In this offering, we are very pleased to get up close and personal with Ryan Canavan. In addition to running Hex Records, Ryan sings and plays sax in the band Dialysis.
The first record I ever bought with my own money was…
I believe it was “King Of Rock” by Run DMC when I was kid, probably back around 1985. I still have it too. And then I’d frequently buy singles/45’s when I’d go with my mom out to the department store. We had one in our area called Ames and they had a whole bin of 7″ records they would sell for $1, brand new (I’m definitely showing my age here). I bought all sorts of 7″s like Twisted Sister, The Cars, Cyndi Lauper, and more Run-DMC. I still have a bunch of those as well! So thanks to my Dad for getting me into a lot of cool music at a very young age and thanks Mom for bringing me out to the store!
The record that made me want to make music was…
I think it was the golden age of hip-hop (late 80’s-early 90s) where I thought what groups like Public Enemy, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest were creating the most exciting new music and when I was in 7th or 8th grade myself and a friend started trying to write rhymes and we connected with a hip, young music teacher in our school who had a very fancy synthesizer that could also make beats and we recorded a song. I think I was 12. Sadly, that tape is lost to the ages and it wouldn’t be until I was 24-25 when I started actually playing in real deal touring bands. Of course, by this point I was fully into hardcore punk music, which is what I’ve mostly played since. But “Takes a Nation Of Millions…”, “3 Feet High and Rising” and “The Low End Theory” really set it into motion for me I suppose.
The record I’ve played more than any other is…
Tough question! It might be Quicksand, “Slip” or Rollins Band, “The End Of Silence” because those are my all-time favorite records and they really were formative in my teenage years and remain in regular rotation to this day. The music and lyrics on both those albums mean the world to me.
The record that always make me feel good is…
I think any of the aforementioned favorites from the hip-hop side of things, or the hardcore/punk realm will always excite me and make me happy. Also, Bad Brains “Rock For Light”…. you just have to bounce around when listening to that record. For more current records that bring a big smile to my face every time I hear them I’d have to say Turnstile, “Glow On”, Drug Church “Hygiene” or any of the USA Nails stuff like “Character Stop”, “Life Cinema”, or “No Pleasure”.
The record I turn to when I’m feeling down is…
I think “End Of Silence” from Rollins Band is the ultimate ‘life is bringing me down, and stuff sucks, but I’m going to get back up and conquer my sorrow’ sort of record. It’s pretty intense.
The record with my favorite cover art is…
I mean, who can argue with the Bad Brains lightning bolt being one of the most iconic record images ever? So that is very foremost in my mind. But I also love the re-creations Tom Hazelmyer has done for some of the AmRep re-issues where he’s doing incredible linocut carvings/hand-printing the covers. The Hammerhead “Into the Vortex” one is especially excellent. I also have an incredible Rorschach repress where Pushead created new cover art, had it silkscreened, and signed it. Humble brag.
The strangest LP I own is…
It may be a toss up between the Graf Orlock “Destination Time Tomorrow” 10″ with the “Aliens” pop-up under the cover flap for weird album art. Or it’s the Dazzling Killmen, “Poptones” 7″ with a very bizarre comic inside it. Plus, Dazzling Killen were just a super weird band anyway!
The rarest LP I own is…
It might be that Pushead Rorschach repress of “Protestant” that I mentioned earlier. I also have a bunch of test presses of all the different records I’ve released on my label and I typically only do 10 copies of each test press. Or maybe the (cassette) that’s demos of Cave-In’s “Until Your Heart Stops” before it was recorded for real.
The last LP I bought was…
I just bought the new Kal Marks record “My Name Is Hell” and it’s awesome.
Links
https://hexrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/hexrecords
https://hexrecords.bigcartel.com/
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