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

Our customers are all wonderful, supportive and patient. It’s genuinely unlike anything I’ve experienced or expected before opening, but almost every person who has walked through our door has been really lovely. We’ve got a wide range of most genres in store, trying to cater to many different tastes and are always willing to expand our range to meet new customers desires.Other than the record side of things, we also have a relaxing, comfy café area and occasional acoustic music afternoons. We’ve had some great local talent performing in store and are continually blown away by the amount of talented young performers in our area. We’d love to do more with live music and are always looking for opportunities to put on shows in larger venues.Our staff are all family (literally), with Sarah helping me at the shop and online, as well as my sister Lucy covering at the shop when she can (so I can have a day off sometimes). My Mum bakes all of our homemade cakes and desserts that we sell in the store.

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

The first album sold on our opening day was Portishead’s Dummy - am chuffed to be able to say that. The last was a copy was The Distillers Sing Sing Death House, which I sold to myself after we closed yesterday!I love it when an album that was important to me growing up gets reissued and I get to talk to people about it. Others recently were Maximo Park’s Our Earthly Pleasures and Daft Punk’s Alive 2007.

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

That would have to be my parent’s chain of shops ‘Sgt Peppers’, particularly the Ilford and East Ham branches that I spent a lot of time in after school and on weekends. I have a foggy memory of a toddler me wanting to help “the Robin Hood song” stay at number one, so forced my Dad, against his wishes, to contribute to Bryan Adams record breaking single.
The first thing teenage me bought though was Americana by The Offspring on CD, and my first LP was an original pressing of Blondie’s Parallel Lines. My music taste today is horribly indefinable, but a big part of the foundation definitely comes from Sgt Peppers. I knew who Shalamar were at 6 years old, thanks to a gig I happened to be at, and heard about branch manager Kevin’s best friend, Norman Cook, for years. I saw Eric Clapton, The Eagles and more before I’d hit puberty.

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

Resident in Brighton was where I bought most things when I lived there a few years ago and is one of the main reasons I still visit Brighton occasionally.

What’s your most memorable record store experience?

I was working at HMV in Selfridges one afternoon, when I saw Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller come in together. I bumped into them and had a chat with their pals Ricky Gervais and Jonathon Ross who were in together. All of this while Sarah Harding was queuing at the till! Oh, and they all just missed Liam Howlett and an Appleton sister about an hour before…

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

Our first one was last year and was our busiest day to date. We can’t wait for many more!

What's your all-time favourite book?

For enjoyment: Daft Punk in Hyde Park. For sheer storytelling smugness: Prince at Koko

What's your all-time favourite film?

Watchmen (comic book nerd alert)!

What would make up your desert island discs?

Almost Famous / Logan / Back To The Future

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

Pearl Jam – Ten / The Cure – Disintegration / Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light / The Raveonettes – In & Out Of Control / Air – Moon Safari

What's your all-time favourite record?

Nirvana / Tom Petty / Daft Punk / Mark Lanegan / Jay Z / Wu Tang Clan / Metallica / Jimmy Eat World / Nobuo Uematsu / Soulwax (plus a bonus late night 2manydjs set) / QOTSA (Songs For The Deaf lineup) and then just Tom Waits all day on Sunday

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