Vital Vinyl: Nashville Pussy Guitarist Talks New LP ‘Up the Dosage’ and General Love of Vinyl

When it comes to vinyl, there are few rockers who have as much of an appreciation for the format as Nashville Pussy's guitarist and founding member, Ruyter Suys. With the release of her band's eighth studio album, 'Up the Dosage,' Suys admits that vinyl has always been a significant part of her life. So, it makes perfect sense that Nashville Pussy would make sure to put together one hell of a vinyl experience with their latest record.

"Personally, it's really cool to have every single one of our records on vinyl," Suys tells Loudwire in an exclusive interview. "For me, it's not real unless it's on vinyl." 'Up the Dosage' is available to fans as a double-LP in a gatefold jacket, exclusively pressed on foggy transparent vinyl in printed sleeves and comes packaged with a physical copy of the CD version. As an extra bonus, fans who pick up the vinyl edition will notice the LPs come packed with two bonus tracks not found on the standard release.

'Up the Dosage' is an entire experience, not just a means to simply hear the music. "There's definitely something missing with the digital thing, and I think part of that is the visual aspect," Suys explains. "You've got to hold it in your hands. It's cool. There seems to be a resurgence for vinyl." Nashville Pussy are not ones to shy away from pushing the envelope, especially when it comes to vinyl. Suys laughingly remembers one promotion they came up with: "One year, we wanted to put a joint in the spine of the record's jacket, and like one of every five would be a real joint. That obviously went through a long process, and by the end it ended up just being a photocopy of a real joint. But people were still getting in trouble. Parents would see it or teachers would say, 'What the f--k is in there?'"

Suys' mission of releasing music on vinyl in killer packaging stems from her childhood and non-stop love for the format. "I stared at [Led Zeppelin's] 'Houses of the Holy' for like a whole year. I was convinced that was me on the cover, one of those two little naked girls. The gatefold of [Fleetwood Mac's] 'Rumors' is really good, with all of these backstage pictures," she remembers. "Oh, and 'Overnight Sensation' by Frank Zappa, I don't even know why my parents let me look at that thing, it was so overtly sexual. My eyes were twice as big as they probably should've been at that time!"

When it comes to vinyl, Suys conveys the significance of it in a pretty simple way. "We're preserving history here," she says in all seriousness. "The one thing we've always managed to do was to have our records on vinyl." Having a little more fun with the "history" angle, Suys goes on to reminisce about the true importance of releasing music on vinyl: "Don't forget, people used to roll joints on f--king gatefolds!"

Nashville Pussy's 'Up the Dosage' is currently available worldwide. If you're a fan of raw, pure and fun rock and roll, this album will feel right at home in your collection.