Inside Mother Tongue – Europe’s newest pressing plant

A visual tour of the Italian vinyl outpost.

As demand for vinyl has increased in the last ten years, so has the number of pressing plants, whether in high profile affairs such as Jack White’s Third Man in Detroit, or a number of independent operations pressing records for niche audiences.

One of these operations is Mother Tongue. Located in Verona, Northern Italy, the pressing plant was launched by producer Patrick Gibin and a group of friends – with the help of an EU grant – in early 2019, and encompasses a record label, online shop and distribution service.

Tackling the complex and finely tuned nature of the record pressing process, Gibin has enlisted Andrea Pasini to take care of manufacturing, utilising the plant’s sole Pheenix Alpha AD12 press – a modernised upgrade of original the Swedish-made Toolex Alpha AD12. Mattia Cristofoli, Carlo Grossule and Pietro Battista complete the team, managing administration and technical duties.

With a focus on small-run releases, Mother Tongue hopes to continue working with independent labels and has already pressed records for artists from within Gibin’s musical sphere, including Fred P, Emanative, Dego, Kaidi Tatham, K15, DJ Spinna and Tommaso Cappellato.

Photographer Silvia Gin visited the budding business to document the early stages of one of Europe’s newest pressing plants.