Did you grow up with a record player/console in your house, did your family listen to much music? 

I was an 80s baby so I grew up with cassette tapes mostly. For my 3rd birthday all I wanted was a pink tape player and a Bon Jovi tape. I can’t help but think that this moment was where my love of music and quirky design came in. As far as the music in my family, my dad was a huge Zeppelin, Van Halen, Lou Reed fan so those are some of my earliest musical memories. My mom loved people like Queen, Bowie, Skynard, and Aerosmith. However, I think my the person who had the biggest impact on my musical taste was my older brother, Jason, who sparked my love for a lot of weird alternative and indie bands. He taught me about The Pixies & Frank Black, Nirvana, all of Steve Albini’s projects, My Bloody Valentine, Magnetic Fields (Stephin Merritt), Jesus & Mary Chain and so many more that I could go on about this question alone for 10 pages! Also, I’m from Texas and have a lot of family members who play country music so there was a lot of Willie Nelson and classic country music happening during family festivities!

FUN FACT: I one time got hired for a job assisting a famous Japanese rock star because I told him that my favorite music was Nirvana and Garth Brooks. He hired me on the spot because he thought it was so ridiculous!

What was the first vinyl record LP that you purchased?

I believe it was Queen “A Night at the Opera” for .99 at Goodwill.

Do you have a listening room in your house, what’s your current setup like?  

We have about 10 “listening rooms” at our house thanks to Dan. Every room in our house has a record player/audio system of some sort. Even our bathroom has some sort of hybrid tube amp contraption Dan set up. Our living room has a Soundburger / Mister Disc portable record player that comes through our surround sound. Our bedroom has a Barbie Disco suitcase style record player I got at Goodwill that we refurbished and it actually sounds fairly good all things considered. Our office has a U-Turn turntable that Dan uses to test out a lot of our new speakers and listen to when he’s working. Last but not least, we finally just brought home one of our KC27 consoles that lives in our dining room. It sits at the end of our 12 foot dining table so it’s the perfect entertainment and conversation piece. (We would have brought the EGB2 but it didn’t fit properly, that thing is a beast!) We even currently have it voice activated so you can yell at it to play stuff for you which is pretty fun after a few cocktails!

What did you do before you started LUNO?

I moved to Los Angeles from Texas in 2003 to go to acting school – isn’t that why everyone comes to LA?! After a year of that, I realized that it wasn’t for me and I really like being behind the scenes. My boyfriend at the time was in a band and his manager also managed The Killers so I started helping him out occasionally. Also, all of my friends that I had met when I moved out here were musicians. I wasn’t even really aware of the “the industry” side of things before moving to LA nor had I considered it a career option, but found it fascinating and it seemed like everything was pointing me in that direction. I enrolled in MI and studied music business and interned at Interscope Records. From there, I went on to do radio promotion, marketing for a startup music platform, promotion for live venue, assisting a famous rock star, and artist relations for a guitar company. I dabbled in a bit of everything on the marketing side of the industry and absolutely loved it. It’s still my dream to someday own a beautiful live venue that I can design and Dan can do sound – future LUNO Lounge idea!? Working on the live side of things was by far my favorite experience. Everyday was something different and it was never boring. I loved being able to create experiences that allowed people to have a good time, which is something we try to do with LUNO. After I got laid off from my last industry gig, I had decided that I didn’t want to work for anyone ever again – it was natural for me as I’m stubborn as hell and both of my parents are entrepreneurs so it is in my DNA. While I was working on a startup I’d wanted to do for a while called BandPass (similar to MoviePass but for music) and trying to figure out my plan, I started painting vintage furniture in my garage as a hobby. I ended up putting some of it on Craigslist for fun and it sold. So I did more, and it sold. BandPass soon took a backseat. People soon started asking me for custom pieces, then started asking me build stuff for them (WTF) so I just sort of figured it out by being extremely obsessive and persistent! It was a very organic process and nothing I ever intended to do, but I fell in love with the design process. I studied and stalked everyone I could who knew anything about it sometimes hanging out at paint stores for hours on end. Just a few years later, we now have 2 successful furniture lines and LUNO has allowed me to combine my love of music & design. We’re planning on launching new products at ICFF 2019 and talking about doing a design show in NY this October, as well.

