Artists Open Up About Record Store Day

19 April 2012 | 6:08 pm | Staff Writer

Chet Faker, M-Phazes, Illy, Ben Salter, Hoodlum Shouts, DJ Reflex and more talk records.

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Record Store Day happens this Saturday 21 April, so Inpress asked a bunch of hard-ish questions to artists and industry folk about their thoughts on the day and records in general.

CHRIS COWBURN, THE SMITH STREET BAND

What's been the most important record store in your life and why?
This one's dead easy – Poison City Records. Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. I started going in there as a shy, nervous 20-year-old when I was first getting properly into local music and specifically the bands on the Poison City label. I remember trying to get copies of an EP I'd “released” into the store on consignment and having no fucking idea what I was talking about! Since then, Andy [Hayden, owner] and the family he has created through his label and store have taught me plenty about music and records. Now I go in there and lose entire afternoons hanging out with Andy and perusing records that I usually can't afford to buy (but will anyway).

What do record stores mean to you?
These days a good record store is paramount, and in my opinion the smaller and more localised it is the better. I love that you can go into Blackwire Records in Sydney, play a show, drink in their beer garden, pat a dog AND find heaps of underground records local to the area that you mightn't get anywhere else.

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What's your most treasured purchase you've made in a record store?
The Hold Steady Boys & Girls In America LP on baby blue vinyl… but technically I bought it from a record store over the internet. So after that it would be Fucked Up's Chemistry Of Common Life and my most recent treasure would be Royal Headache's amazing LP from last year!

What do you have to say to people who illegally download music?
So what do I have to say to myself? I download music “illegally” every single day, and I'm cool with people wanting to download our music as well. I'd way prefer someone download our album on the sly and like it than never hear it. When you relate that back to the point of the question, ie. record stores, I think it can still be beneficial. There's no way you're going to stop people downloading or sharing music, so why not utilise the awesome power that it has by letting someone get so amped on a band or a local scene that they want to have a physical copy of your album or find out more about the community that exists in local record stores.

JOEL BYRNE, WOLF & CUB

What's been the most important record store in your life and why?
Porthole Records in Port Adelaide, South Australia. It's important to me for two reasons: because it's a great record store and I've bought some nice stuff there, and because it's where my older brother shops for vinyl, and it's an important store for him. He's had a strong influence on my life so I guess him talking about how amazing it is all the time has informed my appreciation of it and its sentimental value

What do record stores mean to you?
Hope, I s'pose. I mean CDs are dead, that's sad, but I'm coming to terms with it, but vinyl seems to have survived so every record store I'm in fills me with hope.

What's your most treasured purchase you've made in a record store?
An original pressing of King Crimson's In The Court Of The Crimson King. Actually it wasn't in a record store so that might not count. 

What do you have to say to people who illegally download music?
Nothing, really. It's the way of the world; you're not going to stop it, so why fight it? I'd love to make money from record sales but it's unrealistic – art isn't valued in monetary terms these days, it's valued in time and opportunity costs. It's all about whether it's worth your time and effort because there is so much to choose from. In a way downloading undervalues the efforts of the artist that made it, sure, but it's all subjective. It doesn't mean I value it less or it means less to me. I'd hope that people doing it would return the favour every now and again by buying a t-shirt or a ticket to a show or making a purchase on Bandcamp or some other site that makes music available.

CHET FAKER

What's been the most important record store in your life and why?
Alley Tunes. I used to work in a small second-hand bookstore next door and got to know the guys who ran the record joint. They introduced me to vinyl and sold me my first record!

What do record stores mean to you?
Personally they're a place to go and relax, to actually completely forget where you are and what time it is and dig through crates. On a larger scale they represent hope that people still have taste in this world and are willing to share it.

What's your most treasured purchase you've made in a record store?
Van Morrison's St Dominic's Preview, not because of its rarity but its use. I put that record on time and time again.

What do you have to say to people who illegally download music off the internet?
For me the difference between listening to an mp3 on an iPod and listening to a spinning record is the difference between sitting around an open fire and sitting around a heater. They both serve the same purpose, but one of them involves you in the process.

STEVE CROSS, REMOTE CONTROL RECORDS

What's been most important record store in your life and why?
As a teenager the best record store in the town I lived in was called Renaissance. It was at the dark end of a dead backstreet, dimly lit, perfumed by petiole oil, and filled with an exotic selection of albums that I would paw over but could only occasionally afford to buy. It was run by a guy a few years older than us who we considered to be amazingly cool. He had the shop, the records, the hair, the beard and the most beautiful, unattainable girlfriend. We also admired that he had no cash register, just a wooden box. However, after maybe five years he shut the shop down which broke our little hearts and killed our already sadly empty Friday nights. But we were even more distraught when he and his girlfriend opened a women's clothing boutique right in the middle of the really crap pedestrian mall in the city centre. Worse still he was rocking a whole new look: shaggy cut, trimmed beard, body shirt and high wasted pants. He went from looking like Tony Iommi to now resembling a member of Supertramp! We went from loving him to mocking him. We did, however, manage to maintain our teenage lust for his girlfriend.

