Vinyl In The News

Another great story about vinyl, let's hope the trend continues:

Baby, it’s cold inside
Frigid Records prepares for grand opening

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama

By: Brent Thompson

There is no denying technology’s impact on the music industry. The Internet, iTunes, satellite radio and customized ring tones are but a few of the avenues that have brought healthy doses of excitement and fear to the industry. But while it’s convenient to download an album for $9.99 while sitting at your computer, there are listeners out there (myself included) that think sifting through piles of CDs and LPs is a great way to spend an afternoon. Anyone who can relate to the characters in the film High Fidelity understands this notion.

That’s where Ryan and Erin James come into this story. On Saturday, March 14, the couple will unveil Frigid Records, an independent music retailer looking to scratch the itch of local music lovers.

“We just love music and we love collecting vinyl,” Erin James says, speaking by phone. “We were just talking one night on the front porch and we said it would be awesome to have a record store. We said, ‘Well, let’s just do it.’ We got the ball rolling from there – we started calling distribution companies and getting deals with them.”

Fortunately, the couple has realistic expectations for Frigid Records and will slowly bring the store onto the local music retail scene. Currently, the store is housed inside Magic City Motor Scooters at 1305 Second Ave. North. The store can also be found online at www.frigidrecords.com. Though the idea of placing a record store inside a scooter retailer is unusual, James feels the two sides complement each other.

“One of our best friends is Matthew Myers and he owns Magic City Motor Scooters. He said, ‘I have space in the shop – why don’t you just move here for a while?’ So that’s our storefront now and we’re sharing that space with him. We’re into the scooter scene and I think scooters and music go together. We’re definitely wanting to get our own space soon. We’re just really small now and we want to have our own store as soon as we get the money to do it,” she says.

Besides its limited space, Frigid Records has a limited schedule; the duo plans to expand store hours in the coming months. While James acknowledges the challenge of advertising on a limited budget, she feels that Saturday’s grand opening event will be a proper introduction for the store.

“Right now, we only do it on Saturdays from 11 to 5. We both have full-time jobs and go to school. I’m a teacher, so we’ll be open a lot more during the summer. This coming Saturday, March 14, we’ll be open from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. We’re going to have a DJ and a raffle to benefit the APT show, We Have Signal,” she says.

Whether by design or default, an independent record store ultimately forges an identity with respect to specialties and selection. James and her husband have a clear vision for Frigid Records and its niche in the marketplace.

“What we’re striving to do is specialize in punk and hardcore with some psychobilly and rockabilly. Right now, we’ve got a mixed bag of rock and roll. We’ve got some CDs, but mostly vinyl and we want to keep it like that. There are a couple of other record stores in town, but there’s nobody you can go to and get old punk. I know that there are people that want to find really good vinyl. Some people think we’re crazy because people are buying MP3s now, but there will always be that core group of people that really cares about vinyl and wants to keep it alive,” James says.

To speak with James is to feel her unbridled enthusiasm for music and her desire to share that passion with like-minded listeners.

“When we decided to do this, we knew we weren’t going to make a lot of money,” she says. “We just want to give people an opportunity to get really good music. We’re both obsessive about music, so I get happy when somebody comes out and buys a record because I know they’re going to go home and be blown away by that album.”

Frigid Records is located inside Magic City Motor Scooters, 1305 Second Ave. North. The store is open every Saturday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. You can become a fan of the store on Facebook or visit www.frigidrecords.com

SOURCE: http://www.bhamweekly.com