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

Resident started out as just the 2 of us, setting up a shop that in terms of product offer, wasn’t too dissimilar to the background we knew but it quickly became apparent that we needed to cater for a less mainstream market & so the shop evolved. 
Things have changed a lot over the years. Our beautifully presented shop (we have a real love for design too) sells a massive & really wide selection of new releases & back catalogue on vinyl & CD as well as tickets for most local gigs. We don’t specifically specialise in any area but aim to offer a really solid range across most genres.In 2015 we got brave & took on the lease for the shop next door & knocked the dividing wall down to create double the space, making way for a much needed expansion of our ever growing vinyl range (& to think we were a CD only shop when we opened!). The team now consists of more than 16 Residents (a mixture of full & part time), all of whom work tirelessly to bring the music hungry people of Brighton & Hove (& far beyond) a genuinely warm, informative, good humoured & never snobby or judgemental record shopping experience.

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

The first was Genius / GZA – Liquid Swords on CD.
The last was Big Thief – Capacity on vinyl.

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

The first record shop I remember going to (other than Woolies) was Beanos in Croydon. It was a haven of secondhand records that you could lose yourself in for hours & hours. My friends would go off clothes shopping while I shopped here & we’d meet up later. The 1st record I remember buying was The Cure’s ‘Head On A Door’. I was a late starter in terms of buying records but once I’d discovered the joy of hanging out in record shops, it was all I wanted to do. I got myself a job on Woolies’ record counter in my home town (the only place you could buy records there) & that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do since – sell records for a living.

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

I love Drift in Totnes & Jumbo in Leeds (although I’ve yet to see their new site). They have a massive passion for what they do & that clearly comes across. I also have a massive admiration for Banquet Records & everything they do. Further afield, Amoeba in San Francisco is impossible not to love & we also really loved Pet Sounds in Stockholm when we visited.

What’s your most memorable record store experience?

Opening the doors to our own record shop back in 2004 & winning the Music Week Award for best Independent Retailer 3 times.

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

Battles at ATP, Minehead

What's your all-time favourite book?

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

What's your all-time favourite film?

Leon (Luc Besson) – I even named our son after the film

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

The Cure, Fuck Buttons, Low, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Kate Bush, Grizzly Bear, Joy Division, Portishead, Lionel Richie, Elliott Smith, Queen (with Freddie of course), PJ Harvey, Young Fathers, TV On The Radio, Michael Jackson, Beastie Boys, Battles, Nina Simone, LCD Soundsystem

OTHER RECORD STORES