Nick Grandchamp wants to make sure children of the digital era don’t miss out on the thrill of discovering a local band through picking up a cheap cassette.
The local musician has retooled a Rutland Herald newspaper box to serve as a miniature record store. It is and parked at the Bookmobile on Center Street. It holds the work of numerous area musicians in a variety of formats — all physical.
“It’s DIY, punked-out Rutland music,” Grandchamp said on Wednesday. “If you’re from out-of-state, and you want to check out what local music is all about, you can find some in here. I’m hoping this will be like a farm stand — people can come, put a suggested donation in, and leave with music. I want to bring back physical media, actually holding a record.”
The selection includes 12-inch and 7-inch vinyl, tapes, regular CDs and downloadable CDs. A label on the box asks individuals to leave just enough money to keep the project viable.
“I want it to be accessible,” he said. “It’s not about the money. It’s more about getting out physical art and physical music to the public. … I brought some from my own collection. A couple have gotten donated. I’m also going to make tapes and stuff. This is very DIY, very local music. This is the guy making tapes in his basement, the guy playing across the street.”
While digital music dominates the modern market, vinyl has made a resurgence in recent years, and Grandchamp said he thinks more people are seeing the value of physical media.
“People are getting into buying tapes,” he said, adding that many such purchases are blind as to the content. “They don’t know, but if they’re only paying two bucks, what’s the big loss?”
Grandchamp has started to make a habit of repurposing bits of old technology into conceptual art. His first piece, a sticker vending machine retooled to sell small pieces of media from pictures to poems to recipes — with which a buyer gets being subject to luck of the draw — travels downtown and currently sits at the Speakeasy Café. His second, a pay phone that plays a diverse selection of audio files, is an attraction at Mountain Music down the street from The Bookmobile.
“It was an amazing idea,” said Greg Baldwin of local power pop band Yours and Mine, whose album “The Shadow You Cast” was among the box’s contents on Wednesday. “The idea of those on-the-go libraries, taking that idea and applying that to a record store is kind of brilliant. … I might not get any money out of this, but at least it’s finding its way to interested ears.”
Benjamin Atherton, whose local “post-hardcore” band Kennedy Park is featured in the box, said it was good to have another avenue of exposure.
“It’s not the most difficult thing in the world when you know people, but when you’re coming into this fresh, it’s hard to get people to notice you or find places to play,” he said.
Sean Babcock, who helps his father, Donald Babcock, run The Bookmobile, said they were happy to host Grandchamp’s latest brainstorm.
“Nick’s always creating and innovating and trying to do cool community stuff,” Babcock said. “I think it’s great he’s part of the community and always looking to brighten people’s days and lives.”
gordon.dritschilo @rutlandherald.com