'Welcome to another day of listening to my late father’s record collection’
A young Canadian woman has honoured her father's memory - and his massive record collection - by sharing it with the world.
The stuff we choose to surround ourselves with offers a window into who we are. For Jula’s father Richard, that stuff was music, and a lot of it.
When Richard died a few years ago, his Canadian daughter (who keeps her surname private) inherited his 10,000-piece record collection.
The music he loved wasn’t just formative for him, but for the relationship they shared. For a while, she says, even being in their presence was confronting.
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“We had a big relationship surrounded by music.”
When she did get around to playing the records, Jula realised how crucial their dialogue was to her enjoyment. So, at the suggestion of a friend, she turned to social media.
“My friend suggested I start an Instagram page. This is old music, there’s a huge collection, and they were like, ‘I’m sure there’s maybe 20 people out there who would love to listen along with you… You could create a little listening party online’.”
Jula of Soundwavesoffwax, with one of her father's records.
Soundwavesoffwax
Her friend was way off: Jula’s first video racked up more than 14 million views and between Instagram and TikTok she has more than half a million followers.
Each day, a new video arrives. Each one starts the same.
“Welcome to another day of listening to my late father’s record collection. What are we going to listen to today?”
She picks a record at random, states the title, artist, and year of release.
“Let’s give it a listen.”
She ends each video summarising her thoughts on what she’s heard and how she felt while listening to it. Her community of followers is encouraged to comment their opinions, too.
“I feel like I’m living my father’s dream right now. I think for any music collector, to have your collection shown to people must be such a dream.”
Jula says listening her way through her father's records has helped her feel closer to him.
Soundwavesoffwax
In her first post, Jula declares her goal is to “learn more about music, about my father, and connect with other music lovers”. Although much of the journey is taking place in a digital space, it’s clear that for her it remains a tactile experience.
“Getting to enter those sonic spaces that he was in on the same physical record… I mean, it’s kind of poetic, but this is the same record he listened to. If there’s a scratch on it, that’s the same scratch he listened to, so I really feel like I’m dropping into that time of his life.”
Despite being an ongoing exercise in grief, the overall experience has been comforting, she says.
“His whole personality was talking about music and sharing music… So, in a way, I feel like I’m extending this for him and with him, and that brings me so much warmth.”
