In a cutting room near Mark Ronson’s studio in central London, Darrel Sheinman is explaining what a swarf fire is. His business, Gearbox records, specialises in all things vinyl. They record, make and produce music especially for vinyl, consulting for both major record labels and unsigned artists wanting to release their own LP. Gearbox is so dedicated to increasing the popularity of records they're even in the process of manufacturing their own player.

Their prize technique is direct to disc; the process of recording live music straight to vinyl, in real time. The music travels from the recording studio to a lathe, where the heated stylus carves out the groove in the record. As the roaring hot needle burns into the disc, the highly flammable nitrocellulose being dug out of the lacquered record can build up and ignite, setting alight to not only the record, but the entire cutting room if you’re not careful.

"When you’re listening to vinyl you’re surfing this analogue wave, this nice long smooth line that’s unbroken"

Mainly used for classical and jazz recording, direct to disc is a method where live music is directly recorded to vinyl, no editing, no compressions, no mastering.Herbie Hancock’s “Directstep” from 1978 is one of many legendary albums recorded using the direct to disc technique.

In an age when recording music couldn’t be easier, why would anyone want to invest in a format many think of as redolent of a bygone time and redundant in today’s industry?

“When you’re listening to something digital, you’re listening to all these little samples, these chopped up things.” Explains Adam Sieff, operations manager at Gearbox. “But when you’re listening to vinyl you’re surfing this analogue wave, this nice long smooth line that’s unbroken."

Adam has an extensive track record in the music industry. Formerly Director of Jazz UK & Europe at Sony Music, in 2011 he was awarded the Music Producers Guild Unsung Hero Award. Adam’s passion for vinyl is evident in the way he speaks about it, often picking up on technical points made by Darrel and fleshing them out with dreamy and enamoured language.

Brought together by a love of jazz, Gearbox now produces a variety of LPs. Everything from Nico’s 1971 BBC session to Kate Tempest’s Brand New Ancients; a classic story of two intertwined families told in beat verse, soundtracked with cello, violin and percussion. One of their most recent releases is by Applewood Road, a troupe of songwriters who first meet in Nashville, a city whose presence is at the core of their sound. The LP was recorded at Welcome to 1979, an analogue studio in Nashville, and perfect partner to Gearbox’s tape-to-turntable philosophy.

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The Rise of Records

In 2015, the demand for vinyl reached a 21-year high as the industry sold over 2.1 million copies over the course of 12 months. Compare that to 2007, where only 205,000 records were bought, and you can see how the industry is going from strength to strength.

It’s the only format alongside streaming that’s managed the fair well in the post-Napster age. For years now CDs have been in decline, but recently even digital downloads have been dying alongside their compact cousins, with sales down 13.5 per cent last year.

It’s interesting that that only two formats still managing to turn a profit are at opposite ends of the spectrum. On the one hand, you have streaming; a subscription-based service where listeners never actually purchase anything, and on the other you have vinyl, a product that’s physically cumbersome and needs specialist equipment to listen to, but you can at least hold it in your hands.

The reason for the vinyl’s success might be it's ability to fill a gap in the market left wide open by the rise of streaming: investment. Subscription services are a great way of offering easy ways to access music. After all, the same music is still available for illegal download, but you have to find it and that can take some time. And why would you pay for a digital download, when you’re not even sure what you’re getting for your money? In practice, streaming is the same as buying a licence. You don’t actually own the download like you would a book or CD, and in the small print of your user agreement licence, you’ll find a whole host of terms and conditions restricting what you can and cannot do with your download.

That’s a lot of uncertainty for an industry we’re spending more and more of our money on. In 2014 British consumers came second for the amount spent on music per capita, beaten only by Norway. If we’re still willing to spend money on music, it better be something that’s going to keep its value. And with limited, gatefold, weighted and coloured editions, vinyl has found a way of creating a sought after product that isn’t likely to diminish in value over time.

It's not the only reason why vinyl has become popular again. For musical puritans, otherwise known as audiophiles, the reason why vinyl is considered better than other formats is the quality. Partly down to how basic the technology is, it's naturally devoid of the same compression, conversion or limitations subjected to digital recording. In essence, it’s the closest thing to an actual recording.

“Cutting a record is all about land management” Darrel says. “It’s fitting a certain fixed amount of music in a finite amount of space.

A lifelong jazz fan, Darrel’s collection of Blue Notes records now resides in the Gearbox studios. What began as a hobby, has now become a full-time business employing a team of experts. Before setting up Gearbox in 2009, Darrel was in maritime security. Drumming since the age of 12, he’s always had an affinity with jazz. Both technically complex and intricate, what attracted Darrel to jazz is the same as what attracted him to vinyl – how do you get the best sound?

But it was a hip-hop gig that inspired him to put the two together.

“I went to a N*E*R*D concert. It was a fantastic live performance that was really tight and I just got thinking that there’s so much good live music out there that hasn’t been put onto the best format possible."

He tried to approach the band’s management about securing the rights to the live performances but without the right contacts it proved too difficult. That’s when he decided to look at archive recordings and other ways of putting live performances onto records.