Laura Citino
Western Herald
(Chyn Wey Lee/ Western Herald) The Corner Record Shop & Audio located on West Main Street in the Tiffany’s mini-mall.
A 3-inch movie screen crammed inside a portable DVD player, the vast Internet available on a thumbnail phone, slim plastic headphones hidden underneath t-shirts. Everywhere we look, our media culture has become miniaturized and pocket-sized.
All over the Western Michigan University campus, students can be seen enjoying their movies, news, video games, and music on the tiniest of handheld digital devices.
However, when culture becomes so microscopic that it takes ten minutes to find a lost iPod in the bottom of a backpack, many are turning back to something with a bit more weight — vinyl.
The Corner Record Shop in Kalamazoo comes to the rescue by specializing in the macro, large-scale appreciation of music, heralding vinyl grooves and analog enjoyment in a digital age.
Owner Steve Williamson began the first version of the Corner Record Shop in Grandville, Michigan.
He soon realized that a number of citizens of Kalamazoo were making the commute to his store. In the summer of 2008, he set up another shop at 1710 West Main.
The concept of the record store was born of one simple love of music.
“Steve is a guy who loves music first, business second,” said Joe Senn, “Corner” staff member.
The Corner Record Shop carries new and used CDs, DVDs, movie posters, and other sundry collectibles, but its point of pride remains its large vinyl collection. It offers this niche market, including turntables and other equipment, to dedicated audiophiles and those who might just be curious about how their parents used to rock out.
College students probably understand better than most the intimidation of supposed coolness — in a scene as close-knit and indelibly awesome as Kalamazoo, shouldn’t the shop, by right, be full of aged hipsters sneering at anyone who had the nerve to ask about the difference between mono and stereo? According to Williamson, never assume the stereotype.
“Sometimes people like that come in, but you never have to worry about them,” Williamson said. “We love new customers and people asking us questions. It’s not as intimidating as people think.”
Williamson understands that the vinyl culture requires a basic knowledge of audio technology as well as unique equipment — turntables, receivers, and speakers, all of which and more the Corner offers at new and used prices. Williamson and his staff enthusiastically offer their knowledge and services to amateurs looking to start their own vinyl experience.
The store gets its fill of students browsing through the aisles. Prices are always reasonable, and great deals can be found for those who aren’t afraid of a little digging.
“I always zoom in on the dollar bin,” said WMU student Ian Everson. “I tend to leave with a lot more records bought than I originally intended.”
Part of the mystery of the vinyl era lies in the generational gap. The college demographic has grown up almost exclusively in the digital age, while older folks often believe that vinyl as the best, and often only, way to listen to music.
“I’m old, and another guy who works here is old, so we’re into vinyl and well equipped for it,” Williamson said. “Get the music because you like it, whatever format it is. If you like vinyl, which you should, that’s even better.”
For some students, interest in vinyl stems from pure naive curiosity, or maybe just the urge to be that much cooler than their friends. For others, it is a natural interest and hobby.
“I’ve always been into vinyl because of my parents. We had a huge collection growing up,” Everson said. “It’s awesome to have such a resource for it in Kalamazoo too.”
Yet another way the Corner Record Shop brings music right to the fingertips and eardrums of its patrons is the free shows held throughout the week. Even on Sundays, the Corner will invite local bands or promoters to stage informal concerts inside the store.
For the record store, these free, and open shows are mutually beneficial.
“The shows bring people into the store who might not otherwise,” Senn said. “We’re definitely a growing store. It’s amazing how many people come in who haven’t heard of us yet.”
Local musicians also benefit, as they can experiment with their live format without the pressure of selling tickets or filling seats.
There is never a cover charge for the audience and the shop does not charge the artists. The bands can also have the opportunity later to have their music carried in the store’s local section.
“There’s no cover, no beer, nothing sold, just music,” Senn said.
Williamson sees the free shows as an example of the Corner Record Shop’s synergistic purpose in Kalamazoo. By having the bands use their equipment, the store’s stock gets promoted, and the bands can turn a profit as well.
“We deal with a lot of audio equipment that we sell, so that’s a promotion in itself too,” Williamson said. “We don’t expect to get paid ourselves, but I always hope that the band can make some money through donations.”
Naturally, and perhaps a little unfortunately, the Corner Record Shop does not operate in a vacuum of rosy nostalgia for the bygone days of analog musical appreciation.
Cultural pundits will always lament the fact that each new generation destroys what the last has built: cassettes replaced vinyl, CDs dominated cassettes, and MP3s threaten to ruin the concept of whole albums all together. But is the latest fixation on digital music the future of all media consumption?
Williamson isn’t too worried.
“People have been talking like that for awhile,” he said of this alleged digital takeover. “But every time I look at our distributor’s list, I see more and more titles for vinyl.”
The recent underground resurgence in retro audio has grown out of several cultural trends, including nostalgia bubbling up in these current difficult economic times.
Also important is what Williamson believes to be a difference in the quality of sound between digital and analog music.
Such mysterious phrases like AAC formatting and DRM (digital rights management) encoding over MP3s may sound like gibberish to technological slowpokes, but they often crop up in heated debates among audiophiles about just how this digital technology is affecting the tunes themselves.
For Williamson, a turntable will always be his go-to listening apparatus.
“It just sounds better,” he said. “It’s a warmer, more dynamic sound. You’re hearing music literally from a groove in the vinyl, instead of all the digital stuff they lay over it on CD.”
He believes that as more young people grow up with a knowledge and interest in vinyl records, those black plastic grooves are going to become even more popular. Maybe even more so than the digital format we have all become so used to.
“Vinyl shows no signs of slowing down,” he said.
This affectionately retro attitude is one of the many reasons the Corner Record Shop is quickly becoming a Kalamazoo institution. It is simply another aspect of Kalamazoo’s vibrant local culture, and it proud to fill such a niche market.
“We like to see what any business likes to see, to be able to make a living doing what we love, and be a benefit to the community while we’re at it,” Williamson said. “Kalamazoo is a great town for music.”
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