Record Store Day at The Record Parlour...

Want to dig through crates of quality vintage records? Find music you grew up with? Discover music you never knew existed and discuss it with other music enthusiasts? The Record Parlour on Selma Avenue in the heart of Hollywood is a one-stop shop for all things music. They specialize in hunting down vinyl records, cassettes, old school turntables, and band memorabilia creating a culture of community that the neighborhood desperately needs. Attracting everyone who has a passion for the music, with over 20,000 vinyl records, vintage stereo gear and music memorabilia, the Record Parlour is quickly becoming a staple hang out for the surrounding hipster youth.

Since it opened, almost two years ago by owner Chris Honetschlaeger and manager/partner Chadwick Hemus, the store has been building a name for itself by hosting exciting in-store showcases, pop-up performance gigs, album playbacks and DJ sets to entire live performances recorded and transferred directly to vinyl onsite. Honetschlaeger has a background in vintage equipment and Hemu’s pedigree is as a vinyl curator for the original Amoeba (San Francisco)—which ensures that the sound and quality are outstanding.

Rooms and rooms and rooms filled and organized with albums...

For Record Store Day on Saturday, April 18 The Record Parlour hosted a series of events and live performances kicking off the celebration with the debut vinyl collection from the estate of philanthropist Marshall Howard. The heavily curated collection features extremely rare original finds—including Jazz, R&B, Classic Rock, Soul, Blues, Exotica and Folk. Bands that performed included Isaac Rother & The Phantoms, Lee Bob and The Truth and Big Jay McNeely & Rob Stone: Chicago Blues; and there was a book signing of Record Store Book: Fifty Legendary and Iconic Places to Discover New and Used Vinyl by author Mike E. Spitz and photographer Rebecca Villaneda.

We had a chance to sit down with Honetschlaeger to see what makes The Record Parlour tick.

M2M: How long have you been serving the community?

Honetschlaeger: We opened August 2013, so a little over a year and half. It took me four months to build. It was all offices before. I basically knocked out all the walls to keep the space open. The idea was this building has so much history being an old print shop in the 20’s. If you look around Hollywood these buildings are going away with all the development going on. We just basically came in here and reconfigured the whole joint.

M2M: What makes The Record Parlour different from other record stores?

Honetschlaeger: I don’t think we’re a record store at all. We’re a record / lifestyle store. I am not offended by the record store [title] but I just think we are bigger than that and here’s why, the three P’s: Purchase, Perform and Produce. That’s the vision here. We go past the one-dimensional place to purchase music. The second “P” stands for “place to perform music.” We built a stage and an incredible sound system. We have had little bands and big bands play here and they tell us it sounds amazing. It sounds amazing because we make it amazing. Venues operate 24/7. If a speaker goes out they can’t get to it for two weeks. I have a tech on staff, so if something goes out, it’s fixed immediately. Also, we don’t stack bands. There is only one band per night, except for today, which is special because of Record Store Day. One band per night gives the band time to hang out and sell their merchandise. If you have ever been a musician it can be pretty hectic to be rushed around. The third “P,” which we started rolling out in January, stands for “a place to produce music.’ So downstairs, right below us, is going to be our control room. So literally you come play, cut a record on our record lave, perform it that day and sell your records. Again, Purchase, Perform, Produce.

M2M: What is on your personal turntable right now?

Honetschlaeger: Well I have a five year-old daughter so nothing is ever on my turntable. I don’t know if you have kids, but it will get destroyed. [laughs] But what was on my turntable was, well like to tinker with DJ’ing. I am sort of good at it, not that I am a scratchy turntable-ist but I know how to put songs that are BPM (beats per minute) related together and that’s hard because you’re tying into the vibe of the song, or to the break of a song, or the bridge of a song. Nowadays with all these DJ’s I have to say it’s pretty easy. I mean everything is BPM or beat tracker. Back in the day all we had was vinyl. Everyone who comes here spins records. I’m talking about real records and that’s really, really hard, especially if you’re not tapping them out or matching BPM’s. But what’s on my turntable? As of right now. Rick James.

