Meet Diana Biernat, self-proclaimed vinyl junkie and Editor-in-Chief of music marketplace app, Vinyl of the Day. The latest in a series of Q&As with the vinyl community’s most influential women, we asked Diana about her favourite crate digging spots, the records on her wish list, and where her love for music began…
What was the first record you owned?
The first record I ever bought was Nas – Illmatic back when I was 14. I didn’t even have a record player then. Growing up, music was sadly not very important in our household, but we had a very old record player which fascinated me (and just a handful of albums: some Schlager – very terrible cheesy German pop – plus a few children’s radio play records).
As a teen, I fell in love with graffiti and hip hop. Through this and the samples used in the songs, my musical horizon expanded, from funk, soul, psychedelic rock, folk, African and Brazilian music to jazz and everything in between.
Tell us more about Vinyl of the Day…
Vinyl of the Day is an app-based social marketplace for record collectors – it’s a place where you can present your record collection and also sell records. What’s great about it is that it is much more personal than the usual marketplaces, plus allows you to connect with collectors from all over the globe.
We also have a blog where we post anything related to vinyl, from selected playlists to vinyl news, and we also have a couple of blog series where we showcase collectors, independent record stores and labels on a regular basis.
How did you get involved in the project?
I was asked to do a feature for the Vinyl Collector Series. I have a YouTube channel where I talk about my record collection, show footage of digging while travelling, album recommendations and needle drops of the albums – because of this, VOTD asked me if I would be interested in doing a column corresponding to my videos on the blog. I was delighted and some time later I started as Chief-In-Editor for the Europe section. I write articles for our Vinyl Collector Series, Short Store Stories and Meet The Label features.
What is Vinyl of the Day doing to encourage more women to sign up?
Our marketplace app focuses more on the social component, so any collector of any genre – no matter how many records you own – is welcome. We try to encourage and display the beautiful diversity of the vinyl community whenever we can – I always approach a lot of women for our Vinyl Collector Series and have some great features in the pipeline. With the relatively new Short Store Stories and Meet The Label series, I would also love to feature a lot of independent female-lead record stores and labels. I hope those articles inspire other women to get more active in the vinyl community as well!
Where do you love to go crate digging?
I always love to combine travelling with crate digging, so wherever I go, I check out the record stores and soak up the local atmosphere. I was in Brussels last year, which has so many great and lovely stores. Two of my favourites there where Veals and Geeks (which has a fantastic selection) and Balades Sonores (which has the funniest vinyl categories ever, like “Movies we saw growing up” or “Music from countries that use another alphabet”). One of my favourites in Germany would be Freiheit & Roosen in Hamburg – the selection there just blows my mind.
Which albums appear on your vinyl wish list?
Usually, I would automatically respond with Alice Coltrane Feat. Pharoah Sanders – Journey In Satchidananda, but I was happy to be able to score this one a few days ago as a second press! Off the top of my head, currently it’s Minnie Riperton’s debut album Come To My Garden, Maurice McIntyre – Humility In The Light Of The Creator – a superb free/spiritual jazz album that is pretty scarce, and the terrific psychedelic rock album by The Savage Resurrection. The list is always growing!
Keep up with Diana’s collection on Instagram here.
