Lights hang from the ceiling with a disco ball in the center, illuminating a room full of members gathered to listen and enjoy the vinyl, or album, of the month. This is Good Luck Vinyl Club, hosted by Isaak Navarro at The Social List, a family owned restaurant owned by Isaak Navarro’s father, Luis Navarro.
“He [Luis Navarro] came up to me last year and he just asked me, ‘Hey can we do something to activate the space a little bit more?’” Isaak said. “Last summer, we were researching a lot of these cool bars in Japan, bars in LA, and we kind of came across this idea of, why don’t we turn this space into a hi-fi listening bar and do a really cool music program.”
A DJ booth and midnight speakers were installed into the space to give attendees a better listening experience. With that, and help from his friends, family and roommate, Good Luck Vinyl Club launched last September and has grown from its first casual event into a community.
“It’s really important also to highlight the creative people in those communities. I think that’s kind of what is the coolest thing about the club,” Isaak said. “I can get a lot of my friends involved and get their work… get some attention on their artwork or their record collections. Then, my roommate helps with a lot of the design as well.”
At each of the Good Luck Vinyl Club gatherings, a DJ is featured, sometimes friends of Isaak, and a vinyl is selected to be played from start to finish. Even though the club has been meeting for a year, there has yet to be a repetition in the music genre that the vinyl is selected from.
The goal of Good Luck Vinyl Club is to find and connect music enthusiasts who are open to exploring new genres, hence why each month the music genre is different. Although it isn’t the most efficient way to keep new members, it’s something that Isaak plans to continue as a music enthusiast himself.
“The only criteria is that we try to do a different genre every month…and I’ve been trying to push that narrative since day one,” Isaak said. “And either people are on board with that or we’ll just do an album that they don’t like and then [they] completely unfollow the Instagram or not go to our stuff anymore.”
Despite those who don’t agree with the concept, there are many members who enjoy it, actively attending events. According to Isaak, people have found their partners at the club and formed friendships that have lasted since some of the first events.
Isaak too has built friendships with members of Good Luck Vinyl Club who share his ideals when it comes to music.
“Just within our first year, I’ve made some really good friends with people who are very like minded with the ideals of the club. And to me, I think it’s really cool to have a good connecting place for that,” Isaak said. “We try to keep it as safe and comfortable as possible, to create a really good space for people to maybe meet new people, make new friends.”
This month, the vinyl selected to be played is Portishead’s 1994 debut album ‘Dummy’. A blend of hip-hop, jazz and electronica, the album is a Mercury Prize recipient and considered influential by critics.
While the album is noteworthy on it’s own, it’s special to Isaak. Portishead’s ‘Dummy’ is his mom’s favorite album and her favorite holiday is Halloween.
They had considered playing the album last October but decided it was too soon to do a Portishead album. Now that it is October again, the time felt right.
“She loves that album, like to death. And I grew up listening to it so much with her in the car,” Isaak said.
Along with being a favorite in the family, Isaak felt the album matched the time of year perfectly. The album’s a bit darker, not a typical positive vibe which matches the ominousness of the holiday.
“I don’t think any song on the album is necessarily happy, which is kind of like a good thing to play these types of albums during these part of the years,” Isaak said. “Like, we can kind of mess around with the cure and like these kind of more dark and ominous bands. I feel like those are just as important as the funky, dance bands too.”
If you would like to join this group of music connoisseurs, you can follow Good Luck Vinyl Club on Instagram and find tickets to their Portishead’s event on Dice. Every ticket comes with a cocktail!
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