Record Store Profile: Bounce Audio VIC

What is your store called? 

Bounce Audio 

Where are you located? 

Our new store is at 201 Chapel St in Prahran (Melbourne) and online here.

Tell us about the people behind the scenes?

Johan - the owner, has run the business for the last 13 years, having come from DMC Records on Commercial Rd in Prahran & wanted to create his own space for the regulars and DJ’s in Melbourne after their closing in 2012. You can truly say the shop is by run DJ’s for the DJ’s. Currently, Sam, Charles Eddy (formerly from Natural Selection Records in Fitzroy) run the shop with Johan helping keep the shop buzzing with new & secondhand releases , running the hire & event production department -you can catch them playing around Melbourne under the Natural Bounce Records moniker.

What do your customers most know you for?

Our customers know us by our “quality charm” .. :) and our wealth of knowledge across generations young and old, latest releases, and of course the dance floor classics - specialising in our love for quality house music. We’re always here for DJ equipment advice and you’ll routinely find us rambling or ranting to the regulars about whatever topic we feel passionate about!

What is the most popular title you stock at the moment? 

Hard to say what the most popular title is at the moment as we do a massive range of one off second-handers and we only do small quantities of new releases. Having said that - the late 90s to early 00’s UK and US Tech & Deep House categories are getting the most workout around town - this is being bolstered by prominent reissues from Repeat Records, local label Spin Cycle Records releasing Mark Ambrose & Neil E tracks, & Sushitech releasing Get F**ked, Eric Spire & more - we couldn’t let our local legends go unnoticed with AKA Zeb’s fresh EP recently selling out as well as Carl Maxfield’s gorgeous Aesthetics EP - sorry if we missed anyone!

What is the most popular evergreen title? 

Probably something off Blue Note - a Blue Train or similar. Or maybe a Herbie release.  Or maybe Sade or maybe Massive Attack or Portishead. How can you pick just one?

What is the best thing about running a record store in 2025?

I think being able to support local artists who still care about pressing great quality music to vinyl and giving them an outlet to have that front and centre in a brick and mortar store, which is just getting harder and harder to achieve. Along with that, I think the traditional notion of the record store being a centre for the community still holds true - although there are less collectors and DJ’s who still fork out their hard earned dollars than there maybe once was, our clients are not just a transaction - they are skin and bone, smiles and great ears -  we have a great group of regulars who we consider our good mates and there’s not many things better than that.

What is the hardest thing about running a record store in 2025?

If it were just selling records then it would be the easiest job in the world. Unfortunately everyone in this industry knows margins are getting smaller and smaller on new records , shipping gets more expensive, etc. I think we (the stores) have some kind of a responsibility to make music still attainable, to find those hidden bargains, to come and connect and hear new sounds, and to not scalp heads on Discogs - and that means that a lot of record stores - especially brick and mortar - have to diversify, which is why we do our equipment retail, equipment hire, event production and more. There’s a lot of moving parts and things to keep on top of as a small crew, but we’re proud to say we’re still standing after all this time and that’s all thanks to our community & good friends!