A Slice of Vinyl

103 Stoke Road, Gosport, Hampshire, PO12 1LR

02392 502780

UPCOMING RECORD STORE DAY EVENT

GIVE US THE BACKGROUND - WHEN AND WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO OPEN A RECORD SHOP?

Music has always been a part of my life. I started playing drums in secondary school and then went on to study popular music in college, drumming in cover bands and spending weekends playing in grubby pubs covered in years of pasted posters over the walls. It was great!When I left college, I did not know what I wanted to do but still kept music in the background. My stepdad is a massive vinyl freak, so I feel like I was subconsciously pushed towards vinyl. Before ASOV began I found myself in a job I hated – I wanted to see what I could do working for myself, so I started a local market stall monthly.With the help of good friends and family karting 100’s of records to our town centre on a Saturday morning, I got started selling vinyl. I realised I needed to open a store once the monthly stalls became fortnightly, then weekly and finally twice a week. I knew the demand for good music was there! I quit my job and went into it full time and have not looked back since. I always struggled getting up in the morning in my 9 to 5 office job, but I can honestly say that is not a problem anymore. Being able to share music from all over the world from my little shop is pretty special.

Tell us a little bit about your store? What's the vibe?

We’re a family run business and a big believers in following your passions in life; and that’s what led us to open our own record shop in our hometown. We’ve grown from a Saturday market stall to our biggest bricks and mortar shop yet, and that was all achieved alongside our vinyl community!
We champion music that makes you smile from Taylor Swift all the way through to Latin Grooves. Each staff member ®gular here brings their own love of music to the counter, so we never get bored.
We host regular instores and outstores, plus QAs with authors & musicians alike – it’s a great way to get everyone together for a good time and enjoy music and it’s stories in an intimate space. We feel very lucky to host such exciting musical moments!

Can you remember the first record you sold in the shop? And the last?

Our first sale was Paul Simon, Graceland and our last was New Order – Blue Monday and Metallica Death Magnetic.

Do you remember the first record shop you went to? And you do you remember the first record you bought?

We didn’t really have any decent record shops in our hometown whilst we were growing up, it was all about digging through the charity shops and car boot sales. Kieron’s music taste has always been all over the place and he puts this down to his Mum, Dad and Stepdad they all listened to such different types of music, and he loved it all.
For Emma, her Nan played her radio 24/7 (it was on for the cats even when she was out!) and that cemented her love and nostalgia for pop and mainstream music. There’s lots of fond memories there, dancing round the living room to vinyl singles on a Sunday afternoon.

What is your favourite record shop (apart from your own!) and why?

There are so many to choose from – it’s great when you see a record shop lean into a theme or genre and really make it their own.

What’s your most memorable record store experience?

We had the lovely guys from Starsailor come into the shop for an instore – whilst they were sound checking we were blown away by James’ vocals and both our brains imploded. Really cool and special moment that we still talk about today. We always feel super lucky to be able to host great musicians in our little shop!

How has Record Store Day been for you?

Emma is an absolute Record Store Day geek, so it’s always her favourite day of the year for us as a business. It brings in so many different groups of people, and that makes it an incredibly special day for everyone in the queue and us too. Our customers are always so welcoming to each other, often recommending titles and artists to others, and you really do get to know someone when you’re sleeping outside in a fold up chair for 10 hours next to each other! We always have breakfast and treats to give out before opening, and cram the day with live, local music.

What's the best gig you've ever been to?

Kieron: Motorhead, Portsmouth Guildhall
Emma: Jimmy Eat World in 2002!

What's your all-time favourite book?

Kieron: The Hungry Caterpillar, the little scamp is always so hungry.
Emma: Ever read Goosebumps? Haven’t slept since the 90s

What's your all-time favourite film?

Kieron: Jaws – a little bit too obsessed with sharks
Emma: Shaun Of The Dead, always impressed by their use of vinyl as a defence against the undead.

What would make up your desert island discs?

Kieron:
Tom Petty – Running Down A Dream
Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
Motorhead – Over Kill
Futureheads – Hounds Of Love
Sam Fender – Hypersonic Missles
Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
David Bowie – Lets Dance
The Darkness – Girlfriend
Emma:
Ray Lamontagne – Trouble
Charli xcx – Brat
Olivia Dean – Art Of Loving
Hayley Williams – EDABP
Kate Nash – House Of Bricks
Any thing Sam Fender!

Who would form your all-time Festival line-up? (past & present)

Kieron: Tom Petty, The Hives, Bruce Springsteen, Flights Of Concords, Futureheads and Motorhead.
Emma: Olivia Dean, Sam Fender, CMAT, Hayley Williams, The Killers, Jungle