FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC

Director: Carl Rosen

The short film “For the Love of Music” is a pretty apt way for me to introduce myself as the new Multimedia Director for the Drawing Lines Media Team. It’s a short piece that investigates the bond of friendship and creativity and music. And I’m partial to all of those things.

For me, working on this project was about taking a look at my current surroundings, friends, and environment, and picking a piece of it all to showcase on a human level. I think so many production companies and filmmakers talk about telling stories in big grand ways—almost using that exact vernacular, but the way I’m currently approaching filmmaking is just exploring the weirdness of being human everyday. And yeah there are stories there, but it’s really about the feelings involved and why we’re all feeling them. I aim to make meaningful work from that jump off point.

That might all be a little too ambiguous and philosophical, but let me just say: My name is Carl Rosen. I’m a Director and Filmmaker in Jacksonville, Florida, specializing in narrative based, postmodern themes. My background is in literature. I am a media glutton—I absorb and digest music, films, photography, etc. all day long—everyday. And I’m so insanely and perpetually inspired by the beautiful work people create.

I could not be happier, signing on with DLMG and working alongside colleagues that I not only value, but sincerely look up to. And I look forward to bringing my own brand of oddity to help produce new and creative projects with DLMG.

There’s something special about watching vinyl records being pressed. It’s just this ultra physical process that involves heat and pressure and a cacophony of sounds that are oddly rhythmic and mechanical. And then after all of that, there’s this gratifying disc shaped wonder that you can hold in your hands and see the grooves that are embedded in it, and as if that wasn’t enough, it plays music—sometimes even your favorite music, depending on the particular record you’re holding and depending on your personal taste.

The notion of the current vinyl record resurgence is rooted in a new generation that has a nostalgic appreciation for antiquated artististic practices and outlets, and records are just that. You can even hear the imperfections in almost any disc, but there is this overwhelmingly soothingness and warmth to vinyl that I think will always be celebrated.

I’m sure in larger scale factories, it’s a more automated based process and less intimate with machines running throughout the day with supervisors making sure everything flows smoothly. But at Vinyl Record Pressing (VRP) in Jacksonville, FL, there’s only a rotation of three people manning the stations of pressing, loading, and packing. Two of these men are owners Jonathan Grant Berlin and Walter Hill, and the other is ever loyal employee Jeremy Alan Gould, affectionately known as Daddy Gould (not for sexual reasons, I don’t think).

After opening one of the area’s few recording and mixing studios, Twin Hill Studio, Berlin and Hill decided to push a few steps further with their passion for making music and began their venture into the vinyl business. The duo have a long working friendship together, having also been bandmates for the past decade in their band SUNBEARS! With every project, Berlin and Hill take more steps into the world of music both as artists and now also as manufacturers.

“For the Love of Music” is really about two people that have constantly perpetuated change in their community through art and conscientious business practices. It’s also about a strong creative friendship that continues to be a driving force for new endeavors—seeing these two guys hang out and work together really makes you want to call your best friend and say, “Let’s open that bar, pal.” But I don’t think just any duo could pull something like this off, so VPR is truly a treasure of the region that we’re grateful to have.