What do record stores mean to you?
The most valuable thing about a record store is the relationship you can have with the person behind the counter. They should be able to know what you're in to, make great suggestions and turn you on to music you've never heard before.

What's your most treasured purchase you've made in a record store?

That's a tough one, but I was pretty thrilled to find an original 1966 copy of East Village Other in a store in Daylesford a few years back for $7.  It's a compilation/sound collage put together by a New York underground newspaper, featuring a heap of people including Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg and The Velvet Underground, prior to the release of their debut album.

What do you have to say to people who illegally download music off the internet?
Can the broke local musicians we work with come round your place and steal your stuff?

ILLY

What's been the most important record store in your life and why?
Obviously Obese Records on Izett Street, Prahran. Grew up listening to the artists, making the trip into town on the train to go in and play my demos and get advice. Then years later wound up actually being a part of the label. Quite an honour, and a trip!

What do record stores mean to you?
A physical embodiment of the phrase, “you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone”. Usually full of people who really give a shit about the same thing I do. Can't go wrong really.

What's your most treasured purchase you've made in a record store?

My most treasured purchase would've been any of the numerous posters I bought growing up. I wish I still had them, such sentimental value. Sadly they didn't stand the test of time as well as a lot of the music I bought has.

What do you have to say to people who illegally download music off the internet?
As an artist, it's a double-edged sword. Obviously it takes money out of your pocket, but it also exposes your music to a wider audience. I'd prefer if people didn't, but I'm not naive enough to think that situation is ever going to happen for artists again. So I think to a degree you have to accept it, if not embrace it. If people support you by coming to shows, which my people do, you can't complain. However, no question it ruins the livelihoods of a LOT of good people involved in the music industry, record stores in particular. I would say to people, think about how people outside of the big, mean, multinational conglomerates are being affected by it, before you pirate shit. A lot of little guys get kicked in the arse before major labels do.

DAVE ORR, NUMBERS RADIO

What's been most important record store in your life and why?
Egg Records in Brisbane's Queen Street Mall. I found some gems in there, old albums I'd forgotten about and re-purchased, and the owner has taken the time to introduce me to some records every human being should listen to. 

What do record stores mean to you?
You can't beat rummaging through a crate of records, the more out of order it is the better – you're forced to look at every cover, to see it for what it is. I think we live in a time where it's become harder and harder to stumble upon things. 

What's your most treasured purchase you've made in a record store?
Pink Floyd's Animals.

What do you have to say to people who illegally download music off the internet?
If you're going to do that at least go to the band's show and buy all their merchandise!

BEN SALTER

What's been the most important record store in your life and why?
The most important record stores in my life are/were Rockinghorse Records and the now sadly defunct Skinny's Music, both located in the Brisbane CBD. I used to busk in the mall and then go and spend all of my earnings at those stores. The employees of both of those stores were responsible for shaping my musical taste and even my career - Rhythm Ace Records and Plus One records were both started by employees of Skinny's, and Plus One continues to release albums by Giants of Science and The Gin Club.

What do record stores mean to you?
Well, my life is pretty much centred around making music so record stores mean a lot to me. They're the places where my first bands came together, where I hung out and listened to new records and CDs, where I stuck up posters and went to in-stores. The local record store is always the first place I visit whenever I go to a new country or town or whatever - I know I'm gonna find my people there.

What's your most treasured purchase you've made in a record store?
The most treasured purchase I've ever made at a record store is probably my copy of The Velvet Underground's third, self-titled record on blue vinyl that I got at Amoeba in Los Angeles. That place really breaks the hardcore music fan… I am going to have to try and avoid it if I ever go back. I also have a copies of Beethoven's Violin Concerto by ItZhak Perlman and The Sick Humor of Lenny Bruce that I got at this other place somewhere in Hollywood, a place that just did jazz, classical and comedy stuff, all vinyl. They're both pretty amazing. I did once get a copy of The Traveling Wilburys' first album on vinyl for like $12 or something from Rockinghorse - it's now worth a fortune - but I hocked it back to them, then they moved, and that was that. C'est la vie!

JOSH LEYSHON, HOODLUM SHOUTS

What's been most important record store in your life and why? 
I can probably vouch for everyone in the band here - when we were growing up in Canberra it would have to have been Impact Records (now extinct though Landspeed Records, also a brilliant store, has filled the niche). Spent hundreds of hours and probably many more dollars in this place searching through titles through the early-to-late '90s.  It was the store to go to in Canberra at the time if you wanted any decent music, imports, records, videos and comics for the geeks. It was like the weekend excursion with your mates, you would literally plan your whole day around going to Impact Records. A really large portion of my music collection was bought from that store and also Landspeed Records. 

As a band though we have been really lucky to have been picked up by Poison City Records, one of the great independent labels and record stores in Melbourne. They have an enormous influence on the indie/punk/rock scene down here and are very much a community grass roots institution. When I first walked into the store, only recently as we are new here, I was stoked to see all the Husker Du records and tees sitting next to Blueline Medic, A Death In The Family and Nation Blue albums.

