Record Store Profile: Kank Wolverang Records VIC

What is your store called? 

Kank Wolverang Records

Where are you located? 

30 Main Road, Bakery Hill in Ballarat

Tell us about the people behind the scenes?

Dan and I are old friends from Ballarat High. He returned form Melbourne a few years back and we were talking about doing something together and we were in our first bands together as teenagers so it had to be music related. My daughter Nella is the brains behind the operation and also knows what new records to order because I would just get The Smiths in constantly and Dan would just stock Iron Maiden and the Cramps.

When and why did the store open?

We started in December 2023. The building came up through family connections and we have a great landlord otherwise it couldn’t happen. The name of the store was created by our mutual friend Lenny Hyatt. It’s a character he created who is an old rock and roller pretending he is famous while no one knows or cares. He had the logo and everything. We asked if we could use his logo and just put ‘Records’ under it. He said yes and all it costs us is a chocolate milkshake whenever he pops in (we have hot and cold drinks available too).

What do your customers most know you for?

Dan Kalken and I (Hap Hayward) have been around the traps playing n bands and we are a part of the music scene here. There are a lot of kids coming through and we have them playing in the corner of the shop on Sundays. They have no idea who we are and they are building their own musical community now. We just sit back like proud uncles or something.

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

Radiohead, Amy Winehouse, Jeff Buckley, Air and Aphex Twin. That’s a strange little grouping but whenever their records come in, they tend to go out the same day!

What is the most popular evergreen title? 

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours or The B52’s debut album.

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

We are small and not trying to change the world. We are in a great little community of quirky shops and feel like the weirdos from school who have found their gang. People come in and we talk music and movies and it’s the love for those things that just makes it a joy to open the doors for. We learn about new and old stuff everyday from new and old people coming in. The best part is buying records – you get really excited by tracking down stuff that’s a bit obscure. We recently bought all girl Melbourne band from The Eighties ‘The Wet Ones’ record second hand and it was like ‘how cool is that?’.

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

Whenever we have the money, we buy stock and we would simply buy more if we could. We don’t have enough metal and being such a vast genre, I would love the chance to deep dive and stock up more on that for example. But we are slowly getting there and I think our scattershot collection is pretty true to our own tastes. The hardest thing is to not be dictated by your own tastes ha-ha! If Hot August night by Neil Diamond changed your life for the better then let’s not get snobby about it!