Behind The Counter

"I always really wanted to own my own record store, it was always my kind of dream... If we're ever going to do it, we need to do it now."

"A record shop should be the centre of any community they’re in. It should be a safe space, somewhere that’s inclusive and everyone’s welcome. My ethos is I want them to be happier on the way out the door than the way in, and if I have achieved that, then I can sleep soundly!" Mark Thorne, Thorne Records.

"A record shop should be the centre of any community they’re in. It should be a safe space, somewhere that’s inclusive and everyone’s welcome. My ethos is I want them to be happier on the way out the door than the way in, and if I have achieved that, then I can sleep soundly!" Mark Thorne, Thorne Records.

"A record shop should be the centre of any community they’re in. It should be a safe space, somewhere that’s inclusive and everyone’s welcome. My ethos is I want them to be happier on the way out the door than the way in, and if I have achieved that, then I can sleep soundly!" Mark Thorne, Thorne Records.

"A record shop should be the centre of any community they’re in. It should be a safe space, somewhere that’s inclusive and everyone’s welcome. My ethos is I want them to be happier on the way out the door than the way in, and if I have achieved that, then I can sleep soundly!" Mark Thorne, Thorne Records.

“I feel like an independent record store is vital for an area because music brings people together. From the moment I opened the door, I was surrounded by people with knowledge of music that I didn’t know. I have learned so much, to the point of like, my brain explodes sometimes. And having that knowledge and having them people in here really makes this shop!” Mark Buckle, Level Crossing Records.

“Defend Vinyl was inspired by a couple of trips I took to New Orleans. There’s a place there called ‘Defend New Orleans’, which is all about maintaining the spirit of the city. And I really liked the idea of keeping the spirit of records alive. It’s been amazing!" Graham Jones, Defend Vinyl.

"I'd always dreamt of doing a record shop. So, one day in 2000 I just thought, I’ll go and give it a go! Before that I was what you call a new age traveller. I always sort of loved that sort of sense of community that I felt record shops had.” Matt Davies, Tangled Parrot.

“It’s lovely when people come and buy records, we always have conversations, the music is just sort of a seed of further dialogue. We’ve built a community of people now who have taught us things, got us into music we didn’t even know existed. It’s about having a tribe. We found our tribe. We want to provide that tribe for other people.” Jim Brady, Dark Earth Records.