House of Vinyl has been born of a lifetime obsession with records and music. A couple of years ago I was between jobs so started selling part-time on Discogs. At the beginning I just sold off parts of my vast assortment of vinyl with some buying and selling of friends collections thrown in for good measure.
It didn’t take long before this started to seem like a viable solution to pay the bills and I decided to set up my own online shop buying and selling full-time, even taking on staff as it got so busy. I am always on the look out to buy new collections and enjoy meeting other vinyl junkies like myself as well keeping in touch with my contacts in the music industry so I can hand-pick new releases that I think will sit nicely beside what I already stock.
House of Vinyl is ultimately an independent online record store however we like to get out and about doing markets and pop-up stalls as well as our Random Acts of Vinyl events where our customers get to have a go on the decks with our records before they buy. Having been part of the dance music scene for many years we like nothing more than a good knees-up and House of Vinyl will be doing its own parties at locations all over London in the coming months.
I’ve worked in music for well over 25 years from humble beginnings playing in a street corner kids band then adoring and wanting to be Jimmy in Quadrophenia, although I’m not sure that’s a great role model! My teens came and went and so too did my many phases of youth from SKA to Indie to B-Boy and landing up in Big Balearic Acid House where everything came head on, collided and made so much sense.
By 17 I’d been on the Acid house scene for a couple of years and was now DJ’ing and playing at a whole number of raves and clubs, week in week out into my mid 20’s. I played at illustrious parties and venues across the UK, Ibiza and Europe for The Wag, Ministry of Sound, Full Circle, Club UK & Flying Records. This was until I had my infamous “Mid Life Crisis” which made me knock it all on the head, unplug the decks and go to work in an office, pen behind the ear, wearing chinos. You know the type…
Where I eventually got bored of all that I dipped my toe back in the water and came back as a born again Techno head…
My musical tastes could all sit nicely under the Balearic or Acid House genre, dating back to my parents playing me amazing music from bands and artists such as Marvin Gaye, Talking Heads, B52’s & New Order on repeat. Then, my love of The Smiths, The Cure alongside De La Soul, BDP & Jungle Brothers and moving on to anything released on DJ International, Transmat or Trax Records and all the other delights being released in the UK & USA at this time.
It’s also worth mentioning the little period of Italian Piano Screamers in the late 80’s – early 90’s and then everything and anything from Baby Ford to Masters at Work and the legend that is Danny Tenaglia.
After my little sabbatical, I came back playing as a reimagined Jeff Mills (without the skill, 3 deck magic and a 909) and then on to the 2000’s with the Tech House, Deep House and Minimal Booms
If I wasn’t buying, listening to & selling records you could catch me working in managing and tour managing bands, running parties or managing record labels and music websites in London and Ibiza.
