Beginning tomorrow, February 25th, patrons of Third Man Records in Detroit will be able to witness the facility’s brand new vinyl pressing plant in action. At a special event on Saturday, a curtain separating the Cass Corridor storefront from the production plant will be lifted to reveal the first eight new pressing machines made in 35 years. Ahead of the unveiling, Jack White gave Detroit’s 7 Action News an early tour of Third Man Pressings.
White talked to reporter Matthew Smith about what his vision for the plant is. “It’s a natural continuation of what we built with the storefront here and the live venue,” White said. “The dream was to be able to have a plant that people could see records being pressed and you could buy those records immediately … which doesn’t exist anywhere in the world. Trying to make things that have never existed before is sort of our goal at Third Man all the time.”
Watch a pair of clips, including a full-seven minute interview with White, below. The second clip offers a peek at the vinyl production and a brief tour of the plant.
The opening day festivities will also feature live performances, exclusive merch, and limited runs of the first LPs pressed at TMP. Those records include The White Stripes’ self-titled album and their sophomore album, De Stijl, on red vinyl with screen printed jackets. Also being sold will be Destroy All Monsters and Xanadu’s 1979 split 12-inch The Black Hole EP — marking the first reissued material for either band — and Johnson Family Singers’ Don’t Let the Devil Ride, the initial entry in the Detroit Gospel Reissue Project, Third Man Pressing’s first third-party client.
