Image credit: Chloe Evans
Independent Labels Make Some of the Best Record Stores
Record stores all over the world focus on different genres and formats, but there is one common thread between them all: a love of music inspired someone to open a shop. One of the most intriguing origin stories is the tale of the independent record label that eventually becomes a record store.
Record shops could not exist without labels and bands releasing physical media, so it’s natural that certain labels would eventually expand their operations and secure a storefront. Labels are tastemakers, and those keen sensibilities translate incredibly well when curating the selection for a record store.
Whether they needed more space for storage, wanted to share music beyond their label’s output, or recognized the promise of making a career out of the one thing they love most, all of these independent labels arrived at the same conclusion: they needed to open a record store. To figure out how and why, Discogs asked three store owners about how they took their label experience and turned it into some of the global vinyl community’s most celebrated record stores.
Sorry State Records
Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Sorry State Records is a record store, record label, and webstore that specializes in new and collectible punk, metal, and jazz.
Address: 317 W Morgan St, Suite 105 Raleigh, NC 27601
Owner: Daniel Lupton
Website: www.sorrystaterecords.com
Label: Sorry State Records on Bandcamp
Shop: sorrystate in Discogs Marketplace
Discogs: You’ve probably learned a lot while running your own label. What lessons and skills helped you most as you took on the responsibilities of running a store?
DL: “Understanding the basics of how records are made and distributed certainly helped (I’ve seen a surprising number of shops open up where the owners don’t have that), but the most important asset was probably the shop owners I had befriended because they had bought titles from my label. People like Bobby at Vinyl Conflict in Richmond, Tony at Celebrated Summer in Baltimore, and Scott at Lunchbox Records in Charlotte gave me a lot of helpful information when we were starting out. Running the label also helped build some skills in project management, understanding how to take an idea and break it down into the steps that you need to do in order to see it through and make it happen.”
Discogs: How has your label experience influenced your approach to sharing music with others in your shop?
DL: “One thing I realized as the label’s catalog expanded was that it had developed its own audience, and that people would check out an artist just because they were on Sorry State. Similarly, running a shop isn’t just about giving your customers what they want (though you have to do that too!), but giving your customers an opportunity to grow and nurture their passion for music by having new and interesting things for them to check out. One of the best feelings someone working in a record shop can have is selling something off the turntable, when you’re listening to something in the store and a customer hears it, likes it, and wants to buy it. That feeling of bringing customers along for the journey is something that carries over from the label to the shop.”
Armageddon Shop
Based in Providence, Rhode Island, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, Armageddon Shop includes an online store, two record labels, and two record stores that carry a wide array of genres including punk, industrial, metal, indie rock, classic rock, prog rock, blues, jazz, dub, and other odds and ends.
Armageddon Shop is located at 436 Broadway Providence, RI 02909, and
12b Eliot Cambridge, MA 02138. Their owners are Ben Barnett and Chris Andries.
Address: 436 Broadway Providence, RI 02909, and
12b Eliot Cambridge, MA 02138
Owners: Ben Barnett / Chris Andries
Website: www.armageddonshop.com
Label: Armageddon Label on Bandcamp
Shop: armageddonshop in Discogs Marketplace
Directory: Armageddon Shop Providence, Armageddon Shop Cambridge
Discogs: You started as a record label. What inspired you to expand your operations and open a record store?
Ben Barnett: I started Armageddon Label in 1998 after doing Crust Records for 9 years. That was to release the Dropdead album that came out in ’98. It was time to do something new. Dropdead ended up doing a 6 month long US/European tour where I met my original shop partner Anne-Gaelle. We talked about opening a store in Providence as a bunch of long time record shops were closing at that time. Armageddon Shop opened in 2001, the name Armageddon Shop we chose to keep some continuity from the label. We were primarily driven to do a shop to fill a void being left by all the other stores that were closing. Providence needed a shop that focused primarily on more underground current independent music. We switched up ownership in 2005 and Chris came in as a partner when Anne-Gaelle left. We opened the Boston location in 2010.”
Discogs: You’ve probably learned a lot while running your own label. What lessons and skills helped you most as you took on the responsibilities of running a store?
