As Sujit G Ponoth drops the needle on the record, Amy Winehouse’s deliciously deep voice pervades the room. She sings ‘Rehab’ from her final and autobiographical album Back to Black and Sujit asks: “Hear the difference?” Amy Winehouse on vinyl sounds markedly different, I agree, more intimate and warm. “This is how authentic vinyl sounds,” he says.
Sujit wants everyone to experience the joy and warmth of analogue music, the traditional way of recording music on physical formats such as vinyl records, and cassettes. “For a generation that is used to streaming music for free, this could be a revelation,” he says. A turntable at JD’s Jukebox| Photo Credit:Thulasi Kakkat Sujit, who grew up listening to records his grandfather and mother used to play, converted his childhood home at Kaloor in Kochi into a record store, JD’s Jukebox, where he has curated a collection of over 5,000 records spanning 24 genres including progressive rock, metal, soul, and alternative, among others.
He started collecting 10 years ago, crate-digging in obscure places in India and abroad; but it was when COVID struck that he catalogued and shared his collection on social media. “People started asking me if they could buy the records and I found that there was a burgeoning market for vinyl.” The collection of vinyl at JD’s Jukebox| Photo Credit:Thulasi Kakkat The cosy space is for anyone who wants to listen to music, buy it or simply talk about it.
Sujit is part of a growing tri.