The anticipated Record Store Day will be on Saturday, April 12 this year. Stirling will, of course, be celebrating the “biggest new music event of the past decade” as well. The city’s own independent record shop Europa Music will be appeasing everyone with live music and numerous limited-edition records available for purchase on the day.
Interview
Ewen Duncan, owner of Europa Music has been organizing the event in Stirling since 2009. Brig recently interviewed Ewan in relation to Record Store Day. When telling us about the history of the event, he said: “Record Store Day I was made aware of when it first started, and it started in a store in the USA and then the year after (2008) the UK decided to come on board…”
Ewen continues to explain how he was made aware thanks to a Scottish store who he had an “interesting conversation with” and agreed it was a good idea for them to get involved. “It’s a great way of raising awareness of independent records stores. That is what record store day is all about,” he adds.
When asked what the day usually looks like said: “Well, first thing in the morning people queue for the records. In the last few years since Covid we’ve put our stock for Record Store Day outside the shop… so, people queue, its first come first served and they get one individual item per person. So, you’re not allowed two of something, you can buy as many things as you want, but one individual item of a certain thing. That’s it. And that usually continues to mid-morning… We have the queues going round, back down to the bottom of the street and yeah, just take it from there.”
Ewen goes on to describe the atmosphere during records store day: “We put on live bands which was initially just to keep the day going, but also helps the rest of the economy in the street and the streets ‘round… and that some places have got to double their staff that day. That shows how busy it does get.”
There will be three stages with live music, one of them being in the back of Unorthodox Roasters, the coffee shop next door. The other two stages will be on Friars Street: one on a planter outside the shop and one at the top of the street. Ewen describes how the music from the coffee shop “…doesn’t cross over acoustically with the ones on the street, which is great!” He continues: “which means we can put on two different things [performances] and the music doesn’t interfere with each other…”
Ewen describes that the genres of live music will include: “Jazz, singer-songwriter, we have punk, we have a heavy rock covers band, a couple of indie, kind of, I would say brit pop, more kind, you know – that kind of style. And a couple of blues acts, or blues rock…” He concludes by saying: “…we try and just mix it up, so that there is something for everyone.”
Right: Ewen Duncan, owner of Europa Music. Image Credit: Kristina Wikensten
The shop will open at 9:00am, and the live music will start at 12:00pm. Regarding when the day ends, Ewen says: “…we usually finish the bands by five o’clock-ish. It depends on how the day goes…”
Lastly, when asked if there was anything else he wanted to mention he replied: “Just look forward to hopefully having a great day coming in, buying records in Scotland’s largest vinyl record shop which we’ve managed to build up over many years.”
Featured Image Credit: Kristina Wikensten
2nd year History & Journalism Student at the University of Stirling. Moved over from Sweden in 2024 to study in Scotland.
