Record Store Day 2015
Always one’s to big up the finest independents, we thought we would take the opportunity to chat to one of the oldest record stores in Nottingham and one of the freshest on the block...
Read our interview with Plates Records
Scott Walters died suddenly at his home shortly after giving this interview. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends and colleagues.
Scott Walters, Pendulum Records
Can you tell me a bit of history about the stall?
Pendulum is a local, independent indoor market stall and has been trading in the Victoria Market in the Intu Victoria Centre for 38 years. I took over from the much-loved Mick Wyatt when he retired in 2013.
How did you end up running it?
A friend was buying an Eminem CD on the stall and spotted the ‘for sale’ sign. Mick had a passion for the stall and the music business, having started out with his shop Sweet Music on Mapperley Top selling sweets, toys and music. But at 72 and some health problems he too was ready for a change.
What changes have you implemented since you took over?
The plan was always to re-introduce vinyl to the stall – in the event I made the move sooner rather than later. The stall had no web presence at all so that also had to change. I’ve made a couple of cosmetic changes in order to bring the stall screaming out of the eighties but that is still very much a work in process. Only last week we had a second piece of artwork done by SmallKid, a local independent artist. We have started to provide a CD/DVD repair service and have a few more things in the pipeline for the near future.
Why type of music do you sell?
We like to cover as many genres as we can but are of course limited by the amount of space that we have. We have a very large selection of forties, fifties and sixties music, and even some music hall that is still incredibly popular. Irish, country and western, and a little blues and jazz and urban all have a place on my stall. We also take pride in our Motown, Northern Soul and reggae sections. We have a fantastic relationship with Kemet FM. We have a huge selection of reggae 7” vinyl that had to be imported from Germany. We dabble in some of the popular artists in the charts at the moment but with the space constraints we cannot stock them all.
Will you be doing anything on Record Store Day?
This will be our second year of being involved. We’ll be stocking more titles and bigger quantities. All of our current vinyl titles will be discounted on the day too. We are working in conjunction with Tracey’s Café to make sure our queuing customers are fed and watered while they wait. We will also have several special offers that will only be available on the day and we are hoping to arrange something to carry on the celebration during the evening. We are also planning a celebration of vinyl on Sunday 19 April at the Suede Bar. We hope to get a number of local hot talented DJs who know exactly how to spin the vinyl and people can come and have a look at what Record Store Day titles we still have in stock.
Do you have any fond memories of shopping in record stores?
Selectadisc was awesome. Standing in the queue while grasping onto the rare white label jungle vinyl desperate to try them out on their decks. One day we will replicate that environment. My friend also recalls queuing to buy Susan Maughan’s new release and have it signed – albeit quite a few years earlier.
The Music Exchange, Rough Trade, Pendulum Records and Plates Records have all teamed up to make Record Store Day even better this year. Click here to find out what is going on in Nottingham for Record Store Day 2015.
For further information on what Pendulum Music are doing for Record Store Day 2015 visit the Pendulum Music Facebook.
Record Store Day 2015 takes place on Saturday 18 April 2015.
Pendulum Music, 231 / 232 Victoria Market, NG1 3PS
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