BB: Pay all the bills before any money goes to anything else. We didn’t take any money from the shop for the first 2 years, we just kept putting it back in. Staying within our means with ordering and buying. Operating on a 100% debt free basis keeps our stress level low. Doing mail order, something I’ve been doing since 1989, and since the shop opened, it’s really been a large part of what we do every day. Being involved in the local music and arts community has been a huge part of the shop as well. Booking shows, in store readings and art shows, putting out local bands’ records. The shop is a big umbrella with a lot of connected elements underneath.
Discogs: How has your label experience influenced your approach to sharing music with others in your shop?
BB: We expanded the ability to share new music by starting a new in-shop label also called Armageddon Shop. Initially it was to release a vinyl 12″ by Elder. That has expanded to include other local releases (Magic Circle, Churchburn, Fit For Abuse, Deep Wound) and a series of Brainbombs LP reissues. Having the shop name on those has hopefully helped get the music out into the world for people to enjoy. In the shop, it’s a very social experience, for some people it’s maybe one of few places they can feel free to be themselves, or maybe their only regular social outlet. Keeping an open mind and listening to people that come in has been as important as anything we bring to the experience. We learn every day, and we share what we can in return. No two days are ever alike, we never get bored doing this.
1-2-3-4 Go! Records
Based in Oakland, California, 1-2-3-4 Go! Records is an independent label, record store, and online shop that is genre-fluid with strong interests in indie, punk, hip-hop, metal, jazz, rock, and pop.
Address: 420 40th St #5, Oakland, CA 94609
Owners: Steve Stevenson
Website: 1-2-3-4 Go! Records
Label: 1-2-3-4 Go! Records
Marketplace: 1234gorecords
Directory: 1-2-3-4 Go! Records
Discogs: You started as a record label. What inspired you to expand your operations and open a record store?
Steve Stevenson: “I’ve been lucky enough to have worked in music for essentially all my adult life and owning my own store was on my radar very very early. Going back to my days in Seattle during the late 90’s early 2000’s when I worked for two different shops up there. I had done the calculations on what I thought it would take to open the sort of store I wanted to run and the funding was far beyond my reach so I shelved that dream for several years until this opportunity came up in 2008. I had been laid off from my previous job at a music merchandise company called Cinder Block in 2007 and spent a year putting out records, going on small tours and generally trying to figure out what I wanted to do next. At no point during that time did I think I was anywhere close to having enough money to open a store. However, I got an email from an old co-worker who told me about a very small space that was open next to the bike shop they were about to open and they thought I really needed to see it. It was 160 square feet and extremely rough inside. There hadn’t been anything open in there in over a decade. However the rent was only $475 and I figured why not give it a shot with my personal record collection and the small amount of distro items I had for my website. If it failed it wouldn’t be a huge catastrophe and if it succeeded I would have a toe hold into something I always wanted to do. There were a lot of ups and downs that first year. Some that convinced me I was on the right path and others that made me feel like I had made a very stressful mistake. I stuck with it though, we expanded into a larger space the next year and then into the current space we’re in a few years later. That space has since expanded into another unit and later this year will expand even further. It took a lot of doing but we made it!”
Discogs: You’ve probably learned a lot while running your own label. What lessons and skills helped you most as you took on the responsibilities of running a store?
SS: “I think working at stores informed my label more than my label would inform working at a shop. My experience in and love of independent record stores drives me to create versions of records we do that can only be found there. I want to drive folks into their local shops as much as possible. I know first hand how helpful that can be. Bands and labels are much better than they used to be but when I started the store a ton of labels had basically abandoned stores and sold exclusively through their own websites. Record Store Day has actually done a ton to show people that giving us versions or exclusives has a really positive effect for everyone involved.”
Discogs: How has your label experience influenced your approach to sharing music with others in your shop?
SS: “Especially in the early days of the shop when I was doing a ton of local releases for currently active bands it was amazing to see people’s responses to records we did while they were playing in the shop. I remember when the Shannon and the Clams Sleep Talk LP came out I would sell at least one copy every time I put it on in the shop. It was the easiest sale in the world. They are such an undeniably great band and that album is one of their finest. Playing music in the shop at all times is a must. Even if it’s something obscure or out of print that we can’t sell people, it may spark some inspiration for something we do have or a conversation that opens up another door. Those sorts of interactions can be really special.”