Music matters: Vinyl revival on show for record day

Sick of streaming? How you can join the hordes of record collectors lining up across Tassie for their biggest day of the year.

Adam MacGregor with wife Kirsty MacGregor with a selection of records to be released on the day. Tommy Gun Records in Hobart ahead of National Record Store Day. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Bigger than Boxing Day or pre-Christmas sales- the busiest day on the calendar for independent record stores is here again.

Last year’s Record Store Day saw keen collectors lining up at Tommy Gun Records from 1am in the hopes of getting their hands on exclusive releases from their favourite artists.

Tommy Gun Record store owner Adam MacGregor said when he started the shop around 20 years ago, the demographic buying records was “what you would imagine”.

“There were a lot of guys over 30 — now it’s all ages,” Mr MacGregor said.

“We get the younger kids in with their parents.

“Then we get the baby boomers coming in who are getting back into records after selling their collections when CDs came in,” he said.

Tommy Gun Records co-owners Adam and Kirsty MacGregor with a selection of records to be released on Record Store Day. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

That faithful customer who lined up at 1am was a “Swifty”- a Taylor Swift fan keen to get their hands on Swift’s special release for last year’s Record Store Day.

Mr MacGregor said they sold a Swift record every week.

Co-owner Kirsty MacGregor said she thinks “nostalgia” is a big reason behind the return to records.

“The quality of the sound is a huge part of it,” Mrs MacGregor said.

“For younger people, they are really excited about the objet d’art.

“A lot of younger people are sick of streaming- they actually want to have the physical media.

“They love the artwork and all the things that we loved when we were younger and collecting records,” she said.

All three of Hobart’s independent record stores, as well as Collector’s Corner in Burnie, Avenue Records in Launceston and Aeroplane Records at the Salamanca Market are participating in the bumper day on Saturday.

As well as exclusive records, Sandy Bays Suffragette Records will be hosting live acoustic music from local artists EWAH and Ruby Morris from 2pm.

Oberon Carter, who runs Suffragette Records with his wife Lauren and three daughters, said he was expecting a “really nice vibe” with people enjoying their shop space and supporting women in music.

“Last year we had a line out the door in the morning,” he said.

DarkLab recently took over Music Without Frontiers and director Leigh Carmichael said he was excited to be participating in record store day for the first time.

“Music plays such an important part in all of our lives, and has a way of triggering memories and emotions that other art forms can’t, so music really matters to many of us,” he said.

“It’s encouraging to see the resurgence in vinyl sales globally, as people are reverting back to the superior aesthetics and physical experience of listening to vinyl records.

“Record Store Day plays an important role in the music industry ecosystem, supporting physical stores to remain open, to employ staff and support local musicians and help music lovers get access to their favourite artists,” Mr Carmichael said.