Rathdowne Records was established in 2007 which, despite its name, is now located in Northcote. Started out the back of an Arthouse video store – called Small Screen, which he ran for ten years – in North Carlton, Rathdowne Records moved to High Street just in time for Record Store Day last year, but kept the old name as a tribute to “those loyal record diggers who sought [them] out”. We caught up with owner Joel Shortman to find out how things are going in their first anniversary digs and what punters can expect on Saturday.
Rathdowne Records started out as a jazz records specialist, and quickly developed a reputation for being one of the best stockists of the genre in Melbourne. As his business expanded, he added funk, hip hop and disco into the mix, and enjoys searching for obscure library records, world music and other rare grooves. Now situated in an old dress-making shop near the Northcote Town Hall, Shortman, as well as the resident Schnauzer Peko, is enjoying the space, and by the sounds of it, he needed it. In true record collector form, Shortman confesses to a “crate a day habit”, and he now stocks around 11,000 records (“More than we can fit in the shop. Garage sales ahoy!”). For obvious logistical reasons, the move from North Carlton to High Street was a challenge, and something Shortman couldn’t have done without the help of dedicated and equally impassioned others.
“I am so grateful to everyone who helped in the epic move from North Carlton to Northcote and helped me hit the ground running,” he says. “I’m looking to make this year’s Record Store Day even bigger and better.”
Currently in possession of 175 crates (and we’re sure this is growing all the time), Shortman is proud, and rightly so, of what sets Rathdowne Records apart, attributing it to their extensive and diverse collection.
“There aren’t many shops with jazz and hip hop crates as deep as ours that would also carry indie and classic rock,” he says. “I also stock stacks of oddities and esoterica with the crate digger community in mind. Most of these records are original presses rather than reissues. With 175 crates, there are endless records to look through across more genres than most shops carry and fresh stock is constantly hitting the shelves. I’m around pretty much seven days a week, so it is a pretty hands on, personable store, with both rare gems on the wall and guilty pleasures in the bargain crates.”
On Record Store Day, Rathdowne Records will be hosting a bunch of live acts performing in-store, opening two hours earlier than usual. In addition to being a self-described “record nerd”, Shortman is a jazz flautist and he also dabbles in a bit of DJing, but “all my friends are better musicians and more experienced DJs than me, so [having a record store] is my way of keeping them company.”
