By Hannah E. Jones
The magazine comes out once a month. (Photo courtesy of Record Plug Magazine.)
In a digital age, Record Plug Magazine is keeping it old school. A local publication for underground bands in Atlanta and Athens, they cover the live music scenes in both cities — like heavy rock, punk, metal and hip hop shows. And it’s offered exclusively in print.
The magazine is founded and owned by Atlantans Kip Thomas and Ryan Williams. Thomas has been a printing company owner for nearly three decades and prints the music magazine himself. Williams has been a record producer for about 30 years and runs the record label Headphone Treats under the name Jimmy Ether.
The duo are also in two bands together — Loud Humans and Victory Hands. Thomas is a drummer and Williams mostly covers guitar and vocals. Actively involved in Atlanta’s music scene, the two noticed a decline in local coverage a few years ago of bands and shows around the city.
(L to R) Ryan Williams and Kip Thomas. (Photos courtesy of Ryan Williams.)
“I was in a music store picking up some drumsticks in April of ‘21, and I saw that the February Stomp And Stammer was on the counter,” Thomas said. Discovering that the publication had closed its doors, he was inspired to start Record Plug. “Atlanta, specifically, was not going to have any local, free publication that was going to promote underground music and try to give press to the little guy.”
Wanting to give some airtime to Atlanta’s grassroots music scene, they published their first monthly issue of Record Plug in August 2021. Free copies can be picked up at many local establishments and folks can also sign up for a subscription.
“In Atlanta, with the pandemic, everyone assumed that the music scene would be dying off and as we were starting up, [we realized] there’s nothing but bands everywhere,” Williams said. “It’s almost too much to cover, it’s so vibrant. I think that’s true of Athens too.”
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