Record Store Profile: Crosstalk Records NSW

What is your store called? 

Crosstalk Records

Where are you located? 

155 Norton Street, Leichhardt, NSW and online here. 

Tell us about the people behind the scenes?

Eliza (Crosstalk Manager): We’re a pretty small operation, still in our first three years with our anniversary in September and only have four regular members of staff (five if you count our dog mascot Bonnie). I have a wide array of unusual and vaguely-transferable skills that make a record store the perfect place for me to be. If you ask what those skills are, neither of us will be able to tell you specifics. You just have to observe.

Josh is Crosstalk’s owner/founder and Creative Director. He’s extremely passionate about every aspect of music and he is also one of my best friends. He has been working in music (retail, record labels and as a musician himself) for 23ish years and has a tendency to talk way too fast/loudly about the music he’s passionate about. Josh is extremely anxious but it primarily manifests as unbridled enthusiasm. His favourite song right now is Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath from the album Black Sabbath (1970). 

When and why did the store open? 

Josh: We opened in September 2022. After years working as a Label Manager for a label / distro all the way through to the Covid years I felt extremely burnt out by the music industry as a whole. I desperately wanted to work in music but in a way that also allowed for my love of people and community. Despite some fairly miserable years in the 2010s working for the Big Yellow And Black Place I still missed working retail. It was in that particular large retailer that I met Eliza who would end up managing our store! 

What do your customers most know you for?

From the beginning we just wanted to be a record store anyone could walk into and feel comfortable. We hate the standard trope of Record Store Guy (thank you John Cusack) and making people feel judged for their taste. We all love to make eachother laugh and this has fed directly into the way we use our social media as well as Eliza’s incredible and hilarious sign-writing skills which have developed a cult following in themselves. 

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

Perpetually it seems to be Madvillainy. Everybody loves DOOM. 

What is the most popular evergreen title? 

Either Rumours or Back To Black (I think it’s a seasonal thing?)

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

Eliza: We sell both new & used records and personally, when we acquire a collection from someone, I feel genuinely honoured to be able to go through it. A record collection is like a time capsule, you can see the landmarks of someone's life. Sometimes things that aren’t vinyl make it into the box. Love notes, cards, photos, newspaper clippings, one time.. a pickle fork. I find it fascinating and as someone who sometimes struggles with social connection, it’s an interesting loophole.

It all kind of goes towards the whole customer service thing. I like to help people, I want to make them happy and I want them to remember their experience with me and at Crosstalk, and to come back again and again. Other retail, you don’t really get that. It’s all a faceless conglomerate. Running a small indie record store is certainly not that.

Josh: It’s my dream job. I wake up on a Saturday morning psyched that I might get to make someone’s day with music. It’s still hard as hell (especially in the current economic climate) and there are always jobs that we all dread doing (we’re all convinced that time ceases to exist when we enter the local Post Office) but we never stop having fun and geeking  out over music. I’m lucky to be able to do this. 

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

Eliza: Staying up to date with the latest music. I thought the first customer to ask me for Chappell Roan was asking for directions. Unfortunately, I cannot be all seeing and all knowing. At least, I don’t think I can. I have favourites that I listen to in my own time and so it can be hard to make enough time to find and listen to all the new potential chart toppers or even just guess what people might be into next; and that goes across all genres, as well. There is just so much music happening all the time, which is extremely cool and good, just…if I don’t know who you’re talking about, don’t laugh at me or I will cry.

Josh: Being talked at by middle-aged men who have spent like $100k+ on their home listening stereo setup yet seem to not be wildly interested in the music that comes out of them. Any dude that uses “the ol’ ball and chain” to reference their long-suffering and extremely patient wife. Repeatedly answering the same two questions: "how long have you been here?" and "do people actually buy vinyl?" Suppliers that still use those annoying little foam balls to cushion their packaging. Primus fans.