The Vinyl Frontier

These days, it seems the only thing on the menu is doom and gloom. As more and more businesses have been forced to close due to the desolate economic climate, many premises are left vacant as a result. However, there are always those optimists who, when faced with adversity, see only opportunity. Step forward Gib Cassidy and Aaron McGoona, who have both recently opened music stores in Dublin city. A daunting task, surely?

Not so, says Gib, whose Elastic Witch record store is housed in the Twisted Pepper venue on Abbey Street: “I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’m doing if it wasn’t for the economic situation at the moment”, he says. “Twisted Pepper is a big building, which was taken over before the shit-storm hit. People are thinking creatively – I’m glad to be a part of it.” Responding to an ad posted by dance collective Bodytonic (who rent the building), Gib sells vinyl in the back room of the venue. A small operation so far, he’s hoping to create a space where music fans can meet, socialise and generally just hang out. “I’d like people to be able to come in with their coffee, meet up with friends. I really want to eliminate any sense of intimidation. I like to feel welcome wherever I go – a bar, a grocery store – why not a record shop?”
Stocking a mixture of Irish and international acts, Gib reckons there’ll always be a demand for vinyl. Has the recession perhaps made us yearn for a more innocent, bygone age? “Well, record sales have risen massively in the last five years”, he says. “Owning vinyl – at the risk of sounding romantic – is kind of nostalgic. Plus, I think a beautiful record cover puts a face to the name. Cassettes are coming back in a big way too!” he laughs. “They sound grotesque, but it’s a novelty item. A lot of indie labels have included a download code with the vinyl they sell though, which is a really smart idea. You have to be creative.”
On Dame Street meanwhile, Meath native Aaron has just opened E2Music, a shop he initially set up in his hometown of Navan, 12 years ago. “I’ve always had the aspiration of running a Dublin store”, he declares. “Abercrombie & Fitch are moving in next door, we don’t know when they’re going to open, but when they do, they’ll have a tenant for this building. So basically we made them an offer in the meantime.” Stocking CDs as well as merchandise like t-shirts and posters, Aaron says business isn’t as bad as people have come to presume. “My life is a constant contradiction”, he smiles. “I meet people who say, ‘I’ve been downloading, I don’t know how you’re making money doing this.’ And yet, every time I come into the shop, the place is always full. We’re definitely not making as much as we were pre-Tiger boom, but who is? We’re still a profitable business.”
And there it is – the dreaded ‘D’ word. Does Aaron see the effects of downloading on CD sales? “Downloading’s been around since 1999, it’s not a new phenomenon,” he stresses. “It’s just that businesses have lost faith in the CD. If they’d reduced the price many years ago and kept the quality high, things might be different.” He continues – “If you buy a CD here – and it’ll cost you a maximum of €7 – we’ll then offer to buy it back for half the price you paid. Each time, we make a little bit more on it. That’s our way of trying to compete with downloading.” And the proof of this particular pudding is in the figures – “There’s been a decline in CD sales of about 3%”, he confirms. “Merchandise had increased by 10% though. That’s one of the post-Celtic Tiger things – you have to spread out a bit, and diversify.”
Similarly, Gib acknowledges that although downloading is an issue, it ain’t gonna go away any time soon. “I’m not under any illusions whatsover”, he says. “It’s easy for people in music retail, or in the industry generally, to sit around griping about people downloading illegally, but ultimately the model needs to be changed. My motto isn’t quite ‘Don’t fight it, feel it’, but it’s definitely, ‘Don’t fight it’! There’s no way of stamping out downloading – it’s a losing battle.”
The digital age is, he says, a great way for bands to make themselves known: “I’ve records downstairs that some kid in Detroit has made in his bedroom on his computer. I’ll hear that online, think it’s really good, then see people start writing about it – six months later there’s a record out. And I wouldn’t have heard that if it wasn’t for the internet age. You have to take the good with the bad, and you have to be positive.”

See [link]elasticwitch.com[/link] and [link]e2music.ie[/link] for more.