Meet the curator behind The Drop

When a pair of turntables showed up in the living room of a 15 year old Studebaker Hawk, a future of lugging heavy crates of vinyl, cleaning dusty 45s, and giving up all available wall space to record shelving, came into focus. The eclectic record collection that teenage Hawk had built in his youth became tools for his early DJ sets, but the hunt for new and exciting rhythms had just begun. Endless hours digging in record shops, thrift stores, and flea markets, lead to buying record collections and before Hawk finished his college degree, he’d already been selling vinyl records full time. A decade later he was one of the largest online sellers in the US, on Discogs.com. During that decade, Hawk cut his teeth gigging constantly around the North Eastern US and on the airwaves of WMUA. At the radio station he met two DJs who would become his brothers in the creation of the record label Peace & Rhythm, putting out contemporary Latin, African, and Caribbean music. After leaving the station, Hawk used international DJ tours as the catalyst for record digging through 5 continents, periodically returning home to organize his vinyl convention, the Northampton Record Fair, and keep up his online store, shipping records all around the world.