If you thought that the turntable was dead, think again. With the Mahindra Blues Festival just about a week away, the best way to kickstart the festive is to bring on the Blues in a different way. Drop The Needle, is a new series of monthly meetups which aims to bring together vinyl enthusiasts and record collectors from all over Mumbai and India for an evening listening session at antiSocial in Khar Mumbai.

The event will also see a community table which will showcase a collection of records by featured selectors, where you can display your records as well as sell/exchange with like-minded collectors you meet at the event. You are also free to bring your records to the vent and sign up to get your records played and listen to them on their PA system. Records are played on a Stanton DJ ST 150 turntable.

For the Mahindra Blues Festival Edition, there is a special selection of blues’ vinyls on display and which will be heard on the PA system. What is the Blues without the right cocktails and drinks flowing? You can select a variety of drinks keeping in mind the blues theme.

The purpose of the event is to encourage all vinyl lovers, collectors, traders, and listeners to keep the vinyl spinning in an age of digital medium. The Mahindra Blues Festival supports this with a LP store at the event.

Meet 57 year old Mumbai resident Pilak Bhatt, who believes the turntable is still spinning. Bhatt is a regular at the Mahindra Blues Festival and has a stall in the Garden area, stocking LPs of Blues, rock. Jazz, pop and even a few Bollywood LPs which are hard to find. Bhatt is one of many avid LP record collectors in the country and also around the world who has a passion for music and collecting LP records. Bhatt will be displaying a part of his Blues collection at the event, where you can also listen to his LPs and also pick up a few. Bhatt has been collecting LP records when he was 14 years old and to date he has over 1 lac LP records in his collection, stocking them in places like his hall, bedroom and above all places the kitchen. Pilak has also made special drawers, racks, and cabinets that extend right upto the ceiling of his house.

So if you have a Blues classic record, bring it along and go classic.

Event:

Date: Wednesday, 1^st February 2017-01-30

Venue: antiSocial, Khar, Mumbai

Time: 8 pm – 11 pm.