also includes roles as PR and Marketing lead for Modular Records US, File 13 Records, and A&R Scout for Kill Rock Stars. Additionally, she is a published writer, photographer, and content creator.

Music journalist, writer, empath, vinyl collector, fur mom, and zombie enthusiast. Formerly a freelance album and live performance reviewer for three independent online publications, Jackie also held multiple retail jobs to maintain hands-on customer interaction. Through her management position at The Exclusive Company (an independently-owned vinyl record store) she gained traction in being able to apply customer relations with music fandom. From there, she began to develop unique ways of branding business as a product to customers, and changed career courses to focus on business, administrative, and marketing. She then worked as an Association Specialist for Association Executives Group, where she assisted executive directors with the communications responsibilities for multiple non-profit associations, until recently when she joined Amanda Schutzman at All Media Supply as the Marketing Manager. Jackie is an avid hiker and huge supporter of the National Parks foundation. Her goal in being part of the board: “WiV is so important because it’s a platform that provides insight and community to people who struggle to find acceptance; something that is still lacking within the vinyl community.“

Kathi has a variety of career and international experience in the music industry. From her first piece of vinyl at age four, to her teenage years spent watching bands at her local venue, the Princess Charlotte in Leicester, England. Kathi has immersed herself in music and the business ever since. At age 15, she began working at her local record shop simultaneously taking on a college rep position with BMG. Her work has since included national and international distribution, sales & marketing, and overseeing the production process of physical formats. Her resume includes independent and major labels alike, with a notable highlight as International Product Manager for Roadrunner Records. Kathi pivoted into Education 7 years ago, with an intention to impart her experience and knowledge. Her current role at Warner Music Group finds her perfectly positioned to coach and mentor the next generation of music business professionals. She has spent most of her life in the UK and the Netherlands and is now settled into New Jersey with her husband and young step-son (who is obsessed with Iron Maiden!). Her spare time is consumed with traveling, running, watching music docs and reading about artists as well as digging through the dusty bins of local record shops.

Lola Kinks is the alter ego of L’Oréal Porçeia McCollum, a Philly-based psychotherapist, clinical sexologist, social worker, and music creatrix. Born in Richmond, VA and raised in Landstuhl, Germany & Atlanta, GA, her enthusiasm for music blossomed during her early years abroad. A self-proclaimed retro music and pop culture nerd; she lives for deepening her knowledge in oft-forgotten vintage media history. In alignment with her work as a healing artist, her greatest passion as a sonic creatrix resides in holding space for folks to learn, unite in joyful and spiritual communion, and achieve healing through music and movement.

Three-time Grammy Award-winning producer, Cheryl has for years been entrusted with preserving, curating, and championing some of music’s greatest legacies. Before co-founding Omnivore Entertainment Group, she held positions at Rhino, Concord, and EMI-Capitol Records. In addition to producing releases for Omnivore Recordings, Pawelski is a sought-after producer and resource for artists, estates, media entities, and labels. She has served as a Governor, Secretary, VP, and Trustee for The Recording Academy and serves, or has served, on the Board of Directors of the Blues Foundation, the Advisory Council for The Recording Academy’s Producers & Engineers Wing, the Advisory Board for Women In Vinyl, the Industry Advisory Board for the Center For Recorded Music, the Farm Aid Development Advisory Council and the External Advisory Board/Music Industry Liaison for Joey’s Song.

Justin is an associate professor and the Associate Chair of the Business and Entrepreneurship Department at Columbia College Chicago, teaching entrepreneurship, music business, and digital marketing. He is a partner in a new record label headquartered in Los Angeles, Solid Brass Records, and manages the File 13 Records catalog as well. He is a Grammy-voting music producer and is in the band The Poison Arrows. He is currently earning his doctorate in Organizational Change and Leadership from the University of Southern California. Previously, Justin was the New Media Manager at Touch and Go Records overseeing the digital distribution of labels like Touch and Go, Kill Rock Stars, and Jade Tree and hundreds of artists, including Sufjan Stevens, The National, The Decemberists, and TV on the Radio. He was one of the co-founders of the Webby Award-winning Epitonic.com, was the US Label Manager at Southern Records, and played in two touring bands, Thumbnail and Atombombpocketknife.

Karen started out in the music business, by booking bands and DJ-ing at Leeds University. In the late 80s, she took a job at Rough Trade Distribution, climbing the ladder in an overwhelmingly male-dominated sector by asking the right questions, and taking every opportunity to learn the numbers side of the business. In 1990, she used a redundancy pay-out to start Key Production which still specializes in the production and manufacture of CDs, DVDs, vinyl records and beautifully art-worked bespoke packaging for music and other industries. Through organic growth and acquisitions, Key is a leader in its field, comprising over 60 people at four offices in Europe. Key Production strives to maintain a sustainable business as part of a sustainable industry, continues to research sustainable practices in manufacture and to share with others knowledge of the subject. In 2007, whilst on holiday in Nicaragua, she saw a sign proclaiming “Island for Sale” and 3 years later had built and opened http://www.jicaroisland.com – a luxury sustainable hotel built with Rainforest Alliance certificated wood. In 2018, she won the prestigious NatWest Everywoman Award In her “spare” time, Karen mentors students, talks and volunteers at schools and universities and helps the charity http://www.migrateart.com . Karen is an advisor to Evolution vinyl, part of the Vinyl Alliance, and on the advisory board of The Centre for Sustainable Design. She also contributes to the Impala vinyl pressing group and AIM Climate Action Group. Karen has also set up a CIC (Community Interest Company) called Moving the Needle(www.MTNnow.com) MTNnow is an educational initiative to ensure more womxn achieve life-long careers in the Music Industry.

Veronica is a vinyl researcher, lecturer, and writer as well as an active, published researcher. Her research concentration is primarily on record collecting and collecting cultures, materiality and aesthetics. One of her main goals is to highlight how diverse and active popular music fandom and consumption is. She has a clear focus on the listener and reader-response theories, questioning meta-narratives and exploring hidden histories. In 2016 Veronica published the book ‘I, Me, Mine?’: An Initial Consideration of (Popular Music Record) Collecting Aesthetics, Identities & Practices, and is currently working on a new book titled ‘The Vinyl Revival, Gender, and Collecting Aesthetics’. She has been teaching at the university-level since 2009 to a variety of student demographics. Before moving to the UK from Scandinavia she was the chairperson of a feminist helpline, and her work in popular music and academia has further solidified her belief in intersectional feminist perspectives.