How "A Philly Special Christmas" Vinyl Record Came To Life
Eric Nail
Family owned and operated since 1974, Monostereo Vinyl provided the Philadelphia Eagles team with the necessary tools to put the vinyl directly into customer’s homes this past holiday season. Our own Record Stop marketing team, Eric Nail and Emma Grace Burton, recently sat down with Mike Gomez of Monostereo Vinyl to hear what he had to say about his role in the Philly Special Christmas record project.
EG:
When did the team working with the Eagles album first reach out?
Mike:
"A Philly Special Christmas" project came to us in a roundabout way. We had been talking to Silva Artist Management about pressing records for artists on their roster, which include, Beck, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Norah Jones and many other incredible artists. Soon after our initial discussions, the head of production for the management firm asked if we had any possible way to get an album printed & pressed in about a month's time for a passion project produced by the drummer for The War on Drugs, Charlie Hall.
Shortly after connecting with Charlie, we were introduced to Connor Barwin, Director of Player Development for the Philadelphia Eagles and Executive Producer of "A Philly Special Christmas". Initially, they discussed making 1,000 records for the fans but we knew that was not going to be nearly enough and were able to figure out a way to get 5,000 records pressed in less than 3 weeks from receiving the audio masters and artwork.
EG:
What were your initial thoughts? Like, off the bat?
Mike:
When they first called me, my initial thought was, “Who recorded a Christmas record??" Okay, sounds cool. I was really intrigued by what this record would sound and look like. The first cut I listened to was "White Christmas", showcasing Jordan Mailata's amazing voice. Next came the artwork, which is a play on "A Charlie Brown Christmas by The Vince Guaraldi Trio", we knew then that it was going to be something pretty special. On top of all that, the Philadelphia Eagles are having an amazing football season!!
EG:
So what made you say yes?
Mike:
What made me say yes? They came to us asking for a solution, when everybody else said "no".
In terms of making stuff happen, if it has anything to do with vinyl records, that's what we do.
In addition, the whole charity aspect of this, all the revenue generated from the sales would go to the Children's Crisis Treatment Center and other Philadelphia based charities. Amazing football players doing amazing things in their city. It was a definite yes from me!
EG:
Did you have any fears or hesitations going into it?
Mike:
Yeah, delivering! (laughs)
Delivering is always the biggest fear. One thing I remember Connor saying on one of our early phone calls, what did he say? He said, "no mistakes." It's easy to say that as a football player, as an executive, right? But when you look at the whole process of making records and the incredible amount of things that can go wrong along the way, the fact we were able to turn it around in three weeks is pretty incredible.
EG:
What were the first steps to getting it produced?
Mike:
It all starts with the audio, right? So as soon as we got the recording of the music, we hit the ground running. The singing and musicianship are top-notch.
Eric:
We were expecting to hear the Superbowl Shuffle, drums machines and all that. The arrangements are so good on this.
EG:
Were there any setbacks in the process?
Mike:
Yeah, they had this crazy idea of putting together Greeting Cards, Magnets, Stickers, all this stuff, and we couldn't figure out who the heck was going to do it for us. Luckily, we enlisted some help from students from the College of Charleston. Everyone pitched in: my mother-in-law, wife, the kids. (all laugh)
Eric:
A blessing, a Christmas miracle.
Mike:
That's right. It was a Christmas miracle.
EG:
You kind of answered this, but how many records were going to be produced at first and how did that number change throughout the process?
Mike:
Initially, it was only going to be 1,000, and then we were able to guarantee that we could make at least 5,000. When we put it on sale, those 5,000 sold immediately. It was nuts! Then we discussed internally: “Maybe we can squeeze out another thousand in the next couple of weeks. When we put that on sale, it sold out in less than two minutes.
We knew from that point forward, if we were going to make a third offering, we needed to have it open ended for a number of different reasons. But the main reason is that more fans would be able to have access to the record, and also to mitigate the bots and resellers that were reselling the first pressing for up to $6,000 online. The 3rd pressing went on sale at 9am on Dec 16th for 24 hours only and we sold another 23,000 records.
EG:
How did working with football players differ from working with bands?
Mike:
It's interesting, obviously, them not being musicians in the proper sense of the word, which they are! I mean, they all have incredible voices. But mostly they were just incredibly grateful that we were able to deliver this record for them and the fans.
Not only were we able to do it on time, we also handled the direct-to-fan fulfillment for every single vinyl record & greeting card bundle ordered.
At first, they just wanted us make the records. And as it continued to snowball, they asked: “How are we going to get these records to the fans?” They had no distribution, no real way of getting it into the hands of the fans. Luckily we have the operation in place to make it all happen.
