Marshall’s Funhouse puts music and community first at SXSW 2024

After every week in Austin, operating on breakfast tacos and sprinting to and from showcases across the metropolis in only broken-in Dr. Marten’s — I can safely say that Marshall’s Parish takeover was a standout expertise. Free to locals and these in Austin for SXSW festivities, the occasion featured a boisterous and hungry crowd in contrast to another venue, who meandered across the full-on carnival Marshall had erected, full with a funhouse mirror, video games, and neon inexperienced cotton sweet. This occasion had many layers, although the permeating theme appeared to be community — a core tenet of Marshall’s work that far extends these three days. 

Read extra: 8 important queer anthems, picked by Agender

Inside Parish, throughout three stellar showcases, every opened by Austin’s School of Rock, we noticed Dinosaur Jr. draw a line across the block, a lot talked-about Austin act Die Spitz embrace punk vitality in its truest kind, and U.Okay.-based Marshall Records’ acts like rowdy post-punks King Nun, self-described “Queercore Powerhouse” Dream Nails, and Corey Taylor-approved rap-metal artist Kid Bookie blow the crowds’ minds with raucous, unequalled performances.

But the showcases have been simply the half of it — previous the new canine stand, strongman recreation, and DJ sales space curated by the Queer Vinyl Collective, folks screen-printed customized merchandise and artists picked at document bins, desperate to enter the gifting suite filled with Marshall product, alongside native organizations just like the SIMS Foundation, who works to destigmatize and scale back psychological well being and substance abuse points for music business professionals, Women in Vinyl, who affords training and alternatives for ladies and BIPOC communities across the vinyl business, and School of Rock, who obtained all the backline of Marshall merchandise following the occasion. Over three days, whereas the carnival carried on, the SIMS Foundation and WIV unfold consciousness, partaking with a music-loving viewers apt to turn into allies and supporters.  

Completely caught off guard by the unbelievable work that Women In Vinyl has been doing, unbeknownst to me, I received the possibility to talk with the founder (and Black Sabbath collector) Jenn D’Eugenio about how she went from designing youngsters’s clothes to sending younger ladies to Berklee, and urgent the information of her favourite artists.

What’s the story behind Women in Vinyl?

JENN D’EUGENIO: I began working within the vinyl business at the very begin of 2018. I had all the time liked music, however I used to be by no means a musician — so I used to be like, “What jobs are there for me?” Nobody in highschool was like, “Oh, go work in a record label.” But I used to be additionally an artist, so I turned a designer, designing youngsters’s garments till I received burned out on drawing bunnies. So I began in vinyl manufacturing, which mixed my love for…

Wait, how did that occur? How did we go from bunnies to vinyl?

D’EUGENIO: I went again and began working as a profession adviser at the artwork faculty I went to, serving to college students within the School of Design discover jobs. It was probably the most fulfilling job I’d ever had. It was so nice to assist them discover their spot. But Savannah is a really small place, the place I went to high school. So we moved to D.C., the place I’m from, and the place Furnace [Record Pressing] was primarily based. It simply made sense to discover a means into this business. After I began working there, I noticed, there are so many ladies on this business doing superior issues — had I identified, perhaps I’d’ve had a totally completely different profession path. So I needed to discover a means to offer these sorts of alternatives, position fashions, scholarships, and instructional coaching to younger folks, particularly ladies, nonbinary, and minority teams, as a result of they so usually get disregarded of these STEM applications. In combining training, design, and my love of vinyl, I used to be in a position to begin Women in Vinyl in 2018, and in 2020, it formally is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group. We’ve developed a board and numerous assets for the community. Last 12 months, due to funding from Marshall, we have been in a position to create a scholarship program at Berklee College of Music. We additionally despatched somebody to Minneapolis for Making Vinyl, our business conference. We had interns at Gold Rush Vinyl because the first-of-its-kind intern program, the place you really are hands-on urgent information — and one of many ladies that was a part of that’s really now a full-time press operator at Gold Rush. So we’re actually seeing that mission come nearer.

I’ve goosebumps. I like that. I actually did not know there was such a lack of expertise about this. 

D’EUGENIO: People love information, however this new technology that is moving into vinyl has no thought what number of jobs and persons are concerned in getting that document to you. We say our slogan is “educate, demystify, and diversify” as a result of whereas we could also be specializing in these teams so far as jobs and instructional alternatives for everyone, we’re the ladies in vinyl who’re additionally educating the community. And we now have a podcast the place we attempt to share a few of that with everybody.

Do you’re feeling like youthful generations are actually into vinyl? I really feel prefer it’s getting extra widespread.

D’EUGENIO: It outsells all different bodily media at this level, when folks go to exhibits. And there’s been a variety of focus, too, on the “super fan.” It’s humorous as a result of it is so off-brand for me, however one of many pop artists that I like, she put out two seven-inches, and I used to be like, “Is she going to bring back a seven-inch? Are the kids going to get into it now?” Honestly, I do not assume vinyl’s going to go wherever. I’m of the age the place my dad and mom had vinyl, and that is how I found it and began accumulating it. Now my technology is having children, so I feel it may be the identical factor, proper? It’ll proceed. 

Totally. You cannot devour music in a greater means. What was the first document you purchased?

D’EUGENIO: I purchased Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy. We left faculty early, and we went to this dilapidated document retailer in my hometown referred to as Dragon Song. It was actually on this outdated home with a stoner man working behind the counter. He had a complete wall of moldy oldies, and he used to tour with bands and all that. From the second you walked in, it was like Nag Champa and tales. That was the first document I bought. I inherited a few of my dad and mom’ information, and then that was it.

I hearken to music addictively. I’ll simply hearken to the A-side of an album for every week, till I can not hearken to it ever once more. What was the first album that hit like that for you, if any?

D’EUGENIO: I’m ridiculously obsessive about Black Sabbath. I’ve 50 copies of Master of Reality alone. I purchased one, and then my husband was working in a document retailer that received a German Vertigo model, which I noticed sounded completely different. When I began working in document manufacturing, I’m like, “OK, if someone wants to do a repress, you need to authorize changes to art. You need to authorize changes to moving the metal parts around. How did all of these different variants get started and pressed?” And so I began down this rabbit gap now obsessively accumulating Master. I like that.

The worldwide pressings! There’s all the time one thing hidden in these. How did your relationship with Marshall come about?

D’EUGENIO: It’s humorous, really. So we have been sending somebody to the Making Vinyl convention a pair years in the past, and I received a DM from Zound, (now part of Marshall), saying they needed to ship “the recipient” to Making Vinyl, and I used to be like, “What the hell?” I ignored it, and then a couple of days later I used to be like, “You know what? I should respond.” I did, and the model mentioned, “We want to be involved — and after, we want to contribute more and be a part of helping you fulfill your mission.” Honestly, and I do not say this as a result of this can be a Marshall occasion, however they’re probably the most selfless and actually supportive group, and I really feel so fortunate as a result of not solely do our model aesthetics align, however the kind of folks which can be there are actually cool. They genuinely need to assist. They’re by no means like, “We’re going to give you this, but you have to do all of these things.” They’ll say, “Does this help your mission?” And that is superb. 

Jenn D’Eugenio’s new guide, Women in Vinyl: The Art of Making Vinyl, goes up for preorder on March 26.