Honetschlaeger’s passion for detail and love for music is what makes The Record Parlour an undeniable epicenter. The rustic feel of open space, brick walls and exposed wood beams give the space character that is accentuated by its enthusiastically helpful staff. Whether you want to find that KISS album you had in your teen years, acquire a first pressing of Changes by David Bowie or catch a concert of local The Record Parlour is a must.

The Record Parlour owners hard at work...

THE RECORD PARLOUR is located in Cahuenga Corridor: 6408 Selma Avenue: Hollywood, CA 90028. www.therecordparlour.com

Record Store Day 2015...

The last man in line...Happy Record Store Day!

"Holy crap. This sucks." I am the last man in line at Amoeba Records in Hollywood. What the hell was I thinking?" I went through this last year and it took me four hours to get through the line. I didn't get half the records I wanted. "This year will be different." I told myself. "I will get up early or sleep out the night before!" Over and over again. 

Waking up at 9:00am on Record Store Day I figured I'd be screwed. And I was. I rounded the corner after parking about a mile away and then I saw it. The mother of all lines filled with vinyl junkies waiting to get their fix. The one good thing that Amoeba does on Record Store Day is keep a list of all the releases on a white board out front of the shop. This allows them to cross things off as they sell out of them...and when Brand New releases a vinyl press of their "break out" album and it’s limited to 1,500 world wide...chances are I'm not getting it when I'm standing in line 3 miles away. 

I stood around for a few minutes chatting with a few of my fellow slackers who slept in before I decided to wander up to the front of the store to see what was already sold out. What do I care if I lose my spot in line. As I expected...every release I wanted was sold out. I heard people in the front of the line saying they had been camped out since 7pm...the day earlier. Watching happy folks walk away from Amoeba toting their prize record purchases just adds insult to injury. These people were the smart ones…or crazy ones…who slept out all night. Bastards.

So. I left. Broken. Beaten. And bummed. 

I gave it one last-ditch effort and decided to hit one more record store before I went home with my tail between my legs. Record Surplus on Santa Monica, less than 2 miles from my house, had ALL the releases I wanted and NO LINE. The record gods shined down on me after all. This place is an oasis. I couldn't believe it. This is truly a neighborhood record shop and I will be shopping there before I cross the 10 any day. It just goes to show…if you sleep in…you win.

An Evening with Into It. Over It...

Welcome to the one-man show. Catch him slinging his vinyl records, hoodies and t-shirts at his merch stand then transition to social butterfly before hitting the stage to put on a flawless performance of emotional rock songs to which everyone can relate. Is this person a superhero you ask? No. This person is Evan Weiss of Into It. Over It., and Weiss has a long history of performing that dates way back to his high school years in Cherry Hill, NJ. Into It. Over It. has played as a full band but these days primarily tours as solo act.

Tonight Into It. Over It. is solo and Weiss is preparing for the crowd at the iconic Roxy on the Sunset Strip. As the curtain rises Weiss cracks a joke about how he thought it was going to open sideways; before ripping into the intro riff from the title track “New North-Side Air”off the new album Intersections. It’s Weiss’emotion and honesty that make his live shows so damn compelling. There’s an electricity to Into It. Over It. and Weiss commands every lyric, drawing his audience in. When the chorus hits you can’t help but get involved chanting and belting every unforgettable melody. Weiss has a magic about him that allows Into It. Over It. to bring its audience into the inner circle of participation.

After the show, we were able to get a word with Weiss who gave us a loose update on a possible new EP or LP coming out with a member of fellow tour mates OWLS. “I can’t really say as of now because I don’t want any rumors to start but it will be cool,”Weiss said, smiling. Sounds like we should be on the look out…but we’re not here to start rumors either.