EG:
Yes, that was one of the other questions. Why was the decision made to use Record-Stop.com to fulfill the online sales, shipping and everything?
Mike:
Because we're the best, baby! (laughs)
But seriously, we ship vinyl records all day, every day, 300-some odd days out of the year, right? We are literally shipping all the time. It's what we do. And this was definitely the biggest project we've ever done. And luckily, it all went off pretty damn smoothly.
EG:
What were some of the thoughts behind making magnets, stickers, and Christmas cards in addition to the vinyl?
Mike:
The Philly Special Christmas team - which was Connor, Charlie Hall, who produced the record, Hannah Westerman, who owns and operates the design company, Avenue West, and her team of web designers - they were talking about potential items to put together to enhance the magic.
Incredibly, the records were done faster than the magnets, stickers and postcards!
EG:
Is there anything that you would do differently looking back?
Mike:
There are a few things I would have probably done, and that's just more internal systems-wise. It was a learning curve with all that traffic on our site at once, but we were able to adjust on the fly and we think it went off fairly smoothly.
EG:
Yeah. Was there anything that you hoped to accomplish by accepting this partnership? And do you feel like you accomplished it?
Mike:
Being able to facilitate the amount of sales that we did in such a short amount of time for a small family run and operated business, the dollar amount and the quantity of records that we manufactured & sold in that amount of time was pretty amazing.
Overall, working with Connor, Charlie and the team has been incredible - being able to deliver for the fans and honestly facilitating the amount of donations that went to all the amazing charities - it is really the biggest, the most rewarding thing out of it all. So, yes, there's a whole slew of people that are going to benefit from this whole thing that we're a part of.
EG:
How can Monostereo and Record Stop help with bands both big and small?
Mike:
First, we provide a solution to independent artists, artist managers & record labels by streamlining the vinyl production process, and delivering in a timely manner. By getting records to bands quickly, they can get it to their fans and actually make some money while they're doing it. In terms of vinyl records, selling one vinyl record at $25, comparatively, equals 10,500 Spotify streams - and that’s before the distributor/label take their cut, so it’s a better return for the band. At the same time, their fans have a physical medium from their favorite artist that is a direct connection to their music and art.
EG:
Who's the next professional team to call wanting a record?
Mike:
Good question. Hopefully the New York Yankees, but we’ll see. (laughs)
Eric:
Last question. What should the Eagles team do next?
Mike:
Well, from what I've understood from Connor is that the younger guys that are on the team want to make their own record. So I would say stay tuned for the next Philadelphia Eagles Christmas record? I don't know. We'll see.
Eric:
Nice. Awesome. Maybe Eagles sing the Eagles?
Thank You:
We want to thank Charlie Hall, Connor Barwin, Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata, Lane Johnson and the rest of the Philadelphia Eagles for trusting us with their precious and amazing recording. This record is very special, and we are proud to be able to deliver to all the fans that ordered. Projects like this matter - not just for the artists - but for the charities involved. There are too many people to thank directly, but please know that you made a difference. This is the kind of record that comes along and "makes waves" for generations to come. To all of you who helped - and you know who you are - we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
Important Links in the Evolution of the Project:
To find out more about this exciting project, check out the following news articles related to “A Philly Special Christmas.”
Philadelphia Eagle’s Linemen raise $250k with Christmas Album
First Single Off ‘A Philly Special Christmas’ Drops 11/25
https://thelibertyline.com/2022/11/23/single-a-philly-special-christmas/
Philadelphia Eagles Create a Christmas Album for Charity
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/philadelphia-eagles-create-christmas-album-charity
The Gang Makes a Christmas Record (Official Website)
https://phillyspecialchristmas.com/
A Philly Special Christmas Eve 2022 on NFL Fox Sports - Philadelphia versus the Dallas Cowboys
A Philly Special Christmas Mini Doc
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About Record Stop
Family-owned & operated since 1974, with shops in Patchogue/Long Island, NY (the original) and Charleston, SC (at 426 King Street), Record Stop specializes in new & used vinyl records, CDs, turntables and music accessories. Find them online at record-stop.com.
About Monostereo Vinyl
Vinyl production by Monostereo Vinyl - a vinyl and cd manufacturing company located in Charleston, SC. They perform a variety of record label services for both signed & unsigned bands, including distribution, mastering, e-commerce and more. They are also the exclusive North American partner of Green Vinyl Records - which produces records on 100% Recyclable Non-PVC material and provides a substantial reduction in energy usage and up to 95% reduction in CO2. Visit at monostereovinyl.com.
