Back in time: Gramophone Social brings music from 100 years ago into present day

A regular in many weddings and social events across Northern Ireland as of late, The Gramophone Social provides a beautiful backdrop to many first dances with the impressive presence of the vintage phonographs in traditional 1920s style, as well as a unique listening experience.

Co Wicklow man Trevor Gyves first started Gramophone Social back in 2020 — even though he wasn’t able to perform at any events until 2021 due to the pandemic — after collecting gramophones and 78rpm shellac records for many years.

Most recently he acquired over 800 vintage records dated back to the 1920s and ‘50s thanks to a chance phone call with a Belfast woman whose colleague had passed away.

A self-confessed labour of love, Trevor explained how he first began playing music at weddings through a band called The Panoramics where he played guitar and mandolin as well as some singing.

“The Gramophone Social is totally unique in Ireland — both north and south,” he said.

“We use original 78rpm records (shellac) from the 1920s to the 1950s and hand-wound gramophones from the early 1900s.

“There are no MP3s or digital files used whatsoever and it sounds completely unique for most people as they have never heard a proper gramophone outside of TV or the movies,” he added.

“It works really well for drinks receptions or over dinner as background music; as well as weddings I do some events at night-time and then do modern DJ after.

“It really is great at events when I can chat to the guests about the records and the gramophones, they are fascinated by the history.”

Trevor said that he has had many links with Northern Ireland since starting Gramophone Social and even prior to establishing the business — as well as having cousins in Belfast and Lisburn, and even choosing The Bushmills Hotel as the location where he proposed to his wife!

Last month, however, it was thanks to a chance phone call from a woman in Belfast where he acquired over 800 original records for his gramophones — an extremely rare occurrence.

“A woman called Emer called me about her colleague in Belfast who passed away and left a large collection of records,” he explained.

“Amongst it was approximately 850 78rpm records; all Ragtime and Jazz from the ‘20s to the ‘50s and pristinely kept as if by a librarian.

“They were all colour coded in a scheme I haven’t figured out yet and as perfect as the day they were made,” he added.

“There were some strange curios in there like the 78rpm on the Edison label that’s 6-7mm thick instead of the usual 2mm or so. It had to have been one of Ireland’s best and authentic of its era jazz collection.”

The musician said that he has always loved music from a young age after starting his first band at the age of 15.

After collecting cassettes and then CDs as a teenager, that love of music soon turned back in time to collecting shellac records for his gramophones.

“I grew up with a gramophone, which I think I broke as a kid — don’t tell my dad — but I did get a chance to fix it last year after he donated it to my collection,” he said.

“After that it was trial and error as each gramophone has slight differences even within the same model.

“The two big rules are don’t overwind and don’t just drop the needle. 78rpm records are made with shellac (crushed lac beetles) and can be brittle,” he pointed out.

“Saying that, I have played records from as far back as 1906 and I don’t know if many CDs will play after 120 years.

“Record care is really important and learning how to clean the records really does improve the sound.”

Trevor purchased his first gramophone around 2009 and currently uses two at his events — both made by the same company which is associated with the iconic HMV logo.

“The larger one which has a double spring, which is way more power to keep the record spinning, and is A Gramophone And Typewriter Company Senior Monarch and the smaller one is made by The Gramophone Company — they dropped the Typewriter at this stage — and is a Junior Monarch — the little brother,” he said.

“The HMV logo is on the smaller one which was the record label owned by The Record Company, the picture accompanying it features Nipper the terrier dog listening to a gramophone.

“These gramophones were made in the UK and were the affiliate of The Victor Talking Machines of America,” he added.

“I have a number of other gramophones by Columbia, Dulcetto and other manufacturers.”

Speaking about why he loves working with gramophones, he said that he loves its “tangible nature” and also the buzz he gets from finding and discovering new records he hasn’t heard before.

“I also like the social interaction with guests at a function or wedding; there is usually amazement and disbelief that the sound is actually coming from the records and I often have to take the microphone out of the horn just to prove it,” he said.

“I actually like the music too and because I have become familiar with it, I forget that some of the recordings are 80 or 90 years old.

“I find myself singing them in my head days later.

“I pulled out a record the other day just to have a listen and googled the history of it and it was recorded in America 5 days before the Wall Street Crash in November 1929; it really places you back in a time and place,” he added.

“There was a big variety of music from the 1920s to the 50s and the great thing is I can hear the evolution of music as I go up through the years, from Stride Piano to Ragtime to Jazz to Swing to Rock n Roll etc, it really is fascinating.”