CROSS PLAINS, Wis. — For the first time in more than 90 years, Wisconsin is home to a vinyl record pressing plant.

What You Need To Know

  • Dave Eck noticed a need for pressing plants 

  • The turnaround time to get vinyls back was 12 to 18 months when the vinyl resurgence started

  • So, he rented a building in Cross Plains and turned it into a record-pressing plant

  • He named the company Waxxy Poodle

Owner Dave Eck said he’s always been a vinyl guy, even when many were throwing their records away.

 “All the labels, all the distributors, they wanted CDs; they didn’t even want to deal with the hassle of vinyl,” Eck said. “But I was just like, ‘We got to do the vinyl.’ You know, I was just always gung-ho about vinyl.”

Eck was already in the business of mastering and cutting records as the owner of Lucky Mastering. He’s worked with some big-name talent, cleaning up their final studio recordings before the music is pressed into vinyl and mass produced. That’s where he noticed a bigger need.

“The vinyl resurgence started getting so strong that my customers couldn’t get turnaround at the pressing plants,” Eck said. “It was literally 12 to 18 months turnaround for even 100 or 1,000 records.”

So, he rented a building in Cross Plains and turned it into a record-pressing plant. He named the company Waxxy Poodle.

“When the opportunity arose, you know, we just had to make it happen, to help my customers stay in business, and just keep everything flowing well, for everybody,” Eck said. “It’s really nice to be able to do that for my customers who’ve supported me all these years, to be able to find a solution that helps all of us.”

He said having control of how each record is pressed has made a world of difference in the quality of the final product.

“It just comes down to paying attention,” Eck said. “Doing a good job at it, and not being sloppy. And caring about what you’re doing more than having it be a low-paid, part-time job.”

After a little more than a year in business, he’s already looking to expand, with more pressing machines on the way. Eck said he might even start dabbling in CD and DVD pressing, but his passion will always be for vinyl.

“It’s fun to thumb through the old records and the new ones and pick out something neat,” Eck said. “They sound better. They’ve always sounded better.”

Correction: A previous version of this story stated that Dave Eck purchased his building in Cross Plains. He rents the building. This has been corrected. (Oct. 18, 2023)

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