It sounds like you’ve met a lot of celebrities in your work, any stories you can share?

I think it’s inevitable that living in Los Angeles, you’re going to meet and know celebrities especially when working in the entertainment industry. One that stands out in my mind is when I met Paul Stanley of KISS when I was working at Daisy Rock. It was Halloween and I had no idea he was coming by and I was wearing a Kurt Cobain costume, as I would. He was not in a costume. It was such a random experience and he was super nice! I also got to meet Shonen Knife, who I had been a fan of for a while. We ended up becoming friends and they sent Dan and I a wedding gift that we still have, a beautiful Sake Set! Meeting Davey Havok from AFI deserves an honorable mention too because he’s one of the nicest people on the planet.

If you could make a custom hifi console for anyone, who would it be, describe the style and design for us?

My original intention of doing a lot of the custom designs (such as Prince, Bowie, etc) was to make them for the artists, sadly they never came to fruition. I really love the design and customization process and the ability to make something so wild that totally reflects a specific person’s style. I’m currently obsessed with trying to make a Yeezy console for Kanye. Dan and I are HUGE Kanye fans and Kanye is also a huge interior design and furniture fan and I recently read that he’s opening up a Yeezy architecture branch so I think it’s in the realm of possibility?!

What speaks to you about mid-century modern style?

Mid Century Modern style evokes a nostalgic feeling. When we launched at ICFF almost every person that came into our booth (one of them being Terry Crews) immediately would smile and say “this brings back some memories.” This is the exact feeling we wanted to create and the Mid Century Grandma aesthetic brought that to the table.

If you could choose one record to describe yourself, what would it be and why?

Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’ because damn near every song on that record is perfect and relatable.

“Think I’ll pack it in and buy a pick-up

Take it down to L.A.

Find a place to call my own

and try to fix up.

Start a brand new day”

Can you explain to someone what the experience of having one of your record consoles is like?

From someone who doesn’t know much about audio, I can say that they sound like being at a live concert. Dan is a phenomenal live sound engineer and really makes it feel like an immersive experience. We even had a customer once say as soon as we turned up the volume “Sounds like a concert!” – there is a video to prove it! In terms of the design, we tried to take a lot of aspects of the vintage players that we liked and clean them up a bit. I used Marshall Grill Cloth to really make it feel as authentic to the old stereo cabinets as possible. For our custom consoles, the sky’s the limit, you want me to wrap one in hundred dollar bills or add a mini-fridge – let’s do it! The funkier, the better! I’m up for the challenge.

What was your first concert, who did you see and what impression did that have on you?

The first concert I saw alone with friends was The Smashing Pumpkins Zero Tour in 97 or 98, I believe. I was hooked from that day forward. I remember going to the after party at a local club called Numbers hoping they would be there (they weren’t.) I’m still upset about that. Call me, Billy.

Can you tell us about the creative process of making one of your record consoles? Where do you take your inspiration from?

Typically it starts out with me seeing something I like and trying to incorporate it into one of our pieces somehow. No matter if our cabinet makers tell us it’s not possible, we always figure out a way! I’ll send my sketches to our designer and he’ll make them actually look good (and realistic) not like a 5 year old drew them. From there, my cabinet makers and I figure out what is and isn’t doable – the former always wins if I have anything to say about it! Dan spent a lot of time developing the audio components and sound quality of the consoles so we do have certain restrictions we’re working with but in terms of the cabinets & design aspect, we can get pretty funky (within reason) as long as the materials don’t affect or hinder the sound in any way. It’s a bit of trial and error when working on new designs. Most of my inspiration comes from pop culture, I would say, I’ve always been fascinated by it.

You’ve designed a lot of very unique custom hifi record consoles, can you tell us about a couple of your favorites?

