Give us a rundown of your store’s history.
Off The Hip grew from a fanzine/label/mail order into a retail store in 2004, moving to our current Flinders Lane location in 2006.
When did your love affair with records begin, and what’s your fondest memory of records?
Mid ’80s Aussie garage rock is where my real passion began. Bands like The Stems, Bamboos, Moffs, Tyrnaround, Bo-Weevils, and many more got me hooked. I’d buy anything and everything from labels like Citadel, Red Eye, Phantom, Dog Meat, Greasy Pop and Au Go Go to name a few.
My fondest memory: finding an original Ardent pressing (with promotion press kit) of the second Big Star album, Radio City, while diggin’ thru Memphis many years back.
What’s on the cards for RSD 2016?
Each year we open 9am, and run a mini festival from 2pm. Live on stage this year we’ll have full band sets from Yard Apes (launching their new LP), Tankerville, Spotting, Evil Twin and more. We don’t deal in RSD titles, but we do have 150LPs and 300 singles hitting the racks for this special day, get on down for a dig.
What are some of the rarer records you have in stock?
A bunch of White Stripes 45s, debut Husker Du single, test pressings by New Bomb Turks, Teengenerate, Cheater Slicks, plus a great stash of Aussie punk posters. Though rare items tend not to stay in the racks for very long.
If your store was a film, who would direct it and what would the story be?
Definitely directed by Russ Meyer, the real prequel to Beyond the Valley Of The Dolls, with The Carrie Nations meeting each other at Off The Hip while searching for Aussie nugget 45s by The Black Diamonds and Missing Links.
