Meet the owners of Seabass Vinyl - Scotland’s only vinyl pressing plant

There’s something a little poetic about the UK’s most sustainable vinyl pressing plant living in a wind-battered corner of East Lothian, watched over by sheep and surrounded by rusting industrial units. Yet, inside the walls of Seabass Vinyl, revolution is in motion - powered by solar panels, steam, and sheer passion.

Seabass Vinyl isn’t just Scotland’s only vinyl pressing plant. As of last month, it’s also the first in the UK to be officially certified carbon neutral, a feat that co-founders Dominique and Dave Harvey have achieved in under two years since pressing their very first record.

Image: Seabass Vinyl on Facebook

“We started this venture during COVID, when we heard that there was a lack of capacity for vinyl from pressing plants in the UK,” Dominique says. “We weren’t the only ones with the idea, and now there’s quite a few plants in the UK - but we’ve got quite a different offering.”

It’s an offering rooted in what the Harveys call their “three pillars”: quality, sustainability, and support. “We want to be the best quality records in the UK and in the world,” Dominique continues. “We’re really up there - records without pits or pops, no surface noise, flat records. And we also make sure to spend lots of time with small, independent artists, just like we would with a big label.”

Seabass might be aspiring to punch above its weight on a global stage, but it still operates like a true family-run business. There’s no corporate detachment - artists get FaceTimes, personal email responses, and guidance through every part of the process. “It’s not falling into a black box,” Dominique says. “We do runs from 100 units. Some bigger plants won’t even start under 500.”

"There can be a huge amount of greenwashing going on… we wanted something externally validated that confirmed we were actually doing what we said we were - being as energy efficient as we can, as sustainable as possible.”

The plant’s second pillar - sustainability - is what recently propelled Seabass Vinyl into national headlines, thanks to its certification by Carbon Neutral Britain. And while the award is impressive, for Dave and Dominique, it’s not about the badge.

“For us, it’s an external validation of what we said we planned to do from the start,” Dave says."There can be a huge amount of greenwashing going on… we wanted something externally validated that confirmed we were actually doing what we said we were - being as energy efficient as we can, as sustainable as possible.”

Vinyl pressing is, by its nature, a resource-heavy process. But Seabass doesn’t accept that as a dead end. “It's a very energy-intensive industry” Dave explains, “But it's a product that people prize and treasure and most of the time will keep forever. 

“Unless it's a strange, overpressed album, say if it's a Sister Act 2 soundtrack where 500,000 copies have been made, but we're making 100 records here for small artists or 500 records for larger artists, and people who are buying these records are going to hold on to it.”

But it’s not only their commitment to making quality records that people will never consider making waste of. From the moment they picked the location - a greenfield site - they were rethinking how to do things as sustainably as possible. “We actually cleared 25 years of rubbish from the field ourselves,” Dave explains. “That meant we could recycle the topsoil, rather than send it to landfill.”

From there, every inch of the plant has been designed to minimise impact. “The building is highly energy efficient… it has a south-facing mono-pitch roof, with 7,500 square feet of solar panels. 

“We use wind turbines… We’ve got an adiabatic air blast cooler, which has significantly lower energy consumption than a standard chiller and uses the actual ambient air temperature to cool the water. We also use a higher cooling water temperature than most plants, which reduces our energy costs as well, because we're not having to cool the water to a much lower temperature.

“We use a closed-loop water system, so we don't lose water. Water is a pretty critical resource in terms of sustainability these days as well. Not something that's necessarily measured, but it's a critical commodity.

“Our boiler, which generates the steam that we use, is designed as much as possible things were locally sourced to reduce road miles. The boiler is linearly efficient too, so if we're running one press or we're running four presses, it's the same performance all the time, in terms of efficiency, whereas you can have some boilers that will be more efficient at a full load rather than a lower load.”

“Then we bought things within that as well, for example, a flue economiser, which takes energy out of the chimney of the boiler. So it reduces the exhaust of our chimney from about 210 to about 135 degrees, and that energy just goes back into the actual process as well.”

And while these choices benefit the planet and the plants' sustainability, they also make business sense. “That energy efficiency translates into lower costs,” Dave adds. “It’s not just sustainability for sustainability’s sake. It’s common sense, too.”