My favorite to date by far is the new Limited Edition piece we just designed. I can’t get too much into it until we announce it but it’s stunning and was an extremely complicated process. It took multiple people with various skills to pull it off.  Besides that, I did a really cool Louis Vuitton piece that I’m in love with, and the Bowie was very interesting because the base had a welded constellation pattern which looked really amazing.

Can you tell us a little about what’s coming up for LUNO?

We have a new Limited Edition console coming up that we collaborated on with a famous artist so keep your eyes peeled for that! I’m extremely proud of the design, it was a long  process but the end result is phenomenal and some of the best work we’ve done. We also have a desktop/portable type console that we’ve been working on for a while that will be announced soon, as well as several cabinet designs sans equipment. We also collaborated with a whiskey company on multiple pieces that they’re using for a giveaway so you may have a chance to win one! Lastly, we’re in the process of moving our listening room aka “LUNO Lounge”, production facility, showroom, all under one roof so that’s really exciting! We’ll be able to hold inventory, have listening parties and all that cool stuff that’s been difficult to do so far.

I hear you’re also a musician, can you tell us a little about that and your current project?

I wouldn’t really call myself a “musician” per se. I learned to play bass for a band called Ghostel than Dan, I, and our friend Bryce had for a little while. It was super fun and our song “Buckley Get Your Gun” got a placement in the trailer of an Oscar nominated film called “Mustang” so that was pretty wild and got us a decent amount of attention. I’m not formally trained on any instruments and pretty much only know how to play our songs! I sort of made up my own tablature and Dan worked with me and taught me in a way that I understood.  It’s a really fun experience and I love the rush of being on stage and hope to do it again soon. The full album entitled 1414 was just released on Spotify. Currently, we’re so busy with LUNO and MVV that Dan and I write some songs here and there for fun and hope to turn those into a new project at some point in the future and release it on vinyl!

If you could give anyone a single piece of advice what would it be and why?

My dad always told me you gotta spend money to make money! So basically buy one of our damn consoles and it’ll make you rich!!!! No, but seriously, in the words of one of my favorite professors “Try to make one room in your house as beautiful as possible.”

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One of the hardest rocking bands of all time meets one of the most refreshing cocktails this side of hells bells. This whiskey cocktail, our AC/DC Back in Blackberry Fizz,  is the perfect pairing for an album that is pure fire from the first riff to last. All you need for this recipe is:

AC/DC BACK IN BLACKBERRY FIZZ

1 1/2 oz Starward Whiskey

2 tbs Simple Syrup

1 tbs Blackberry Juice

6 tbs Club Soda

Mint Sprig

Add ice to your cocktail glass. In cocktail shaker with ice: add whiskey, simple syrup and blackberry juice and shake it all night long. Pour into glass while straining out ice from shaker. Top off with soda, garnish with blackberry and mint, and have a drink on me!

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Electrohome Apollo 711

Electrohome Record Console – Mid-Century Modern Hifi Record Consoles

These bubble-domed record consoles proved to be a lasting style icon of the 1960’s, with its futuristic sci-fi design, it could blend in your typical mid-century modern home or on the deck of a interplanetary space craft. Electrohome, was well known for having manufactured the first phonographs in Canada, and would later go on to become a television broadcaster in their country. By 1965 after a period of tremendous growth Electrohome products would be available in 23 countries around the globe, and they would become very well known for producing the Electrohome Apollo 711, named for NASA’s famed launches. During the lounge music revival of the 1990’s this striking record player from space would end up on album covers, magazine photo shoots and featured in films that wanted to reference this incredible era of style and design.

David Bowie’s Custom Brionvega Record Player

david-bowie Brionvega turntable – Mid-Century Modern Hifi Record Consoles

This custom record console, made for Mr. Stardust, was conceived as a “musical pet.” This incredible turntable was able to fetch a whopping $324,000 at a recent auction. Brionvega an Italian company that also produced other notable designs, including the “Cubo” television, which is on permanent display in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Clairtone Project G

Clairtone Project G – Mid-Century Modern Hifi Record Consoles

One of the most unique designs from the mid-century modern era of stereo consoles is this series of players, known as Clairtone Project G. With its instantly recognizable globe shaped speakers, and space aged minimalism. This was an extremely high end console when it sold originally, with a price tag around $2000 in the mid-1960s. Clairtone, a Canadian company, became an extremely well known design of the day, even though only less than 400 units were ever made. It gained notoriety from features by celebrities like Frank Sinatra and a feature on the set of The Graduate.

