online find: August 20, 2014 Music » Local Music Archer Pressing still makes records the old-fashioned way - on vinyl - in Detroit By Brett Callwood Its very easy to miss the Archer Records plant. Theres no big sign, no real indication of the historic value of the place. Just the name of the company crudely painted on the front of the building. Entering the plant through the gated side door reveals that the inside is no more spectacular. This is essentially a plastic shop, not a hotbed of artistic creativity. The machines may be churning out records, but they could just as easily be producing another product. Those machines do hold a certain mystique though, despite their cold, ugly appearance. First of all, they were made in the 1970s — nobody makes record pressing machines anymore (why would they?) and so there is no tech support if these old beasts break down. Current owner Mike Archer, and his dad Joe Archer before him, quickly had to learn how to get them running again by themselves when something went wrong. But even beyond that, only the most steel-hearted would be able to look around the shop floor and not wonder about the vast quantities of incredible music that has been pressed in this most unassuming place. After all, Archer Pressing will be celebrating its 50th year of operations in 2015. Gospel, R&B, punk, hip-hop and, more recently, electronic music — all of it has exited these doors on vinyl. Mike Archer entered the family business two decades ago, despite serious efforts not to. This was not the plan, he says. I went to Michigan State and, after I graduated, I worked for a couple of different auto suppliers. After I left the second one, my dad said, I really need some help here. I said that Id come down for the summer, and Im still here. As you can see, its not the most glamorous work — its a shop. I didnt want to do it, but here I am. Theres definitely some pride, knowing that youre helping the music industry. The customers are great too, for the most part. They do appreciate what we do here and they like having us here, so that helps a lot. Its astounding that Archer remains the only record pressing plant in Detroit, yet the company regularly has to turn away business. You would imagine somebody would be eager to fill that hole, though Mike tells us that those machines are practically impossible to buy nowadays, making the start of a new venture extremely difficult. Back in 1965, there was no pressing plants here in Detroit, he says. We were the first one, and were still the only one. With Motown here, you would think thered be a pressing plant here, but there wasnt. There was an independent plant [the American Record Pressing Company] out in Owosso, which is between Lansing and Flint. They did a bit of Motown work. Motown spread it out. Back in the day, they would make their records regional. For the Californian market, they would press them in California, for the East Coast market, theyd press them on the East Coast, just to lower the transportation charges. Here in the Midwest, we had that plant here in Owosso. As far as being in Detroit, weve always been the only one. Mikes grandfather Norman Archer started the company in 1965, back when Detroit was crying out for a local pressing plant. The industry has changed significantly since then, of course, with eight-tracks, cassettes, CDs and now electronic downloads all threatening vinyls market share. Archer has managed to hang on throughout it all. The nice thing about this business is we dont have to advertise, he says. People find us through word of mouth. The music industrys pretty tight and people talk. They say, I like your record, where did you get it pressed? They send them over here to Archer, and then theyll come and see me. Detroit is a great music city. People like to keep things local, theres a lot of Detroit pride so a lot of people like to keep things right here in Detroit. That helps us also. As he gives us a short tour of the shop floor, showing us the tiny chips of vinyl that are scooped into a machines funnel, melted down into a puck-shaped object, and then pressed flat into a record. Mike seems tired after a long, hard days work, but also still immensely proud of the work that he continues to do in his familys name. The nature of the business has changed, but the quality work that Archer does and the emphasis the company places on local music remains the same. Were not pressing like back in the 1960s and 70s, he says. We press a lot of electronic music records now though, and we turn business away all the time. If weve worked with you before or youre from Detroit, well work with you. If you approach us for the first time from Chicago or somewhere, we might not be able to fit you in. As far as downloading and streaming, its a different way for people to get the files to us to press the record. On our end, pressing the record is the same as its always been. We put it on the press, the press closes at about 100 tons, and you smash out those records. As the CDs have gone away and the downloading came in, I think thats actually helped. People now want a physical product and they dont want to buy CDs because they already have it on their iPod. So if they want something physical, theyll get a record made. And long may it continue.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 18:39:10 +0000
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