“To be honest, we don’t really know what we’re aiming to get out of Record Store Day,” says Matthew Richter, a member of the tight knit team at Vinyl Revival. “Because it’s our first, we’re going to be playing it by ear. It was important that we had a band playing, and important to have that presence. Other record stores always have live music and a couple of the places last year were wild. There’d be this great vibe with live music and people outside chilling with beer, but at the end of the day, we’ll have the gig setup for White Summer. There’s going to be plenty of noise. It’s going to be wild.”
Vinyl Revival has a wide range of hi-fi systems and record players, which could either help budding record collectors get cracking or allow longtime record-spinner enhance their existing set-up. On top of that, there are enough popular records to turn low-key vinyl enthusiasts into full blown collectors. However, their longterm goal reaches beyond that – Fitzroy is a bustling hub for music lovers and they’re very eager to engage with the local community.
“It’s about integrating that idea and that feel into the shop,” says Richter. “I think the idea with the shop is getting it away from this big hi-fi shop and into more of a music shop, so it’s really important that we have that connection with the Melbourne live music scene and that we try to promote that. There’ll be more of that ongoing – there was a Beats of Brunswick St event going on two months ago with music going all day in-store. We set up a couple of decks and had a number of DJs play along with two bands until 11-12 o’clock. Things like that we’re planning on doing a lot more of to bring the vibe to the shop. Because the area is so heavily music based, it’s important that the shop becomes part of that final idea.”
Forging these kinds of bonds in the community is a great way to raise the store’s profile. The team at Vinyl Revival are also planning on making Record Store Day extra special by giving punters a listening experience through expensive equipment, reinforcing the reason why it’s a good idea to invest in advanced audio gear.
“There’s a couple of Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness box sets lying around – amazing album, this giant enigma of an album. As part of selling those, we’re going to do a listen,” says Richter. “You’ll be able to go to our sister shop, Stereophonic, and listen to that entire album on $200,000 worth of stereo equipment. You’ll never be able to hear that album in that way, ever.
“Because the store comes from such a hi-fi base element, it’s nice to be able to deliver that. It’s probably pretty exclusive for us. You kind of learn after working in here – I come from that background of listening on cheap shitty units – you learn and get blown away from what music can sound like. What it should sound like. You’re getting so much back from it – it’s an investment in the music itself.”
BY THOMAS BRAND