PAAM Tube Turntable

PAAM TUBE TURNTABLE – Mid-Century Modern Hifi Record Consoles

Europe provided of the most interesting designs of the mid-century modern era of style, with this French design from 1968. The aeronautics-trained designer created this eye-catching cylindrical stereo turntable, with built-in speakers on both sides.

Weltron 2007

Weltron 2007 – Mid-Century Modern Hifi Record Consoles

Appropriately referred to as the “spaceship” this unit added an AM/FM radio and cassette deck built into one compact unit, it is said that the Weltron 2007 was inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Weltron 2007 made it’s debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1975, and sold for $399, which today is equivalent to over $1,800 adjusted for inflation.

If you enjoyed this tour through some of our favorite turntables and record consoles of the space age mid-century modern era, take a look at our versions of their modern day counterparts, such as our EGB2 Record Console,  KC27 Record Console, J2B2 Record Console, and the beautiful standalone cabinet (without turntable) THE SHELL.

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Their most recent album, 2015’s Better Nature has become a fan favorite, and considered an underrated classic by indie rock aficionados. Better Nature was also the first LP released on their own independent imprint New Machine Records, and was fan funded with a Pledge Music campaign, allowing the band the freedom to make this record entirely on their own terms. The sonic pallet of this record was showcased with the lead single “Nightlight” with its grinding guitars and epic chorus, the song was an exciting introduction to a new era for the band’s sound. Retaining all of the classic trademarks of their debut, but with a darker mood and more complex arrangements.

Better Nature’s second single “Circadian Rhythm (Last Dance)” was an infectious entry into the band’s catalog, with one of the groups most memorable melodies, and swooning interplay between Nikki and Brian’s beautifully complementary vocals. Over the span of the album’s ten tracks, the band hit some major highs, with some of their most beautiful moments and engrossing arrangements to date. The record, helmed by the production skills of Garret “Jacknife” Lee who has worked with U2, R.E.M. and The Cars, delivers an incredible analog experience. The album packs a punch, with diamond sharp clarity, expert mastering and incredible use of dynamic range. The album has a wonderful sense of space and breath, and avoids the trappings that many over-polished modern rock records seem to fall into. An album that could easily be classified as a sleeper classic, that is finding a greater audience with each passing year. However, there is no substitute for hearing it for the first time in its full analog glory on a high quality stereo console.

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GROOVEWASHER KIT

One thing that you learn when start buying vintage vinyl records is that you can greatly improve the playability and reduce unwanted noise when you remove dust and dirt with a quality cleaning kit. The GrooveWasher Kit includes everything you need to clean and maintain your vinyl collection. The GrooveWasher G2 Fluid is the result of years of research and testing. The selection of ingredients was guided by the formulations of the D series fluids of the 1970s. G2 is hydrophilic and non-reactive to PVC vinyl. G2 Fluid is designed for maximum cleaning effectiveness of the delicate vinyl surface and microgroove. Anti-static action on contact. Just honest cleaning to release the honest sound of the recording.

TOM CRATES VINYL STORAGE

These vinyl record storage crates not only look amazing, but they’re also portable so you can take your show on the road. Made from reclaimed White Oak, they feature dovetailed joints, a hand rubbed oil finish, and aged brass details and handles. Each crate can hold up to 50 records making it easy to pick up and move around or bring to a party. They have the ability to be stacked with built in dowels. The V cutout shape in the front allows you to proudly display your favorite records and flip through with ease.

