Give us the background.. when and why did you decide to open a record shop?

Dash The Henge Store opened on 12th October 2022 after a whirlwind 8 weeks. 
Before that, Dash The Henge existed as a record label focused on championing outsider artists, we heard that the legendary Rat Records was closing down in the summer of 22 and decided it was our civic and cultural  duty to keep the premises open as a record store. We spoke to the landlord and lo and behold someone had beaten us to it and applied for a change of usage to turn it into a chicken shop, South London famously has more than it’s fair share of chicken shops! 
Fortunately, the change of usage was declined by the council and we were next in line. We agreed terms on 12th August, got keys on 12th September and opened with an in-store performance by the mighty Warmducher on 12th October… A proper whirlwind couple of months!

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

We describe our store as genre-fluid, we stock anything and everything as long as it’s good! We’ve kept the Rat Records legacy going with large selection of secondhand vinyl but as supporters of outsider music and artists we have a larger selection of new and reissue vinyl. 
As has been well documented very few artists make anything from streaming so to be able to support artists by selling their physical product is central to our ethos. We also have live music performances every Saturday at 5pm where we champion existing and brand new artists, these are promotional events and tie into releases (whether physical or not) and give 100% of all product and merch sales back to the artist.
Events are integral to the soul of the store and in the short time we’ve been open we’ve hosted label launches, book launches, poetry nights and radio takeovers alongside the live performances. It wasn’t necessarily our intention but we’ve become a cultural hub in the heart of South London.
Our customers are a mix of old school Rat regulars, young people often buying their first vinyl (we’ve begun selling affordable Bluetooth connected turntables for those just starting out) established vinyl fans and everyone in between.

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

The very first record we sold in the shop was a reissue of The Troggs - Wild On The Radio to a customer called Mick who wandered in before we were even officially open, our first bestseller was Brian Destiny - Brian’s Got Talent EP and rightly so as Brian Destiny is a Dash The Henge label artist!

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

Everybody involved in the store are huge music/vinyl fans, everyone has a story about their firsts but we’re now unified that we’ve started our own store and collectively push it forward!

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

No time currently… We’re all too busy focused on making our shop the best it can be!

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