Pressing Records From the Sugar Beet? Larry Jaffee and Kevin Da Costa Explain Their Icelandic Experiments to Create a More Sustainable Record

The Sharp Notes with Evan Toth

In 1979, Blondie released their fourth album, Eat to the Beat. Little did the band know that nearly a half-century later, there would be a discussion of pressing beats onto a record made of beets that one could - in theory - actually eat.

Through a shared love of vinyl and an interest in investigating new and unique ways to make the process of pressing discs more environmentally sustainable, two record fans have joined forces to investigate the possibilities of starting a vinyl pressing plant in Iceland and - instead of using PVC - using the sugar beet! Meet Larry Jaffe - author of Record Store Day: The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century and co-founder of the Making Vinyl Conference and Kevin DaCosta, a vinyl record manufacturing consultant & technical director for Evolution Music. The name of their new company is Thermal Beets.

Larry and Kevin describe the origin of their vision, why Iceland is an ideal location for their pursuits, and how the functionality of their new product may supersede that of the audio record as we know it today.