Boy Eats Drum Machine Interview w/Jon Ragel

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Boy Eats Drum Machine is Jon Ragel, who is a turntablist, analog synth lover and musical innovator from Portland. A while back he teamed up with Gang of Four bassist Dave Allen for some live mashup action, mutilating Michael Jackson, Talking heads and other luminaries in the best of all possible ways with live bass and guitars plus the ever-present turntables.

But that’s the past–the here and now has Boy Eats Drum Machine funkier than ever with a new collection of excellent, danceable tracks–20 in all.

20 Beats is hot off the presses as it were, on Bandcamp, iTunes and elsewhere. Turntabling wanted to know how the vinyl fits in with Boy Eats Drum Machine’s latest and get the skinny on this excellent new BEDM album.

Turntabling: Give us the lowdown on 20 Beats. What’s going on here?

Jon Ragel: This is a collection of 20 brand new instrumentals, all of which started out as breaks grabbed from Bridgetown Breaks 1 and 2. I worked pretty fast, so there’s a raw edge to the parts, as well as more bite in the guitars and synths than anything else I’ve done. Each track has it’s own album cover too.

Turntabling: You list ‘turntablist’ as one of your specialties–how does turntabling factor in on the new record?

I only pull breaks and sounds from vinyl. It’s an aesthetic thing. Also, I like the limitation of working with vinyl. You have to use your hands to make it fit. It always ends up being a tad imperfect. I like that. Most electronic music sounds way too perfect to my ears.

Is 20 Beats coming on vinyl? BEDM has released material on vinyl previously–what are the challenges of recording/mastering/getting an album ready for a vinyl release is like compared to doing it for digital distribution?

It’s just a digital release for now. I’m still trying to recoup on Booomboxxx and Hoop and Wire, both of which came out on vinyl. My desire to make art currently outweighs the money it brings in, so I’m thankful for this whole digital angle on releasing music. It’s cheaper, for sure. This album has been free, basically.

Rainbow Records made the vinyl for both Booomboxxx and Hoop and Wire. They send 5 copies to inspect. In both instances I felt good about the way they sounded. No hassle, really.

I think vinyl naturally sweetens the deficiencies of 16 bit, 44.1k recording, as well as it’s lack of depth. I can’t wait to get something more robust, but I still think the motu 828 is a nice piece of gear, especially considering how inexpensive it is.

What advice do you have for someone contemplating putting music on vinyl who has only done digital releases prior to vinyl?

Oddly enough, I’m not much of an audiophile, so my knowledge on this topic could use a little spit-shine. I tend to listen to music at the day job or during long drives. I love my vinyl LPs more as a historian.

That said, I really appreciate sweet lows and dynamic range, so my gut instinct is that recordings with those two qualities are going to sound best on vinyl. Basically, with an mp3 you’re trying to make it really damn loud.

You don’t have to do that with vinyl because audiophiles like dynamic range and have systems designed to sound musical, rather than simply “bassy” or “loud”. So I’d say leave more dynamic range in a vinyl master than you would a digital master.

20 Beats—available on CD? What’s the future of the shiny disc? Some say it’s dead already and doesn’t know when to lie down, but some bands I know insist that you still need a disc to be taken seriously at shows and by reviewers. What’s your take from a musician standpoint?

I’ll do a boutique run of cd’s. I’ve never loved CDs mind you, but if you tour CDs are a no-brainer. People give you money for them. Money is good. Also, it seems to me a lot of radio/press peeps still have stacks of cd’s on their desks. We want them to hear our music, so we should give them music the way they like it. I’m talking mailing out 550 CDs.

That’s expensive. That’s inefficient. That’s…sounding like the music industry. Of course, I won’t be doing that with 20 Beats. 20 Beats is an experiment. Also, I’m too broke to do that again this year.

I really like digital. I wish more people would catch onto buying lossless files. The technology is there. The technology is exciting. The technology is simply way ahead of people’s ability to take in information.

You can send someone an email but you can’t give them the time to read it, along with the other 99 emails they get that day. It’s impossible. So technology isn’t the issue, but rather a simple industry-wide changing of the guards over the next 10-20 years. Watch a teenager text their friends while eating a sandwich and following So You Think You Can Dance and you’ll know what I mean.

Also, I think the internet is misunderstood as a tool. People need actual human contact. People want to feel cultural. People want to feel…well…human. There’s only so much nibbling around on the internet someone can do before they need to go out, hear some music, bump asses with a few people, and get a good buzz.