FLIP TABLE TOP VINYL STORAGE

Displaying your records and having them look cool is half the battle; the other half is making sure that you store them in a way that doesn’t damage them. This simple storage solution is made of solid walnut and solid brass. It’s perfect to sit on top of your desk or credenza and makes flipping through your collection ever so easy. Choose your favorite records and add them to your everyday rotation.

BUCKLEY LISTENING CHAIR

We saved the best for last, if you want the ultimate listening experience, you need to hear your favorite album in one of the most comfortable listening chairs you will ever come across. The Buckley Listening Chair is like reclining on a bed of marshmallows while floating on a fine leather cloud. It’s built with the speaker height in mind, and positioned for you the get the maximum listening experience, so kick back with a glass of whiskey and enjoy your favorite record! Ottoman included. One of our all time favorite record console accessories.

JAX VINYL STORAGE UNIT

When your vinyl habit starts to become an issue, and you realize you’re spending more time flipping through stacks at Amoeba Records or Record Surplus than with your family and friends. You’re going to need an appropriately decorative way to begin to disguise your addiction, and the mass proliferation of amazing records taking over your house. This stunning modern storage unit is for the serious and stylish collector holding up to 500 records. Made from exotic Zebrawood with black lacquered legs, it’s a one of kind showstopping item that will hold a large record collection with sophistication. Custom finishes & sizes available.

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AMOEBA RECORDS HOLLYWOOD

Hands down the world’s largest independent record store, and a mecca for vinyl record lovers the world over. The amazing thing about this store is that no media format is a dead format here. The large vinyl record stacks sit along side CDs, cassettes, 8-tracks and even the odd sony mini-disc. They also carry the largest selection of current new vinyl LP releases I have personally come across in my travels. Not to mention they consistently have one of the best rosters of in-store concerts, bringing in a wide range of artists from Dungen to Paul McCartney, who all take part in their weekly free concerts.

RECORD SURPLUS

Record Surplus makes our list as they’re another awesome record shop with a massive selection that rivals that of Amoeba Records. However where Record Surplus has the edge, is that they have some incredible vintage finds at some of the lowest prices you’re going to find at a physical store.

VACATION VINYL

Vacation Vinyl has one of the best curated selections of vinyl in Los Angeles, catering primarily to the tastes of those who enjoy the full spectrum of indie, punk, industrial, goth and metal. Now calling a new location home off Santa Monica, they still deliver one of the coolest selections of music in the city. The team at Vacation have some of the most in-depth knowledge about the albums and artists they sell, and is a great place to go to have a conversation about your favorite micro-genre or band that you’ve assumed you were the only one who had heard.

PERMANENT RECORDS

Permanent Records has become another beloved fixture in Los Angeles’ music scene, not only selling some of the coolest records you’ll find in the city, but they also play host to some of the best in-store live performances we’ve seen. They also run their own imprint and have released records by Martin Rev, Frankie and The Witch and many others.

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670 Lounge Chair

This beautiful lounge chair is an icon of mid-century modern style, designed by Charles and Ray Eames, this shine to comfort captures both a feel of classic Americana mixed with a sleek futurism, but still functional enough to find a place in the family room of many homes in the 1960’s.

BALL CHAIR

At the opposite end of the spectrum are these space-age pods that were epitome of 1960’s futurism. The Ball Chair by Eero Aarnio looks like it could find a home on the set of a Stanley Kubrick movie just as easily as it could blend into a swinging bachelor pad, with a beautiful hifi record console playing an Esquivel record.

LC3

From time to time you’ll run across some of these chairs still in use, once a popular waiting room set, that many have knocked off into close but less than perfect copies. The low back is the trademark of these Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand designed masterworks. What they are is a masterpiece of comfort, once you sit down in one of these, not only will you not want to get up, you will find it very challenging to go against your better instincts to ever remove your body from these mid-century modern miniature sofas.

WOMB CHAIR

The mid-century modern designers were extremely into aesthetics, but designs like this also over-delivered in the comfort department. Designer Eero Saarinen created this chair as a commission for a fellow designer Florence Knoll who wanted a chair that would give her the experience of sitting in a basket full of pillows. There’s something about this era of designers that was a lot of fun, they took chances, sometimes creating designs that were totally unlike anything that had come before.

