Jack Antonoff to publish Record Store book

Singer, songwriter, guitarist, boyfriend of Lena Dunham, and funky hosiery enthusiast Jack Antonoff is adding another job to his growing list of hyphenates: author.

Antonoff will partner with Simon & Schuster to release a heavily illustrated book, Record Store, which is set to feature a combination of personal essays, interviews, photographs, and ephemera curated by the Bleachers frontman highlighting ’90s CD store culture.

“[Record Store will be] a lot like the zines I made when I was a kid, perfectly mixed with the art books I look at now,” Antonoff told The New York Times about the project, which was partially inspired by old issues of Rolling Stone and a limited publication, Grand Royal, which was published by the Beastie Boys from 1993 to 1997.

Antonoff’s celebrity friends, including artists, musicians, music industry executives, and actors, will also make contributions to the book. Though no contributors have been announced, Antonoff has worked with Taylor Swift (he wrote 1989 single “Out of the Woods”), Sara Bareilles (he helped pen “Brave”), and Sia (co-writing “House on Fire”), while he toured with Charli XCX in 2015. Carly Rae Jepsen and The 1975 will also headline Antonoff’s annual music festival, Shadow of the City, in June.

The book will also serve as a love letter of sorts to the recent past, when the music industry was driven by the sale of tangible products versus digital downloads. “Record stores were the most exciting place you could go, regardless of your age or social standing. You knew when you walked in that you might walk out with something that could change your life,” Antonoff said in a press release. “The record store was at once a listening party, a debate stage, a therapist’s office, a university for music taught by a dude with a ponytail and/or a beard, and so much more. It was a refuge for outcasts and awkward teenagers—a sacred place.”

A release date for Record Store has yet to be announced.