Documentary about Vinyl Champion Alex Rodriguez now on Apple TV, Roku and Chromecast
If you’ve been waiting for Record Safari, Vincent Vittorio’s long-anticipated documentary about vinyl fanatic Alex Rodriguez, originally planned to premiere at Coachella, your wait is over: Apple TV, Roku and Chromecast are now offering the film for streaming. It’s also available at the movie’s website: recordsafarithemovie.com.
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Created in partnership with the Coachella music festival, plans for its premiere there had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Record Safari follows eccentric record collector, Alex Rodriguez, who travels across America to obscure places to curate an unmatched record collection for Coachella Music Festival’s on-site record store. Vittorio directed, and also produced, along with Jeremy Doublestein, Regain Hines, and Claudio Zungri.
Record Safari also includes appearances by the legendary Lenny Kaye, as well as Pete Rock, Monalisa Murray, Oliver Wang, Valerie Calano, “Slug” and “Ant” from Atmosphere, Sheila Burgel, Steven Blush, Rebecca Birmingham, Jamison Harvey “DJ Prestige”, and Kevin Patrick.
Rodriguez, who lives in Los Angeles, manages The Glass House, a Pomona record store and music venue. He started buying vinyl records – mostly punk at first- at the age of 14 in 1999. He’d sell them in large-scale pop-up record stores he’d construct at music festivals, including Coachella, FYF, and Desert Trip.
At first he acquired his records from merch tables at punk shows, before branching out to search for them in in thrift shops, at garage sales, and elsewhere. What was a fun endeavor eventually became a life mission. Now he has a collection of over 25,000 records, both LPs and 45s.
“Listening to music through vinyl records,” said Rodriguez, “does something for me that digital can’t – being a part of the process. I got into vinyl records back when I was a teenager going to punk rock shows where bands were selling their music on records. Being a part of this project gives me the opportunity to share music with people around the world and brighten their day.”
Vittorio, the founder of Life Is My Movie Entertainment, first met Rodriguez at a hotel room in upstate New York, and was drawn to the vinyl lover’s vast knowledge and “contragious passion” for record collecting, which struck him as “a story worth sharing.”
“I was fascinated by his encyclopedic knowledge spanning every genre,” said Vittorio, “and his relentless passion for collecting vinyl. I decided I wanted to dive deep into the story of his journey and his curation process for the Coachella Music Festival, so I proposed joining him on his next record-collecting trip.”
Record Safari gives audiences a look at the singular world of record collecting through Alex’s eyes, as he searches high and low for the perfect record collection.
“Whether you’re a vinyl fan now, have been in the past, or will be in the future” he said, “this road trip will bring you back to the vinyl age.”
To watch the movie, and for more information: Record Safari.
