Beth Ray Writes

As we are now only five days away from Record Store Day (on Saturday 20th April) I present to you my next Record Store Interview, with Steve from Applestump Records based in Nantwich. Applestump have an awesome selection of new and second-hand vinyls along with starting up their Youtube channel and presenting new and exciting artists on their Applestump Sessions series. They recently had live in-store sessions with Bill Ryder-Jones and Bobby Lee. Next year they’re hosting a very special Q&A with Shaun Ryder at Nantwich Town football club with tickets selling fast. If you’re wanting to attend you can buy tickets here. Hopefully soon we’ll see some more instore signings, Steve confirmed there will be a signing with singer Abbie Ozard for her album release in July! So make sure to give Applestump a follow on instagram for more information, as they have lots of exciting things happening for music fans.

This year is Applestumps third Record Store Day, their first one was in 2022, and Steve has seen both sides of Record Store Day as both a customer and a record shop owner. He mentions in our interview his experiences visiting other record shops and the importance of the day to both music fans and independent record shops so I’m excited to share his stories and advice ready for Saturday!

Beth Ray: Can you remember your first Record Store Day as a music fan and what vinyls you bought?
Steve: I can’t remember if it was my first one, but it was an early one. It was at Spillers Records in Cardiff, as I’m from Cardiff originally. We turned up about 5am and I bought Nick Drake, his self-titled album, Ocean Colour Scene and something else I can’t remember. It was really good and The Guardian did a little feature about us, me and my mate as we were in the queue as well and we had our photos up on The Guardian archive.

BR: For anyone who hasn’t been to RSD before, can you give a brief description of what it is about?
S:It’s about celebrating the independent record shop. When times were not so great for the independent record shop it was needed and it’s grown and grown and grown. 16/17 years they have been doing it now. There are lots of exclusive releases for the day, so come along and support the shops.

BR: Why do you think music fans love it so much?
S: Music fans are a unique breed. Record collectors are even more unique and when you couple that with the uniqueness of the records available on Record Store Day it is like a perfect storm for collectors. If you have 500 copies of the Pearl Jam record coming out, it’s 250 stores taking part, you’re getting 2 copies per shop. If you want a copy of that you need to be first, second or maybe third. Which is exciting and it is fun for everyone.

BR: What can fans expect on RSD at Applestump Records?
S: Probably the best experience that you will get on a Record Store Day anywhere. Me and Danielle used to go to a different city every year, we’d go to all the different record shops. We went to Leeds, Cardiff, London, Manchester and we wanted ours to cater for those bits that weren’t so good that we noticed elsewhere. So we are going to have a nice, organised queue. If you sent me a wishlist it will be here, it’s just how many I’ve got so therefore what time you need to get there. We serve up everyone a free breakfast, a nice hot cup of coffee that’s been brewed by a local coffee brewer specially for the event. Then it’ll just be dead organised for when you come in, there’s no fighting for stock, it is one in one out. You get as much time as you need to browse, I’ll have two people helping you browse and we will get through it as quick as possible to get the queue down so you can go back home and go to bed.

BR: What titles do you think will sell out the quickest this year?
S: Catfish & The Bottlemen is the most wish listed record. Noah Kahan will be popular, Olivia Rodrigo 7” will be popular. Shed Seven, The Verve yeah I think those, they are the ones I have got the most of. So I think they’ll be popular.

BR: If you could choose only one vinyl out of the list which one would it be?
S: Goldie Lookin Chain, The Manifesto. I was living in South Wales when they first broke and went to their very first gig. The ticket is in the frame over there. We kind of got to know them a little bit and that record has never been out on vinyl before, which is what I think Record Store Day should be about. It should be about not just repressing something that has been out for a little while, but bringing something that has never been available. That is one of those records, it is kind of tongue in cheek as a rap album. It means something to me as I knew them at the time.

BR: Can you remember a RSD release that you were really impressed by and wanted to buy?
S: As a punter, the Nick Drake one I mentioned earlier. It had never been released before, really nice heavyweight vinyl, gatefold sleeve, lovely poster inside which is up on the wall in the house still to this day. So that was really nice, like I say [I’m] not really interested in things you can buy on discogs, I want something that has never been available before and that was never available before. Since I’ve had the shop I think the nicest thing I’ve had is The Streets boxset not last year but the year before, so The Original Pirate Material came as a boxset with a free slipmat and an additional 12”. It was an orange vinyl, it was just dead nice. Really nicely done. 

BR: What is the earliest time someone has queued up on RSD at your shop?
S: 11:30 Friday evening.

BR: Any advice for fans queueing up on the day?
S: Wrap up warm, be patient. Queueing is part of it, its not an inconvenience. You get there dead early, make friends with the people around you, expect to be stood in the cold and dark hours. Be organised when you get in here, know what you want and enjoy it! Wrap up warm, expect to queue, be organised and enjoy it.

BR: What’s your favourite thing about Record Store Day?
S: From both sides of the counter, as a punter and as a shop owner, the excitement that it generates in the build up. The day is just a blur, especially on this side of the counter. To have record shops be talked about all day long on national radio, press all involved. We can do loads of social media, we post ever single day of the week but you are limited to what reach you have got suddenly you get a national event and every town, every city, every radio station is talking about it. It is just the buzz around shops. You can get people who come in on Record Store Day that you haven’t seen for a while, not necessarily the people who queue up all day but people who just come in to pay a visit and say we’re new here and maybe buy something that is not Record Store Day but just to support. It’s just the buzz it creates for what we are trying to do here.

A huge thanks to Steve for the interview! Applestump will be opening the doors on Saturday at 8am, with coffee from Tilted Coffee provided at 7am to all those waiting in the queue. Tilted Coffee is a family run business based in Nantwich, so it’s great to see them supporting Applestump on Record Store Day for another year. If you love their coffee you can buy it to take home yourself by shopping on their website.
Steve has got a full team behind the scenes helping with RSD to make it an enjoyable experience for the customers so I can guarantee it’s going to be an excellent event at Applestump! The queue will be situated on Hibberts Solicitors car park opposite the shop, with clear arrows to show everyone where to stand (or I’d suggest sit in your camping chair).
Finally make sure to check out their RSD list on their website before visiting, listen to Steve’s show ‘Like Clockwork’ on The Cat radio on Tuesday 8-10pm to hear his top picks and keep an eye on their instagram for their staff picks ahead of the day!

Beth x