Music-lovers' favourite Resident Records celebrates 10 years of success

The fact that Justin Vernon’s introspective collection sold well is apt: it reflects Resident’s ethos.

In 2009 the album had a small release and little attention from the industry and press. Its popularity grew by word of mouth and in the end it became a hit.

Resident co-owner Derry Watkins remembers hearing tracks from the then-unknown songwriter Vernon at his first UK show in the former Pressure Point club as part of Great Escape Festival 2008.

His wife and co-boss, Natasha Youngs, plus the shop’s entire staff and half of Brighton, clambered to get in. “We didn’t expect it to get as big as it did but that is the kind of release we can do really well with,” Watkins explains, a few days before Resident holds a week of anniversary celebrations before Record Store Day on April 19.

“It is the same with Matthew E White and The War On Drugs in the past few years. They were slow-building albums which took a while to get there, but that means they don’t come and go.”

Watkins agrees it’s the antidote to hype and hyperbole.

“That is what we are about. Being around for the long-run.”

Ten years is a fine achievement and cause for celebration. When the shop first opened, people said it would be gone in six months.

“Everyone had this false impression record shops were all over and it was all about downloads, but it has never really been the case. It is not like it has been easy the whole time but it has been great to do.”

Not only do its customers love the place but industry bible Music Week named Resident Independent Record Shop Of The Year in 2011 and it was a finalist in the award in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

The couple began the shop after working for Our Price and Virgin and seeing once great companies lose their focus.

The music-selling business became about peripheral extras rather than what mattered: providing music for customers.

“People’s desire to find new music has never changed but it is easy to lose focus on that. “We never did, so we wanted to set up our own place where we live.

“Record shops have a bad reputation for not being clean and being boys’ clubs.

“We wanted Resident to be somewhere we could be proud of, not just for what we stock but also how we treat people.”

He’s referring to Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, which epitomises that fusty image of record shops.

Hornby’s characters loved shops with smells of “stale smoke, damp and plastic dust-covers... damp and dusty and overcrowded... only Phil Collins’ fans bother with those that look as clean and wholesome as a suburban Habitat.”

Watkins has a soft spot for High Fidelity, especially that feeling when customers buy a record on the spot after they’ve heard it playing in store.

“You feel really pleased you’ve introduced people to new music. The best part of the job is discovering new music and our customers discovering new music too.”

Spotify, the online streaming music service, would seem a bigger threat to independent record stores than downloading. The Swedish-owned company collates listener preferences and recommends new music with its ‘discover’ section.

Downloads tend to be the medium for convenience and disposability. Or, as Watkins says, “those are things you use for music on-the-go. I want this track for a while, but I am not bothered in the long-run. Serious music fans buy on vinyl or CD.”

The big change during the store’s ten years has been the resurgence of vinyl. Half the store’s 10,000 stock items are now given over to vinyl releases. Should the demand for CDs not be so great, Watkins reckons he could give the whole shop over to vinyl sales.

“This reflects people seeing the value in music.”

Other major changes since its birth are selling gig tickets, seven extra members of staff and the growing importance of the website. “It is becoming a bigger and bigger part of what we do but it is still relatively small.

“One bonus is regular customers who have moved away – sometimes as far as New Zealand – can still shop with us. “It’s nice that we can have some continuity with people who have moved away.”

Record Store Day, originally an event to promote independent stores and get the story out that many shops are still thriving, is a vinyl-only sales day. Some have said it has lost its appeal but Watkins says people are more excited than ever.

Customers camp outside overnight to be first in line to buy one-off releases. Resident throws open its doors at 7am and last year the staff reached the end of the queue at 6pm.

At first vinyl freaks would queue for only a few hours beforehand. Two years ago eager shoppers arrived at 1am and last year some were pitching their tents at 6.30pm the day before.

“There is a real British spirit to it and friendships have been made in the queue: the same people turn up together the year after.”

Tasty special releases this year include a 12” of Joy Division’s debut release, An Ideal For Living, with new artwork and master cut at Abbey Road.