EGG CHAIR

It’s hard to think of mid-century modern chairs without these egg chairs by Arne Jacobsen, a staple of 1960’s television and a chair your probably associate with some of your favorite shows of the era. This chair was designed to be a dramatic frame for whoever sits in it, to be a complement and a striking setting for whoever occupies them. Arne Jacobsen believed deeply that a chair should not only work as a functional piece of furniture, but also very importantly as a work of art.

If you liked these, make sure you check out our interpretation of the mid-century modern chair, we call it The Buckley Listening Chair.

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KANYE WEST’S MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED SLUSHIE

1 bottle 1964 Glenlivet ‘The Winchester Collection’

1 bottle of Coca Cola

1 bag of ice

Hundred dollar bill

Grab a bottle of 1964 The Glenlivet ‘The Winchester Collection’, a bottle of coke and a bag of ice. Throw it all in your Slush Puppie machine. Pour into a Baccarat Crystal Louxor whiskey glass, garnish with a hundred dollar bill and have a toast to the douchebags – then runaway as fast as you can!

If you love this one, check out our whiskey cocktail recipe for AC/DC Back In Blackberry Fizz.

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BUCKLEY CHAIR
Buckley was our first child. He was a little terrier mix that we named after Jeff Buckley. We also wrote a song called “Buckley Get Your Gun” with our band Ghostel that was featured in the trailer of an Oscar nominated film called Mustang. Little Buckles legacy continues to live on!

KC27
KC was my first dog before Dan and I got married. I named him after my favorite artist, Kurt Cobain. He was a min-pin and my first love.

JAX
JAX is named after our second dog, Jackson. Jackson Wigglebum was such a dude and we miss him every day. He was named after Michael Jackson who was playing when we picked him up.

GPK
GPK (currently unreleased) is named after our newest addition, Gram, AKA Gram Paw Knowles, named after Gram Parsons. This little tank packs a lot in a small package and we can’t wait to introduce you to our GPK unit!

xoxo
Jennifer

The post The Faces Behind the Names… The Puppies of LUNO appeared first on Luno.

Room Lighting

The impact that lighting and has on a room cannot be overstated. If the lighting is either too harsh, or you have areas that could use brightened up. Coming up with lighting scene that provides a nice even, diffuse lighting can make a room a much more pleasing environment to dwell in.  Interesting and decorative lamps can usually be a fairly inexpensive upgrade to your room, but will make a big difference in the overall appearance.

Less Is More – Remove Extraneous Clutter

This tip is more about having discipline when deciding what will go in your space, a lot of us have items that we’ve been hoarding for years and we end up buried in a cluttered space, at one point I had two sofa’s in my living room because of an odd sentimental attachment. So lesson one is let go of any piece you’re not in love with that you feel is overwhelming the room. Make sure that surfaces are for the most part not overly burdened with nicknacks, and overall you feel like you have some space for the eye to rest.

Add Accent Decor

Always keep a look out for an interesting item, a coffee table book, or vase that can add interest to a surface. But word to the wise, don’t overdo it, like we said in the last tip, less is more. Having a few interesting sculptures, table runners, or arrangements can really enhance any negative space that feels overly vacant. This is where your interior design sense should take over, and guide you to pieces of interest that you feel reflect your personality.

Create An Accent Wall

Sometimes you don’t need to paint an entire room to transform it, select a wall and make it your centerpiece or focal wall in the room. Giving it a burst of color on one wall that complements your color palette can really liven things up. Going brighter can liven up dead space, but even a more subdued color that highlights the darker shades of your furniture can also pull everything together for a more cohesive look.

Decorative Storage

One thing we really understand is maximizing space, and creating attention getting pieces that are as beautiful as they are functional. Making items like your record collection, which can consume a lot of room space, work as a decorative item, not only looks awesome, but provides a conversation piece for guests. Items like our Flip Tabletop vinyl storage, allows for you to have your albums browsable while showcasing a great piece of interior design.

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