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

PETE: I was driving to a work meeting miles away, listening to BBC 6 Music, and they were interviewing record stores the day before RSD 17. I’d dabbled in the past with mail order, under the name Purple Records, but decided that now was the time to open our own physical store.
ELLIE: My dad (Pete) floated the idea past me during my first year of university. We’ve always been a family of music lovers, and I was looking for a job I could do alongside my uni course, so it seemed like the perfect fit. Once I graduated from uni, I took over the shop full-time and have never looked back!

Tell us about your store – what’s the vibe

PETE & ELLIE: We’re an independent family-run store with a chilled out, friendly atmosphere and a love of music of all shapes and sizes.

CAN YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST RECORD YOU SOLD IN THE SHOP? AND THE LAST?

PETE & ELLIE: Pearl Jam – Vitalogy was the first record we ever sold. Latest album we’ve sold was Justin Timberlake – Justified. Talk about a genre change.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST RECORD SHOP YOU WENT TO? AND YOU DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST RECORD YOU BOUGHT?

PETE: Sounds in Bloxwich high street, 1978. First record I ever bought was Boomtown Rats – Like Clockwork.
ELLIE: First record I ever bought was Big Country – The Crossing from a small secondhand shop in Tintagel, Cornwall while on holiday in 2021.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE RECORD SHOP (APART FROM YOUR OWN!) AND WHY?

PETE: Bridge Records, Walsall. They’re no longer in business, but it was my go-to for records as my musical taste developed during my teen and young adult years. It was the coolest place to pick up records, and a played a part in how we set up our own record store.
ELLIE: Sounds OK on Falmouth high street. It’s the best place I’ve found to pick up secondhand records, I always come away with some real gems.

WHAT’S YOUR MOST MEMORABLE RECORD STORE EXPERIENCE?

PETE: Public Service Broadcasting – Race for Space in-store performance, 2015, at Rough Trade Nottingham.
ELLIE: Same answer as my dad’s, PSB in Rough Trade Nottingham, 2015.

WHAT'S THE BEST GIG YOU'VE EVER BEEN TO?

PETE: U2 at the NEC, Birmingham, 1984 on their Unforgettable Fire tour. It was my first ever gig.
ELLIE: Two Door Cinema Club at the NME Awards Tour in 2012, it was fantastic. I danced all night! Or U2 on their 360° Tour in Helsinki, 2010.

WHAT'S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVOURITE BOOK?

PETE: George Orwell – Animal Farm.
ELLIE: Any of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, or John Edward Williams – Stoner.

WHAT'S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVOURITE FILM?

PETE: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
ELLIE: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, or Spirited Away.

WHAT WOULD MAKE UP YOUR DESERT ISLAND DISCS?

PETE: U2 – War, The Wonder Stuff – Hup!, Sigur Ros - Ágætis byrjun, Massive Attack – Blue Lines, Orbital – In Sides, The Orb – Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld.
ELLIE: The Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream, The Smashing Pumpkins – Gish, Hole – Live Through This, The Cult – Love, Massive Attack – Blue Lines, Curve – Doppelganger.

WHO WOULD FORM YOUR ALL-TIME FESTIVAL LINE-UP? (PAST & PRESENT)

PETE: The Jam, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Doors.
ELLIE: Hole, Pearl Jam, Osees, The Smashing Pumpkins, Curve, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors.

OTHER RECORD STORES