
MI: Tell us how it all started with Acoustic Sounds and when?
CK: I moved from Louisiana to Kansas and began to collect LPs just as CDs were coming into existence. I was going against the grain by buying vinyl while everyone was getting rid of their vinyl. I began to sell collectible LPs out of my apartment by taking out a few small ads. The business grew, and now we are in our fifth location, an 18,000-square-foot- warehouse with 25 employees.
MI: When did you become deeply interested in music?
CK: As a child. Growing up in Louisiana there is a very rich music scene with Cajun, blues, Zydeco and rock. I got into music when I was young, going to concerts and festivals.
MI: You are a true blues believer and fan. Is this as still strong as in you as it was in the past?
CK: It's even stronger now. The more I've gotten into blues and met the masters and learned more and more of the history, the more I get into the music.
MI: Would you consider yourself and audiophile?
CK: Yes. The best music to me is the stuff that is a great performance and great recording.
MI: You are the first person to ask about vinyl. Do you think that media is dying or is it here to stay?
CK: Vinyl is growing! It is definitely not dying! Our business has grown and grown and it's because of the renaissance of vinyl.
MI: Some of the limited series are only pressed and specially mastered for vinyl. Does this mean they never will see a light of day on digital media?
CK: Our concentration is on vinyl, not on the digital formats. It doesn't mean that these titles won't come out on digital but our most important focus is on vinyl.
MI: How do you feel about online digital music download services like Itunes?
CK: I'm not into digital downloads. I don't have an ipod and I don't have any plans to get one. I listen so much at work that the times that I would listen to an ipod are the times I don't want to listen to music. I'd much rather listen to my music on a high-end system.
MI: Do you plan to offer something like this for audiophiles?
CK: No.
MI: Do you prefer tubes or transistors?
CK: I prefer what sounds best. Sometimes that's tubes; sometimes that's transistors. I do not favor one exclusively.
MI: In this digital age are you still hard time analogue fan?
CK: Yes. I'll always be a hardcore analogue fan.
MI: What do you use for your listening sessions?
CK: It changes all the time. I listen a lot on the Avalon Sentinel speakers with an SME 30 turntable and Sutherland and Manley electronics.
MI: What is you dream system?
CK: I don't know that I have one. We have access to some really awesome equipment, and a lot of it sounds awesome. So I guess I'm lucky to listen to my dream system every day.
MI: Is vinyl the ultimate playback medium? Does SACD and new formats coming close?
CK: SACD and the new formats are getting much closer, but vinyl is still king!
MI: What would be your dream format?
CK: My dream format? Well, I love vinyl, so I guess that's my dream format.
MI: At the end of the day when you find your time, what is rolling on your players?
CK: There's no one thing. I listen to a lot of blues, a lot of Cajun, a lot of rock, a lot of jazz...I love all kinds of music.
MI: Do you find time to spin vinyl?
CK: Of course. Everyone needs to find time to spin vinyl.
MI: For the need of APO and Blue Heaven Studios you bought a Church. How did all that happened?
CK: Well, I bought the church initially for extra storage for my mail order business. But I recognized that it had awesome acoustics and so I decided to turn it into a recording studio. Then we left the original pew and balcony seats so that it also serves as a concert hall. Each year we have a two-night blues concert. This past weekend was our 10th annual.
MI: You have started to deeply collaborate with Harmonia mundi. Can you tell us more about this please?
CK: Harmonia Mundi is our distributor for our APO Records label. They get the CDs that we record at Blue Heaven Studios into the stores.
MI: You're doing great job in mastering and reissuing the old material. Working with names like Steve Hoffman and others must be thrilling?
CK: Yes, we get to work with some of the biggest names in the business. We are very into quality. We want our releases handled by the best in the business.
MI: Are you satisfied with the sales of those records?
CK: Yes. Very satisfied. We choose our reissues carefully and we do it in a very high quality fashion. The customers know that when they buy one of our records that they are going to get a stone-cold killer. So the reissue series have been very successful.
MI: Which albums are most proud of, that are released or reissued under you?
CK: I don't know. There are a lot that I'm very proud of. The Fantasy 45 jazz series. Our Credence Clearwater Revival reissues. All of our blues recordings.
MI: What is your goal?
CK: I've been in business with Acoustic Sounds for over 20 years. My goal is to continue to grow the company for at least another 20 years.
MI: What is you dream reissue and mastering album-artists?
CK: I've been fortunate to do a lot of my dream reissues already. I would like to do the Beatles in very high-quality fashion, mastered from the original analogue master tapes.
MI: What are you plans for future?
CK: The same as my goal - to keep going with Acoustic Sounds.
MI: Where do you think future of music will lead audiophile and music lovers. How do you see Acoustic Sounds in it?
CK: I think vinyl will continue to grow and grow. I hope that Acoustic Sounds will remain on the cutting edge of that.
MI: Thank you!