The Best Independent Record Store In The UK By Miles…
So Simon, tell us how Phonica came about in the first place…bwho were the drivers behind this brilliant record outlet ?
“The guys from Vinyl Factory who run FACT & a vinyl pressing plant approached me about opening a record shop. I could do what I wanted with a great space on Poland St with Heidi & Tom Relleen (now at DC Recordings), we launched Phonica in 2003. It was a lot of hard work at first as Soho didn’t really need a new record shop but we found our niche with the German Sound of Kompakt & Electro House which was coming through at the time and no-one was selling much of. We also did well with Electronic & Reggae thanks to Tom and Breaks & Electro thanks to Heidi.”
What DJs do you get in regularly?
“We have had literally everyone coming in from a lot of different genres from Erol Alkan to Danny Krivit, Tiefschwarz to Norman Jay, Basement Jaxx to James Murphy…. and now, even if you are a digital DJ, 50% of what we stock is not released digitally, so DJs will always pop in to see what’s about.”
You stock the coolest tunes from House, Electro House, Techno, Hip Hop, Funk, Reggae… I could go on and on, what is selling at the moment…has the credit crunch hit you?
“Flying out at the moment are Disco edits, deep deep House music, Dubstep and baile funk / b-more / mash-ups!!!”
What do YOU think is the best record ever made dance wise, single and album?
“That’s an impossible question to answer, but I always used to say ‘Belfast’ from Orbital but its not really a ‘dance’ record or the Nephews of Phela with their ‘Mulah 2’ – a breakbeat version of classic Ethiopian jazz.”
Where are you on the vinyl / CD / DJ technology in a club debate?
“Vinyl is always best, the sound quality is excellent and has a much warmer sound – that’s not under debate, but music is music and for a lot of people vinyl is cumbersome, expensive and impractical… but it is worth it, especially in a club environment when better sound makes a difference. I’m sure MP3s will suffice for some tracks that you might not play after a few weeks, but there’s nothing like having a ‘proper’ record for keeps.”
What has been the biggest selling record you’ve every sold?
“Phonica’s biggest records have been Bookashade’s ‘Mandarine Girl’, Ame’s ‘Rej, Spektrum’s ‘Kinda New and, bizarrely, a reggae version of the Beatles ‘Eleanor Rigby’!!”
Tell us about your Phonica club nights…
“We do a couple of big one-off parties per year with the Birthday at Corsica Studios last week. Other than that, we do a monthly at the T Bar and we’ve had guests such as Motorcitysoul, Will Saul, Sebo K alongside all the Phonica staff. Unfortunately, the T Bar is closing in December (and we’re doing the last Saturday on December 13th) but we’ll be back in February at a new Shoreditch venue called…The Vinyl Factory!!”
Who, in general, do the cool shop crew rate as the best DJs out there?
“We have such a great team here at Phonica – some of whom produce such as Hector who has got records coming out on 8-Bit, Crosstown Rebels and Phonic’s label too and Anthea who has had a record out on Mojuba with Werner as JC Freaks. We are all big fans of Marcus Fix and the Cecille / Oslo crew, Efdemin, Patrice Scott, and also popular with the staff are Rub n Tug, Luciano & Marco Carola.”
Where do you all go out clubbing?
“I’m sure you’ll find a lot of the staff at Fabric at 4am on a Sunday morning.”
Are you confident independent record stores can survive?
“There will always be people who want to buy vinyl records. Collectable records, limited records – there is still nothing like putting the needle on a freshly bought bit of black plastic but, undoubtedly, we will have to change and adapt – perhaps even selling MP3s. I’m sure people love the social side of a record shop – otherwise in a few years, we’ll just be sitting at home with no interaction at all. We’re relaunching the website in January and this should keep the interest up in Phonica itself…
(www.phonicarecords.co.uk)
Who is your hot tip musically for 2009?
“Of course, I’m going to plug the launch of our new label, Phonica Recordings with a great techno release from Hector & Bryant alongside an astounding remix from Appleblim & Al Tourettes, future dub-techno!!!”
