HYPERLOCAL NEWS HUB BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM
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Get
the Real Vinyl Experience at Goner Records
By Manon Priebe/MicroMemphis Reporter
With CD sales steadily decreasing – who would even buy vinyl? And who would be so adventurous to sell vinyl?
Goner Records on 2152 Young Avenue does – and seems to be backing the right horse.
Zac Ives and Eric Friedl opened the store in February of 2004.
The pair “both really dug music,” as Zac Ives states: “We both love record stores and small labels that seemed to care about what they stocked and released - more than just a bottom line”. The two wanted to create something that could function that way for other people.
The idea for the record store was born. They pulled together a business plan, built some shelved, maxed out a couple of credit cards and got the place going. And the location was Cooper-Young. Eric Friedl: “When people come to Goner they often get coffee or food in Cooper-Young, and get to see all the other shops in the area. Everything is cumulative. We love our location.”
But Goner and vinyl have a much longer shared history. It all started in 1993, when rock music came out of garages. Back then, Friedl founded the label when putting out the first Guitar Wolf record. Almost 20 years later, they´re still at it. 2011 Goner Records Label put out seven singles, one 12" EP, four double LP/CDs, one single LP/CD and one digital only release.
With CD sales steadily decreasing – who would even buy vinyl? And who would be so adventurous to sell vinyl?
Goner Records on 2152 Young Avenue does – and seems to be backing the right horse.
Zac Ives and Eric Friedl opened the store in February of 2004.
The pair “both really dug music,” as Zac Ives states: “We both love record stores and small labels that seemed to care about what they stocked and released - more than just a bottom line”. The two wanted to create something that could function that way for other people.
The idea for the record store was born. They pulled together a business plan, built some shelved, maxed out a couple of credit cards and got the place going. And the location was Cooper-Young. Eric Friedl: “When people come to Goner they often get coffee or food in Cooper-Young, and get to see all the other shops in the area. Everything is cumulative. We love our location.”
But Goner and vinyl have a much longer shared history. It all started in 1993, when rock music came out of garages. Back then, Friedl founded the label when putting out the first Guitar Wolf record. Almost 20 years later, they´re still at it. 2011 Goner Records Label put out seven singles, one 12" EP, four double LP/CDs, one single LP/CD and one digital only release.
The label is not only located in Cooper-Young, they also put out records
by artists who live or lived in the neighborhood: Jay Reatard and
Harlan T Bobo are only a few of them.
Selling and producing is not enough for Friedl and Ives, who also lives in Cooper-Young. They play in bands themselves. “When it's good - it's usually loud, abrasive, and sloppy. It's all those things when it's bad too, but usually just more annoying.” Ives says. When it comes to stocking the store, they don´t really care about whatever the flavor of the week is: “We pay more attention to stocking what we think is good.” No wonder the Goner store is piled up with records the owner themselves love listening to. You name it, Goner most probably sells it: From Asian psychedelic music, pre-war blues and obscure soul records over 60s Cambodian garage, Ethiopian funk, free jazz and French girl groups to raw gospel. Or as Friedl puts it: “We sell all kinds of music- Rock, Blues, Gospel, Soul, Country, Reggae, Folk, International music and weird, weird music, too.” Ives promises: “Anything that sorta sounds different, we try and get behind.” |
Video By Chris Freitas
|
Once a foot is set
into the store at Young Avenue, you know these guys are not kidding: The
speakers roam with the sound of guitars and the shelves shake from the
bass and you can dive into an ocean of well organized vinyl records–
probably 25,000, maybe 35,000 pieces.
Rummage through the many black, flat plates one cannot help but ask: Where do they get all these rare records from? “We buy records all the time - most of them come from buying collections in town. Occasionally we go through dealers that come through town,” Ives answers.
Being a music lover and selling music can occasionally be hard: “Sometimes one of us sees something we've always wanted and we wind up holding onto it, but not that often. At this point - it's usually more fun to hook up someone in town that might get as excited as we do with it. That's part of the fun of owning a shop.”
Rummage through the many black, flat plates one cannot help but ask: Where do they get all these rare records from? “We buy records all the time - most of them come from buying collections in town. Occasionally we go through dealers that come through town,” Ives answers.
Being a music lover and selling music can occasionally be hard: “Sometimes one of us sees something we've always wanted and we wind up holding onto it, but not that often. At this point - it's usually more fun to hook up someone in town that might get as excited as we do with it. That's part of the fun of owning a shop.”
Photos by Latresia Sutton |
And they love to celebrate music – at the Gonerfest, a festival they´ve been running for the past seven years. Band from Japan, Canada, Australia, England, Germany, France, Italy, Puerto Rico, and all across the United States had played there.
As Friedl says: “The fans have come from all these places and more. They all want to be a part of four non-stop days of rock n roll and hanging out in Memphis eating barbecue and meeting new people. Always a wild time.” And the rumor that nobody´s buying CDs, let alone vinyl, anymore? It´s true that in 2011, for the first time digital music sales were larger than physical ones. Yet, for the fourth consecutive year, more vinyl albums were purchased than any other year in the history of Nielsen SoundScan. All in all 3.9 million vinyl albums were sold 2011 – 67% of them at independent music stores. |
Ives tries to explain this trend: “With so much music now just existing
on hard drives and in the clouds, I think more and more people like
the tangible aspect of a record. You can hold it in your hands. Stare
at the cover. Read liner notes. Artwork is bigger and means something.”
For him, putting an iPod on shuffle or listening to something on Spotify isn´t as good as putting a vinyl album on the turntables: “It´s just a different experience.”
If you want to get the vinyl-experience yourself visit Goner Records.
For him, putting an iPod on shuffle or listening to something on Spotify isn´t as good as putting a vinyl album on the turntables: “It´s just a different experience.”
If you want to get the vinyl-experience yourself visit Goner Records.
Manon Priebe/ MicroMemphis reporter
Manon Priebe covers A & E for MicroMemphis.
You can send her story ideas here.
Follow her on Twitter ( @manonpriebe ).
Chris Freitas/MicroMemphis reporter
_ Chris Freitas covers Arts and Entertainment for MicroMemphis.
You can send him story ideas here.
You can follow him on Twitter (@chrisfreitas23).