There is a 7” of Natasha Khan (Bat For Lashes) and Jon Hopkins’ Garden’s Heart for the film How I Live Now, a new Damon Albarn track and a 5LP vinyl set of LCD Soundsystem’s four-hour final show at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Resident’s ten-year anniversary celebrations include in-store and out-store performances by local bands.

The shop is also teaming up with Brighton Dome to curate a monthly new music night, Spectrum, starting with Fear Of Men launching their debut album, Loom, on April 15. Previous instore performances by Mumford & Sons, Bat For Lashes, Laura Marling and The xx have made for special memories.

“Some bands have gone on to bigger things and it was great we had them early in their careers. “But I’ve enjoyed bands that we are fond of playing over and over again such as Micah P Hinson and Field Music.

“It’s great when a local band you really like put something out and you see the records sell and they do well after.”

Esben And The Witch and regular customer Natasha Khan are two examples.

Enduring appeal

That Resident still exists and is busier than ever is the real story.

Yet Watkins and Youngs have a few years to go before they can compete with evergreen Brighton vinyl trader George Ginn. He has run a dusty vinyl heaven called The Record Album, loved by Damon Albarn and Brian Eno, in Terminus Road since 1962.

Across town, however, much-loved independent stores have closed. Rounder Records, formerly in Brighton Square, closed in 2012 after 46 years. Borderline, opened by Dave Minns and Sian Davis in 1981 in Gardner Street, shut only a few weeks ago.

The latter was mentioned by music distributor Graham Jones in his 2009 love letter to independent record stores Last Shop Standing. The book chronicled the independents’ plights and noted in the four years prior to publication, 540 retailers had closed. Minns told Jones lack of council support and high rents were his biggest challenge. Five years on, Borderline is making way for a coffee shop.

“We always thought having more record shops is good for everyone,” says Watkins. “It’s one of those things where people come to Brighton to go record shopping and go round everywhere in town so everyone gets a bit of custom.”

Jones bemoaned the parking prices in Brighton on his visit.

Watkins says one of Resident’s biggest challenges was when the cut-price chain Fopp arrived in the city. “By offering something different, we managed to keep going while they were here. “We have always tried to be good on price ourselves so there wasn’t a massive difference.”

The real low point, where Watkins and Youngs struggled to pay suppliers and had their personal life squeezed, came after Beachdown festival was cancelled just two days before it was due to start.

But that’s the past and Watkins is focused on the future “Here’s to another ten years,” he says.

Resident 10th anniversary shows – for tickets call 01273 606312

Esben & The Witch
The Hope, Queen’s Road, Brighton, Sunday, April 13
Long-time Resident faves and purveyors of introspective goth-
tinged indie play a double header with Bristolian fuzz lovers Thought Forms.
The two groups have recorded a split EP together. Buy
it from Resident for two free guest list places to the show.
From noon to 3pm.
 

Smoke Fairies
Resident Records, Kensington Gardens, Brighton, Monday, April 14
The Chichester-born duo cast off the folky twang for
a looser, more atmospheric sound on their fourth LP
out on indie stable Full Time Hobby.
Pre-order the record on either CD or LP to get two
guest list places to this instore celebration by a pair
who have supported Laura Marling and Bryan Ferry.
Starts 6.30pm.
 

Spectrum – Fear Of Men
Dome Studio, New Road, Brighton, Tuesday, April 15
Brightonians with a big future Fear Of Men present their eagerly- anticipated debut record, Loom, at the first of Resident’s new music hook-ups with Brighton Dome.
Abi Wade (see On The Radar, below), Grasshopper and Grace Carter join the bleak but always melodic trio.
Starts 8pm, £4.
 

The Space Lady
Saturday, April 15
Vinyl junkies queuing for Record Store Day’s best offers will be serenaded by the Casio keyboard-playing busking queen, The Space Lady, who’ll tackle tracks from her
greatest hits of contemporary pop covers and originals.
Starts 8am.