About Us

Founded in 1996, Furnace Record Pressing is known for making extremely high-quality vinyl records at our 50,000 square foot state-of-the-art record pressing facility in Alexandria, Virginia.

Read on for what separates us from the rest.

Experience

We’ve been doing this for 24 years and we’re pretty good at it but are always excited to see how we can improve the process and experience of pressing vinyl records. We care about the industry, and we care about doing it right. Amongst our diverse staff, we’ve been involved in just about every part of the music industry from playing in bands, to recording music, distribution, retail and, of course, buying records.

Customer Service

Furnace Record Pressing is what you’ve been looking for: a legit pressing plant who gives a shit. Hi. We pick up the phones, we know what we’re doing and we care a lot. Everything we’ve built (state-of-the-art facility, obsessive knowledge of the industry, smart and fun team who can suggest things you never thought of) supports our customer-centric core value.

Capacity & Turn Time

We work hard to keep our teams small and scrappy, but Furnace’s pressing operation is anything but small- we’re capable of pressing close to 10m vinyl records a year. As if that wasn’t enough, we offer pressing in Europe too. This translates to faster lead times and filling the world with happy customers.

One Stop Shop

Who has time for chasing down parts from 2 or 7 vendors for each project? Let Furnace handle all of the headaches. We offer a robust line of mastering, print, packaging and mailing services all under one roof. Jackets, Boxsets, Inserts, Download Cards and Hosting, Slipmats, Hedgehogs – we do it all.

Direct to the Source

At Furnace, pressing vinyl isn’t about cashing in or chasing a trend. Our owner has been pressing records since the 80’s and is obsessed with machines, processes and controls. This isn’t a hobby or a side project. This is vinyl manufacturing done right. We own and operate the machines so the buck stops with us.

Value

Furnace’s quick turns, responsive team and one-stop-shopping means you’ll spend less time and resources managing your vinyl production and more time on marketing, artist relations and eating / petting dogs / happy hours / hiking / knitting, etc. Time is money and we care about your time and your money.

Furnace Featured in Wired Article: The New Startup: No Code, No Problem

Congrats to Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction!

Furnace’s Own Antwan Wiggins Stars in Documentary on Netflix

Meet the only other people who wake up in the middle of the night thinking about your record

Eric Astor

President + CEO

Eric is the president and CEO. He’s our chief and if you hang out with him long enough (or for 20 minutes) you’ll hear how he started thinking about how to do things the BestFastestMostEfficient way when he was a kid collecting baseball cards. These days he leads the team here by example, working to constantly refine and improving what we can deliver. When he’s not at Furnace, he likes to surf, mountain bike and hang out with his two gigantic Bernese Mountain Dogs and his cool folklorist wife.

Ali Miller

COO

Ali is the COO and not the Production Manager. She interviewed and accepted this job in 2008 because she was bored at her corporate office job. She’s never been bored since and is excited to see what the next ten years brings. She handles a little bit of everything at Furnace if you have a problem, she can fix it. Though surrounded by music every day, Ali used iTunes for the very first time (for non work related purposes) in July 2013. She has not used it since.

Mark Reiter

Operations Manager

Mark is our Operations Manager. If our Lean Manufacturing program had a spokesmodel, it would be Mark. He can explain what it is, why it’s important, and why you should care in 5 minutes or less. He runs a tight ship of an awesome team that has fun kicking ass and getting records out the door a little faster every time. Mark shares his non-Furnace home with wolves (ok, they're Siberian Huskies) and his awesome and slightly dangerous (MMA fighter) wife. Fun fact: Mark is the second drummer we hired (Eric is the first) and now we have five. Weird.

Emma Reiter

Production Manager

Emma’s our kick-ass production manager, and we mean that literally. She’s a blue belt and active competitor in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. If Furnace had an underground fight club, all bets would be on Emma. When she’s not keeping the presses on schedule or in her gi, Emma spends her time watching Seinfeld, drinking coffee, and going to taco bell. She’s also dog-mom to two wolves (aka those huskies we mentioned), who walk around Furnace like they own the place.

Ric Sherman

Sr. Sales Representative

Ric’s moved through radio advertising, HBO films, video production and spent many years handling a large segment of the music industry’s CD manufacturing requirements. But vinyl had somehow escaped his resume…until now! When he’s not collaborating with labels, artists and managers to find the best production & packaging solutions for their vinyl and CD releases you can find him playing guitar.

Anne Stickley

Key Account Representative

Anne comes from the classical world, having been trained as a trombonist and musicologist. And no, that’s not just a word a streaming service made up for an ad campaign. She enjoys weightlifting and chilling with her cat, Mr. Fuzzy. Her condo houses her collection of 80-something houseplants and she will occasionally bring in propagations to share with her coworkers. With time, her desk will likely evolve into a jungle as well.

Em Turnbull

Production Coordinator

Probably best known at Furnace for their ever-changing hair color, Em's love of vinyl first began when their dad gave them a Beatles' record for their 8th birthday. Now when they look at their record collection, they think of all the moving parts that have to come together to make a record happen and is thrilled to be a part of that process! In their spare time, Em enjoys embroidery, thrifting, and watching every vampire movie ever made.

