At 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, The Lakely on Galloway Street hosted a vinyl night.   

The vinyl night is an event that gives local DJs and record collectors a chance to spin their personal collections. 

Lucy Engel, a Lakely employee, said this event has been going on for a few years and always brings in a few people, but is most popular during the summer. The Lakely hosts many other live music events and is a very loved venue, according to Engel. 

“I like how intimate and small it is. It’s very centered towards the music,” Engel said. 

The DJ for this particular vinyl event was Luc Larson, aka Westkorea. Luc Larson is not only a DJ but also a musician and promoter.

“This is just one of the ways I really enjoy sharing music with the world,” Larson said. 

Larson says they used to work at The Lakely and that’s how they got involved with the event, but they have been DJing in the area for a while and had been looking forward to getting up on The Lakely stage. The Lakelys’ description of the vinyl night says that part of DJing is having a sizable record collection.

“My mom found her old stereo system and turntable in the basement when I was 15, so I inherited all of that and all her old records, and started going down to Revival a lot. My mom is really the one who got me into it,” Larson said. 

Larson said, their record collection is very eclectic, and that they grew up playing jazz music so they have an extensive jazz collection. Larson said that for the event, they brought primarily electronic-oriented records because the last time they were DJing at an outdoor Lakely event the turntables stopped working. 

Larson said their main goal for the event was to get some people in the door and make sure the people who were there enjoyed themselves during the event. 

The Lakely is one of the only places in town that has its own turntable and DJ set up which is a big reason Larson said they wanted to come out.

“It’s nice to be on the records every once in a while,” Larson said. 

They normally work with a digital record mixing system, so Larson said for them, it is refreshing when they can get on a turntable with their physical vinyl. Larson said they enjoy playing and seeing live music or any kind of music at The Lakely.

“It’s a hotel, so there is a certain noise limit you have to be at and that can limit what you can do,” Larson said, “but I really like the intimacy of the room. You can kind of be a little more interactive with the crowd and you can see the people out there.” 

James, an employee of The Lakely, who was just an audience member for this vinyl event. He said this event brings in a very cool crowd of people and there is always a lot of appreciation for the DJ and the music brought in. 

James said The Lakely does a great job at appreciating and showcasing local artists, and while it can be fun to bring in people from other states, our local artists are the most important thing.

“I love themed vinyl nights, whether it’s classic or oldies or EDM-type stuff like this, I just think everyone brings a lot of different things to the table which I think is cool,” James said. 

Luc Larson can be found on all social media platforms under Westkorea.  

Freeman can be reached at [email protected].