What do record stores mean to you? 
Probably a lot of nostalgia. Pre-internet they were the kings but have taken on a very different, almost boutique role these days. I still love meandering through a record store, it's a great way to get a reflection of the musical pop culture of a place. It's also a very tangible, instantly gratifying experience. They definitely have their place from a music lover/collector's perspective but from a business point of view it is probably tough. Often a friend will suggest a band to me or I'll listen to something online and want it instantly. It can be really frustrating for an online order to arrive so walking into a good music store and picking it up after work or at lunch is so much more satisfying. I will almost always check the local stores first before buying an album. 

What's your most treasured purchase you've made in a record store? 
That's tough, probably The Desert Sessions Vol 4 or Kyuss/Queens Of The Stone Age split. They were fairly hard to come by and I remember just loving them to death when I bought them. Thirty-plus dollars was really expensive in the late '90s on a student budget. 

What do you have to say to people who illegally download music off the internet? 
That's a deep question, ha ha.  It means less money for the artist/label so it's not ideal although it doesn't personally bother me too much. People who really love their music will often download/copy an album and if they like it will generally buy the original, although this is only a small amount of the population. It has created a paradigm shift in the industry. There is a lot more focus for bands to be playing live/touring to sustain themselves, as meagre as this is for a small band. I think there should be some regulation with illegal downloads but I'm not sure how that would work. 

Illegal downloading doesn't appeal to me personally for a bunch of reasons. Mainly the quality is often poor. The files are generally compressed to allow fast downloads so you end up with an mp3-quality file. mp3 files are rubbish when you compare to the original. Obviously you can download full resolution AAC or WAV files, etc but I'd bet most people don't. High res mp3s (192kbps and above) are acceptable and I listen to those when travelling or for convenience but with low res files I often notice cymbals get a strange washy/helicopter effect and the stereo effect also suffers. 

Also I need to have a physical copy of an album to properly listen to it. It needs to be sitting on my CD/record player or desk, getting in my way, reminding me that it exists and differentiating itself from the pack. Scrolling through a digital library is pretty uninspiring to me, I often sit on a plane/tram/bus and scroll endlessly and miss everything, nothing jumps out. I suppose that's what the digital album artwork is for but it's still easy to miss. 

In my opinion if you value music then it's probably worth paying for some of it, or contributing something. You have to put in some effort, some sort of cost to get any benefit from it otherwise becomes a little meaningless. 

MIKE FABULOUS, THE BLACK SEEDS

What's been most important record store in your life and why?
Tough one. I'll probably have to say Slow Boat in Wellington - it's been there for my whole record collecting life. I remember when it had a lot more cassettes.

What do record stores mean to you?
Knowledgeable people. You can buy almost any record ofF the internet… but you can't roll into a store and have someone who knows a hell of a lot more about records than you do (and what kind of records you like!) throw some stuff in you direction, and that's what I really love about record stores. 

What's your most treasured purchase you've made in a record store?
Well, probably Sound Of Joy by Sun Ra and his Arkestra. It's not rare or anything, but I will never tire of this record. I got it once when Slow Boat had a whole heap of Sun Ra in, and I didn't really get into it for about a year. But when I did I fell deeply in love with it. It's just one of those records that for me is timeless, and I will listen to through all the phases of my short time on this earth. Ra be praised! 

What do you have to say to people who illegally download music off the internet?
Well, all I'd say is - make sure that's not all you do. If you're really a true music fan, you'll still buy SOME music - and the music that you do buy helps keep records stores and musicians doin' what they do.

 M-PHAZES

What's been the most important record store in your life and why?
Butter Beats in Brissy, shaped a lot of my early production and it's where I learnt how to dig for samples.

What do record stores mean to you?
They mean otherwise-forgotten music has a chance to be found and cherished like it was brand new, I love finding music I would never know about usually.

What's your most treasured purchase you've made in a record store?
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On, one of my all time favourite albums and the inside cover is amazing.

What do you have to say to people who illegally download music off the internet?
I've done it on occasion, but I buy the majority of the music I own. If you're going to do it, at least support the artist and go to shows when they come to your town, iTunes is a lot easier than finding music illegally for me anyway,

DJ REFLUX, FUNKOARS

What's been the most important record store in your life and why?
I would have to say Central Station Records back in the days when Madcap was looking after hip hop. I bought most of my collection in that store! I would frequent that place every few days. Not a record skipped my notice. I spent all my money there… it was like a drug. 

What do record stores mean to you?
They were a place of culture, a spot to catch like minds and immerse yourself into the music and everything around it. They were almost hang-out spots for DJs.

What's your most treasured purchase you've made in a record store?
Hard to say… My first purchase I guess holds value to me as it was the start of what has consumed my whole adult life.

What do you have to say to people who illegally download music off the internet?
I ain't gonna say you're stealing but please be aware of the hard work that goes into creating music. Music has lost a lot of value to most people. They want it but are rarely prepared to pay for it. Respect music and its value to you, give back to those that inspire, those that you enjoy and cherish… that way no one will feel cheated in the long run.