Formed in Stroud in 2018, Sound Records has gained an enviable national reputation amongst vinyl connoisseurs and music lovers. Last year they released Patched In: Sounds of the Stroud Underground on their own record label, also called Sound Records.
The business was established by Tom Berry and Sean Roe and is currently situated at the top of Stroud’s High Street and is a mecca for music enthusiasts. It was named Best Small Shop in 2020 by the Independent Retailers Association.
“We moved from Gloucester Street after our first year to the High Street,” said Tom. “Sean left the business earlier this year so I’m now taking Sound Records into its next phase.
“The current premises are fantastic and beautiful to look at, but there isn’t the scope to develop some of the projects we want to develop – we’re keen to develop our record label and we need office space for that; we want to be able to host live events and talks and discussions, and we just want a bit more room for more stock. We’ve also got plans to sell books and CDs.”
The new shop is in George Street and Tom hopes to be up and running by the end of July, though there’s the not insignificant task of moving the 6,000 LPs from the current shop – Tom says his son and his mates will help shift everything ‘in return for a curry’!
“The new premises is about three or four times bigger,” said Tom. “There’s a lot of work to do – we are putting in a new floor, new lighting and a huge three-metre-long notice board for people to post their community events or advertise for a new bass player.
“You’ll still be able to get all the vinyl you did previously, and we’ll look to extend our classical and jazz selection. We’re also going to have a coffee unit in the shop – there will be a sofa at the front of the shop that people can sit at and pass the time while they are looking at records,” explained Tom.
Sound Records’ launch coincided nicely with the resurgence of interest in vinyl, and Tom believes there is a ‘real appetite’ for vinyl in Stroud: “there are a lot of music lovers here and we seem to have struck a chord, so we will keep that going and make Stroud a real destination for vinyl lovers.
“We’re keen to reach other parts of the community and in particular attract younger people to the shop, and some of the events we are running will do that, but at the end of the day our biggest reward is to see happy customers take away the records they’ve been looking for.”
