There’s something about listening to an old album in its original format that makes it so much more interesting and authentic than its modern day counterpart. I’ve purchased a lot of great music in the past from Goner Records, a local record store and label located in the Cooper-Young area of midtown, so I was happy to do a series of Q&A’ s with Zac Ives, one of the co-owners of the store.
How did Goner Records get started?
My partner Eric originally started Goner in 1993. He ran it on and off out of his closet until Feb 2004 – when we joined up and moved it into the space formerly occupied by Legba Records in Cooper Young. We slowly built the retail store, the website and online shop and the label into what it is today… almost a viable business.
Where do you get all of the music that you sell?
About a 1/3 of our stock is new LPs, 45s and CDs… the rest is used. New stuff comes from distributors, labels, anything that strikes our fancy. Used stuff comes in off the street… people bring in records every day. We buy and then resell them.
Do you think listeners get a different experience listening to music on vinyl as opposed to MP3′s, Ipods, etc.?
I know I do. I like having a tangible album to listen to. A cardboard cover. Liner notes. A big platter of music that you have to flip over half way through. People don’t listen to music as an album anymore – it’s all single songs and playlists… sometimes that’s nice… but more often I prefer the sound and experience of listening to a record over the convenience of an iPod.
How long has GonerFest been going on?
Since 2005. Each one has been a little bigger and better than the previous year… hopefully this one is no exception.
Who are you most excited to see?
I’m excited about a bunch of bands coming from a long way away… top of the list is a band from France called Sonic Chicken 4 and a band from Puerto Rico called Davilla 666. We’ve also got some bands on our label playing that I’m proud of – and it’ll be fun to see them play at the fest… Ty Segall, Box Elders, Magic Kids, Overnight Lows, Nobunny…
What is your favorite GonerFest memory?
Ooh, tough one. All my GonerFest memories are a bit hazy… Probably the fact that we actually pulled the first one off… we really didn’t know if anyone was going to show up. Maybe these bands would just be playing to us… and then what would we pay them?! The first day we saw the owner of an infamous Italian record label walking down Cooper and realized people had come to town and everything was going to be OK… that was pretty nice. We had to find a bigger venue for #2…
Featured photo courtesy of ashatsea on Flickr