Tim Nagy

Lead Customer Service Representative

Tim, our Lead CSR, loves animals and spent years volunteering and working alongside them, with the battle-scars to prove it. Somehow he remains a DC sports fan, no matter how many times he’s let down. In his free time, Tim does a lot of reading and painting, but the one constant is that music is playing from sun-up to sun-down. He’s thankful to be at Furnace, especially since his sweet dogs Bowie and Lulu gets to be his desk mates.

Anna Tummarello

Customer Service Representative + Sales

Anna’s fascination with vinyl began during childhood, playing “DJ” with nursery rhyme vinyl on her grandparents’ turntable. She comes to us with a background in tour / festival / event production, and moonlights as a background actor on local tv and film productions. When not working, you can probably catch her at one of DC’s excellent music venues or trying the many different cuisines this area has to offer.

Dennis Warren

Designer + Pre-Press

Dennis is our in-house designer and pre-press extraordinaire. His areas of design interest include branding, continuity, and aesthetics. As an audiophile and musician, music influences the visual art he creates. Dennis also travels the world with his lovely wife to broaden his scope and understanding of the world around us. Oh, and his resume included a pic of him in a Furnace t-shirt. That’s some dedication right there.

Thao Nguyen

Office Manager + HR

Thao is our Office Manager as well as handling our HR. She sorts out everything (which is a lot of things) thrown at her and keeps us all in line. Reruns of “The Office”, pumpkin spice lattes, top-40 music, ombre hair; if it’s super basic, she probably likes it (her words). Thao referred to Furny in her cover letter and told us she had a dog named “Ken” in her interview so you already know she’s sharp and funny and does her research.

Rob Jordan

Pressing Manager

Rob’s our night shift pressing manager who specifically moved from the midwest to join the best record breaking team in the world. Though he’s an east coaster now, Rob still roots for the Kansas City Chiefs. He also enjoys 70s, 80s, & 90s outlaw country. Apart from music, his interests include aviation, skydiving, hunting, and Star Wars. Ever the optimist, he dislikes any thing negative...and candy corn.

Becky Anderson

Lead Press Operator

Becky is one of our incredible press operators and color mixing / matching extraordinaire. Musically she’s a drummer and loves all kinds of music and has an affinity for 80s rock. She’s from El Paso, Texas but grew up on the east coast. Like many other on the Furnace team she absolutely loves dogs, and would adopt them all, if only she had somewhere to put them! Becky also has some serious art skills; she’s done most of her 34 (!!!) tattoos.

Minh Phan

Sleeving Manager + QC

Minh worked on our first ever vinyl assembly order with us. On day two of that job, the ceiling lights exploded (don't ask) and in the rain of tiny glass Minh put her sweatshirt hood up and kept working while everyone scattered. Don't try that at home but yeah, she's hardcore.

Michael Hsu

Finishing Manager

Michael came on board in 2013 via his nephew who told us his name was Otis. We were confused about his nickname of ``Michael`` for about a year until we figured it out. Michael can fix anything. Literally anything that breaks, he'll put it back together and it'll probably work better than before. When he's not making machines out of spare parts and kicking ass on the finishing line, Michael is a super skilled photographer and a golfer.

Aaron Keller

Inventory Manager

Aaron is our inventory manager. When he started he drove 65 miles (each way) to work and was never late and never complained. He also started at one of the worst weeks in Furnace history and is one of the few who 1. remembers the bad times 2. still loves us and his job. Aaron is a keeper.

Dale Lynn

Lead Mechanic

Dale's our lead mechanic and fixer extraordinaire. Like many on our team, he’s in a band and enjoys playing and recording music, which he also has a degree in. He’s also a dad to two amazing little girls.

There’s one member of the team who has worked here longer than Eric. It’s Furny, the welding dude who you may recognize because he is also featured in our logo. He was created in 2001 but born many years before that. He was pressing records before you were even born.

His physical form was conceptualized by Shepard Fairey, who you know from designs like André the Giant Has A Posse (OBEY) sticker collection and the Barack Obama “HOPE” poster for the 2008 US Presidential election. Fairey’s non-Furnace works can been seen in similarly illustrious locales such the Smithsonian, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England.

In addition to repping Furnace on all the official forms and publications, Furny has also appeared in costume as Johnny Cash, Santa Claus, and all four original members of KISS and most recently a 3-D bobblehead. He gets around.

Furny himself does a lot more than represent Furnace. He’s a visionary in his own right. His side hustle is in the self help business. He wouldn’t call himself a guru, but his followers would. If the fire burns your feet, you’re doing it wrong. It’s not all work and no play though. Furny is semi-pro in night skateboarding. You’ve probably never heard of it. Maybe he’ll show you sometime.

You’re not the first person who found themselves desperately asking: where can I get a copy of Furny’s book? Where can I get some merch with this dude on the front? What’s night skateboarding? Join our newsletter and we’ll give you the scoop.

About Us

Welcome to Furnace Record Pressing

Experience

Customer Service

Capacity & Turn Time

One Stop Shop

Direct to the Source

Value

Furnace In the News

Our Collection Of Weirdos

The History of the Furnace Logo