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Vinyl pressing plant opening in Calgary will be only one in Canada

WATCH ABOVE: ‘Canada Boy Vinyl’ is set to open a pressing plant right here in Calgary, complete with a recording studio and record store. Tracy Nagai gives us a sneak peek inside.

CALGARY- It’s just months away from completion and once it’s finished it will be one of a kind in Canada.

‘Canada Boy Vinyl’ is set to open a pressing plant right here in northeast Calgary, complete with a recording studio and record store.

Installing the cooling tower may not be the most exciting task but it meant Dean Reid is one step closer to his dream job.

“I’m putting together this whole massive thing, that’s definitely my baby so it gives me the motivation to go on,” Reid said.

The whole massive idea to open a pressing plant came to Reid after years in the construction industry.

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The desire to focus on his passion for music.

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“So I figured I could start a label, sign some bands, record them in my studio and I’ve always loved vinyl so I figure hey you know I’ll just get in to record pressing and press out some stuff in the back of the shop and then I was just going to retail it out in the record store and coffee shop i want to build. Easy – right,” Reid said.

But manufacturing records, isn’t so easy.

So maintenance Engineer Phil East has been brought over from the United Kingdom to help assemble the pressing plant.

“There is no training courses for record manufacturing. I’ve been in the game 24 years and I’m still learning,” East said.

There are several crucial steps and it all needs to be overseen by someone with sharp senses.

“The main important thing is good eye for detail and decent hearing as well so they can see and hear the faults on the record,” East said.

The pressing plant equipment arrived in September and while Reid is keen to show off his record collection, the plant remains behind closed doors until it’s finished.

“It’s an extremely competitive market. I happen to know all the pressing plants in the world are looking for equipment so I don’t want divulge any information about what I have, what I’m getting, where I’m getting it from,” Reid said.

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Many questions surrounding the project are expected to answered when Canada Boy Vinyl opens ‘all’ of its doors this spring.

Montreal based pressing plant Rip-V ceased operations on Thursday.

When Canada Boy Vinyl opens it will be the only pressing plant in Canada. There are roughly 40 pressing plants total in the world.

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