If you’ve listened to The Women in Vinyl Podcast, you know co-host Robyn Raymond, one of our board members and contributors.  She is the only female lathe cutter in Canada and her passion for what she does is infectious.  When she mentioned Tasha Trigger, the only female lathe cutter in the UK, we knew we had to interview her and found her passion was that way too.

Lathe to the Grave out of Portsmouth, UK, was started by Tasha and her partner. They make short run lathe cut records from one to one hundred pieces; the perfect option for bands that aren’t ready for a full vinyl run. Lathe to the Grave has over fifteen year’s experience in the music industry including performance, promotion and production, and they understand how important it is to have a reliable service.

In Tasha’s free time, she’s kicking ass training in MMA. “There is something special about two people mutually trying to punch each other in the face!” Her and her partner also have a Youtube channel where they participate in spicy food challenges. Make sure to enjoy some of those!

How did you get into your industry / What motivated you?

My partner started University as a mature student to study Digital Music and I felt left out. He was furthering his career and I had been working in the public sector for the best part of a decade with nowhere to go. I started looking into how vinyl was manufactured and discovered lathe trolls. That is where my learning journey began.

As he was approaching the end of his degree we were discussing how difficult it is to release vinyl as an independent artist over a few pints in the Dancing Man pub in Southampton. This was the moment we decided to start the business, to support independent artists and make vinyl an option for everyone. It took almost a year from this decision to obtain a lathe but finally picking up was the best feeling.

What is a day in the life like?

I always start the day with either a gym session or beach run followed by a breakfast ramen. I am very much a creature of habit! Then it is a 20 minute walk to the workshop. The lathe takes a little while to heat up so whilst it is heating, I’ll check the diary to make sure we are on track and make myself a coffee. Then the fun begins, and I can start cutting records!

Depending on the project I am cutting I will usually be folding and gluing sleeves or preparing the blanks for upcoming projects by trimming the sharp edges off. I’m never more than a couple of feet away from the lathe the whole time though in case of any issues. Records with lots of individual tracks where I physically need to create track gaps, or 5” records which have a super short run time, are a little bit more full on so I’ll just stand directly in front of the lathe for these, sometimes having a boogie if the music is particularly good.

I’ll call it a day anywhere between 6pm and 8pm and head home for dinner. My tummy usually dictates the finish time!

What has been your favorite / the coolest thing you’ve worked on?

Ooh that is a hard question. I have made a few multi-hole colored records for Yeti that look pretty cool. He always comes to me with goofy ideas and I am happy to oblige.

We have also done some spoken word releases for the comedian Neil Hamburger as an exclusive for his tour which was pretty amazing as I have been a fan for years. When I saw an email drop in with his name on it, I was pretty excited.

I also cut a Commodore 64 program into the outrun groove of a 7″ single! 

What has been / is the most difficult part of your job?

Taking the leap into being a business owner. After spending my first 15 years of my working life as an employee making the jump to business owner has been scary. The responsibility if it all goes wrong and knowing the value of what I do. It took me a long time to have faith in myself as an engineer and a business owner.

The majority of my customers are absolutely lovely people who I would do anything to help and they make my job amazing. However, receiving emails demanding orders for less than our advertised prices, particularly wanting them within ridiculously short turnaround times, irks me. Replying to these emails in a professional manner is definitely one of the hardest things I have to do.

What advice do you have for someone wanting to get into pursuing what you’re doing?

The holy grail has to be the forum Lathe Trolls. I spent the best part of two years sleuthing through all the resources on there before committing to getting a lathe. I still visit it on a daily basis to keep on top of all the current news for the industry, it is full of some of the most knowledgeable people I have ever had a chance to chat with.

I have always loved music but have never really been a vinyl collector. I grew up in the 90’s which was the era of CD’s and MP3 players. When I met my partner he showed me his collection of vinyl and had some amazing items including a vinyl jigsaw and a record made to look like a scotch egg. It intrigued me. I have a very limited selection of special edition vinyl but wouldn’t class myself as a collector.

What types of things are happening in your industry / with vinyl that you’re excited or worried about? i.e. innovation, or trends you’re seeing.

I am excited at the love for vinyl at the moment. It seems to be growing exponentially and I am loving all the fun special editions of records coming out. I love that more and more people are now collecting vinyl and discovering how fun it can be.