SAVE OUR RECORD SHOPS: Onionheart Records, Exmouth
As part of our Save Our Record Shops feature, and with National Record Store Day coming up later this month, we’ve collected some info on some of the best record stores in the region…
Onionheart Records, Unit 2, Staples Mews, Exeter Road, Exmouth, Devon, EX8 1PL
01395 223 435 // www.holditdown.org
Hey Michael, how long has your shop been open?
The shop opened at the tail end of 1995 so we are into year fifteen.
Do you specialise in any particular kind of music?
Initially we featured a lot of jazz, funk and breaks but as other shops have pulled out of music we have had to generalise, to be all things to all men.
What has been the most memorable thing that has happened in the shop over the years?
I can’t remember!! I did chat to the comedian Sean Locke for over an hour about vinyl without realising who he was, until an hour after he had left.
How have the changes in the music industry (downloading etc) affected your shop?
Demographically the clientele has gotten considerably older, those who fear the internet. But also a lot of people like to own the genuine artifact. It’s nice to have something physical rather than what amounts to a compressed sounding text message. I believe that some people will continue to prefer the journey of an entire over selecting a handful of tracks from it.
How have you tried to address the changes that you have witnessed in the industry – what are you doing that’s new?
The shop has dipped it’s toes into live promotions under the mantle of Hold It Down. Unfortunately the shop could not exist on sales alone. I also host the Onionheart album show on Exeter’s Phonic 106.8FM. (www.phonic.fm) from 4pm – 6pm on the first Wednesday of each month.
Where do you see things going in the next four or five years? Will you still be open as a shop?
It’s a constant struggle to remain open, our existence depends totally on having an overdraft, once the bank withdraws the facility that’s pretty much us done. But in the past year we have maintained the overdraft at pretty much the same level. And any money made does tend to go straight back to the bank in the form of charges.