"That energy efficiency translates into lower costs, it’s not just sustainability for sustainability’s sake. It’s common sense, too.”

Seabass’s materials used in their records reflect the same ethos. While they’ve pressed records with bio-vinyl - made from used cooking oil and other industrial byproducts, with a carbon footprint 90% less than the standard - they’re also exploring other innovations like using recycled overstock. “Biovinyl is a step in the right direction,” Dave says, “but it's expensive. It will get cheaper, I think, over time, but biovinyl is not necessarily a panacea either, given the way it's measured.

"There are other things that are being looked at across the industry, like, for example, having recycling. So actually putting those 500,000 overpressed Sister Act 2 soundtrack records back into raw plastic and getting those recycled and repressed. There's a huge amount of value in that as well.

“There's a number of initiatives going on with the Vinyl Alliance, with some of the major labels driving initiatives to start to look at that.

“We're also working with a couple of partners on that as well to test that process and test the sound quality of that as well, because the sound quality is a very important part of it for us as well.”

Image: Gordon Burniston

Yet, for Dave, becoming carbon neutral isn’t just a Seabass milestone - it’s a blueprint for how the wider music and vinyl industry could evolve. If it’s willing to listen.

“There’s a few things the industry can address collectively,” he says. “One is waste - making sure we’re recycling overstock product back into the supply chain. And also, not pressing things that aren’t going to sell. That’s good for everyone.”

The second is one rising in the industry's agenda, and is actually around the weight of the pressed records. “There’s a huge amount of savings to be made from making a record on 140 rather than 180 grams,” Dave explains. “In terms of the plastic you use, the amount of waste, and even the transport and packaging costs, which are 30% more expensive because of the weight of the record. 

“And all for very, very limited audio benefits, in our opinion, and in the opinion of some of the experts that have been reviewing this with us.”

Yet, according to Dave, this is an issue that is actually close to being resolved. “There will be some announcements, I can't say what they are now, but there will be announcements coming with leading manufacturers that are going to press records on 140-gram rather than 180. 

“But that also needs leaders from an audiophile perspective to say, yes, there is no difference in audio quality.

“If that all happens, then getting behind 140 will be one of the biggest things that the industry could probably do.

The last - and perhaps most important - thing is transparency. “It’s about being auditable - being honest about what your sustainability contributions really are,” Dave says. “We’re ISO 9001 certified. That means our systems are robust. These things cost money. But they give consumers and labels confidence that what you’re saying is actually true.”

Beyond the engineering brilliance and environmental accolades, there’s something deeply emotional at the core of Seabass Vinyl: pride.

Pride in Scottish music. Pride in offering something that’s never been possible before.

“The reality for us is really about providing a service to Scotland,” Dave says. “Scottish artists are usually proud to be Scottish. And now they can come and watch their records being pressed right here, in Scotland.”

That wasn’t an option before. Records for Scottish artists were often pressed in England or even in mainland Europe - far removed from the artists themselves, with long waits, expensive shipping, and huge carbon footprints.

“We’ve both been fairly blown away by the support. Probably 50% of our orders, by count, are from Scottish artists. There’s really only one label we haven’t worked with yet.”

Now? Seabass is delivering records to Glasgow and Edinburgh by hand. They’re working with major legacy acts like Runrig, labels like Chrysalis Records, and supporting young local bands pressing their very first releases. They’ve become a trusted part of the fabric of the Scottish music community.

“We’ve both been fairly blown away by the support,” Dave adds. “Probably 50% of our orders, by count, are from Scottish artists. There’s really only one label we haven’t worked with yet.”

And perhaps nothing captures that impact better than a tiny square sticker - one that more and more artists are choosing to put on their records.

“We get an increasing number of people putting ‘Made in Scotland’ stickers on their records,” Dave says, smiling. “It’s a very nice touch.”

A nice touch - and a powerful one. For the first time in history, Scottish artists can hold a record in their hands, turn it over, and know that from soundwave to sleeve, it was made here. At home.

Seabass Vinyl is more than a pressing plant. It’s proof that sustainability, independence, and local creativity can go hand in hand - and sound incredible while doing it.

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Header Image: Gordon Burniston