Lindy RybloomObject Permanence brings vinyl manufacturing to Salem and makes a case for owning something that cannot be changed
In the early 2000s, Carrie Morrissey and Adam Phillips were recent college graduates living in Bushwick, Brooklyn, with few belongings and little money. They’d host large parties on their apartment rooftop and gaze out onto New York City as music pulsed from inside. Was it 80s new wave, or alternative punk? German techno, or upbeat rave music? A love for all of the above brought them together in a quaint nightclub in the early 2000s.
“We’d have dollar beers, and we’d see the skyline and think, “we own the world,” Carrie said.
This was the beginning of their life together after meeting on the dance floor. They’ve had many shared titles: husband and wife, parents, and their newest: business partners.
Carrie and Adam are sitting in the lounge of their new vinyl pressing business, Object Permanence. The plant is the only one of its kind in Oregon, and it’s located in Salem, just north of downtown.
In just three years, Carrie, Adam, and their third business partner, Jason Wojceichowski (originally from Salem), thought up, built, and opened Object Permanence all while navigating a somewhat spontaneous move from New York City to the Pacific Northwest. The bunch are expert dreamers and lifelong learners. Having little experience with the machinery necessary to press vinyls prior to the start of Object Permanence, they’ve spent the last couple of years educating themselves on the inner workings of the infrastructure in their warehouse just off Belmont Street.
While their knowledge of manufacturing records is new, their love for music and hands-on work is not. Growing up outside of London, Adam found solace in his parents’ eclectic record collection, with albums from Talking Heads, Sister Sledge, and Dire Straits paving the way for a life guided by music. As a young DJ, the transition from spinning records on air to music being stored on a USB in the thin pocket of his jeans unfolded right in front of his eyes. He also helped create a minimal techno record label, which allowed him to travel the world.
“That’s the reason I went anywhere. Music was the language that connected me to other people,” Adam said.
The daughter of artists and educators herself, Carrie attended Moore College of Art and Design, a small all-girls school in Philadelphia. It was in her college years that she was able to experiment with different versions of herself. She describes past outfits to me. Going through many phases, she self-identified as an “alterna-teen,” a goth, a kandi raver, and a hipster. The common denominator between her various looks being the songs she was listening to. In every form, she let music shape her identity.
“Self-expression was really coming from the music,” Carrie said.
You could say that there was always an invisible string tying Carrie and Adam to the music industry, so when given the opportunity to put down roots in Oregon doing something they were passionate about, they jumped at the idea.
“The whole boot to Salem and everything wasn’t something that we planned. It was something that became an opportunity, and we ran with it,” said Adam.
The unexpected move to Salem has been a source of joy for the Object Permanence team. The Pacific Northwest’s music history is rich. The greater area has been a hub for indie labels and artists for decades, but Salem itself has a profound music scene of its own. It’s also a city where connecting face to face with fellow musicians and potential customers feels possible. Carrie, Adam and Jason are all about interacting with their community, and keeping up with Salem’s reputation as a place where music can thrive.
“It feels nice to be in a place that we can be a little bit of a standard bearer for music in Salem,” Adam said.
Looking back on their lives during the era of analog media, Carrie and Adam deeply missed the days of having tangible items to credit with their music taste. In 2026, streaming music online is second nature to many, but what consumers gain in ease of access, they lose in authenticity.
“I think Adam and I, as well as our third partner, Jason, have gotten very disillusioned with a lot of the disposable life that 2026 has turned into,” Carrie said.
Object Permanence is a concerted effort to resist that very model of living. As one of the few vinyl pressing plants on the West Coast, Adam, Carrie, and Jason offer consumers the chance to protest against the disposability of our contemporary world. The magic is in owning something that cannot be changed.
The record manufacturing business is also one with great promise. In the 1990s, when CDs started being produced in large amounts, the desire for vinyl waned, but its recent resurrection has sparked a need for people like Adam, Carrie, and Jason who are at the forefront of the industry. Because of the gap in vinyl popularity, most of the infrastructure used to press records dates back to the 1970s. The chance to be among the few manufacturers with modern machines was a major reason Object Permanence decided to pursue the venture.
“The amount of innovation that’s possible within this is enormous,” Adam said.
Currently, Object Permanence’s single vinyl pressing machine is functioning with the help of a boiler, a blowdown tank, an accumulator, a condensate tank, an air compressor, a water tank, a chiller, and electricity. The team hopes to expand with a second press in a year. Right now, they’re just happy following this path that seems to keep going their way. Adam and Carrie describe their journey to Object Permanence as “serendipitous,” like they’ve been training their whole life for this moment.
The team began the build-out process in their space in February and are energized by its recent finish. They’ve already begun fielding their first orders and making connections with smaller labels and artists from the area. As they navigate the newness of opening Object Permanence, Carrie and Adam describe their teamwork with Jason as the foundation of their business. They are sure to mention Jason as the balancing force within Object Permanence.
“I think all of us really bring so much to the table and balance each other. There’s kindness between us and understanding of being human and patience with each other,” Carrie said.
The synergy between these three is clear. A vibrational connection goes beyond producing vinyls; real, deep passion runs through Salem’s newest record manufacturers.
With the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and access to online music, Object Permanence asks us to reflect on how our world shifts when culture becomes disposable. They ask us to go to a record store and ask the person at the front desk for a recommendation. To be intentional about the media we consume. To listen to music with our friends on rooftops. To dance.
“Every industry at this point is really overcrowded or is under threat from AI or is undervalued. We really have to take a stand, and we really have to fight for ourselves and for humanity,” Carrie said. “And we have to start dancing.”
Object Permanence Records
This story originally ran in Press Play Salem issue 29 (Fall 2026)
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The Instigator
Carlee Wright
