Gurgaon-Based 'Amarrass Records' Is Reviving Vinyl Production In India After 30 Years

The company has also managed to get folk music global acclaim with its latest release ‘Dumbfounded.’

There are two reasons why audiophiles love listening to vinyl LPs - for starters, music sounds way better on analog than digital, and the antique feel of the experience is far better than clicking the play button. But alas, buying vinyl records is quite an expensive affair because you'd have to get it delivered from outside of India (our country has not produced a single vinyl record since the 1980s). However, as Bob Dylan once said - "the times they are a-changin" - and now there’s a Gurgaon-based record company that is reviving vinyl production in India. Ammaraas Records is a local indie label that is ushering the revival of this long lost tradition by cutting its own records.

Founded by two Delhiites - Ashutosh Sharma and Ankur Malhotra - Amarrass Records is an Indie music label that is working towards making music business sustainable for artists in a time when listeners can access it for free online. The label does everything, from managing artists to organising events, but their most cutting-edge service is vinyl production. For this, the owners didn't just import equipment from Germany, but also learnt the technique of cutting records from scratch. And as they say, no hard work ever goes to waste, which is why in 2019, the label secured global acclaim for its debut vinyl release - Dumbfounded - featuring folk artistes Barmer Boys.

Another contour that makes Amarrass Records unique is its association with folk music. Along with reviving vinyl production in India, it is also reviving the country’s roots in folk music. With artists like Barmer Boys, Lakha Khan, and Sakar Khan on their roster, the label is providing homegrown musicians a global stage where they can not just survive, but flourish.