So long as we musicians are out there being a part of that we’ll be culturally relevant. We might even make a few bucks in the process.

You can find 20 Beats by Boy Eats Drum Machine at Bandcamp. Check out the two free tracks Silverskate Gateway and the current Turntabling favorite, Josh Skins, which is funky as all hell.

Chicagoland Record Collectors Show Hillside, Illinois

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My first-ever visit to the Chicagoland Record Collectors show at the Best Western in Hillside Illinois was a very pleasant surprise. To be honest, I expected something a lot smaller somehow, but there were a large number of dealers with a wide range of titles. Organizers for this show say classic rock gets a lot of attention here, but I was happy to discover a treasure trove of 80s indies and alternative (before that turned into a bad word) and a great deal of weirdness on vinyl.

My own personal scores were deliciously contradictory–I found a SEALED copy of the quite elusive Daniel Amos album Fearful Symmetry (they were the most unique and original thing about the 80s Christian New Wave movement that flourished briefly in the mid 80s) AND a copy of the Diamanda Galas album, Saint of the Pit. At the same stall–how cool is that? The GMUZIK vendor is where I found those–I liked his selections best of all. Since this record show is held every two months, you’ll have plenty of chances to visit GMUZIK–and I strongly suggest you do.

And how about the weirdness on vinyl? Well, where do I start? Feast your eyes on these babies:

This band is a class act…but the NEXT album would complete the circle. Once again I find the most wonderful dichotomies in the record bins. From panties to Jesus on the SAME TABLE.


The Chicagoland Record Collectors show has early bird hours–an insane 6:30 AM–but as it happens, there’s a damn good reason for that. Once the normal hours begin at 9AM the place is mobbed. I got all my finds by showing up for the early bird, and fortunately the Best Western Hotel (4400 Frontage Road in Hillside Illinois) where this show is held has a breakfast buffet. Good thing! Don’t take your chances with the maddening crowds after 9–show up early and get your crate digging on.

I highly recommend this show and cannot wait for the next one.

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NYC Record Stores: Generation Records

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Generation Records, at 210 Thompson St (between 3rd St & Bleecker) is the sister store to the New York City record store institution, Bleecker Street Records. Like its’ counterpart, Generation Records has a lot of floor space, more titles than you’ll be able to comfortably look through over a lunch hour, and plenty of CDs, tees and other odds and ends to round out the shopping experience.

By this time on the Vinyl Road Rage journey, I was pretty fried out. All the stores start blurring together when you hit the wall, but even though this was the last stop in a very eventful and expensive day, Generation Records managed to stand out and make me wake up long enough to appreciate the collection.


Reviews of the store on Yelp.com make noise about rude, obviously tweaking or barely knowledgeable staff; I didn’t have those experiences because I walked in knowing where I wanted to browse, didn’t have an agenda aside from hoping cool stuff leapt out of the stacks for me, and wasn’t feeling particularly chatty myself. It was nice not to be bothered every five seconds with “Can I help you find anything?” so maybe I’m just anti-social and prefer a non-talkative rudie behind the counter sometimes.

Just as with Bleecker Street Records, Generation Records has a downstairs and it’s chock full of the good stuff. Yes, there is a lot of vinyl upstairs, but I’ve always had better luck in basements. Don’t know why. They–the inscrutable, ever-present they–always stick the soundtracks in the basements (unless it’s a bargain basement setup where the thrashed and buck-a-pop vinyl lives).

I always notice the little quirky things about a record store. One quirk that brought a smile was the way Generation Records chooses to label its overstock. Me personally, I think if you have a problem with people misunderstanding what’s considered “for sale” and what’s not, you should HIDE the not-for-sale items. But I’m just this guy.

New York City is jammed full of great record stores. Generation Records is one of them. You might need some deep pockets if you’re a collcetor–Bleecker Street and Generation Records are shops that have savvy buyers and the rarities are priced accordingly. To quote the junk store shopkeep in that great Swingin’ London classic Blow Up, “You’ll find no cheap bargains here…”

But that doesn’t mean you won’t buy. And sometimes you CAN find some decent bargains—some nice little things do slip through the cracks. Like a sealed, original pressing of the Sheba, Baby soundtrack, or my personal favorite, the sealed version of Petey Wheatstraw, The Devil’s Son-in-Law soundtrack. But maybe I’m just a rabid crate diggin’ fool.

–Joe Wallace

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