Avenue Records owner Callum Nobes shares what's driving vinyl's resurgence

Mr Nobes is now six years into his stint at the helm of the Brisbane Street music shop, however, his association with the shop goes back many more years.

He said he had worked at the shop for about six years before taking the reins, and even before that, he was a long-standing customer.

READ MORE: 'A lot of work to do' after first NTFA, TSL, AFL Tasmania meeting

"I was about 16 or 17 when I started buying records, but I always collected CDs as well," Mr Nobes said.

"That was probably what got me into the LPs in the end.

"I essentially got the job just by buying records."

Throughout his time running the shop, Mr Nobes has encountered a wide range of customers with diverse tastes in music.

In recent years, this has expanded to include a growing number of young people interested in physical media.

"There's essentially been a generation that has been brought up on downloads," Mr Nobes said.

"We're selling records to people that are purchasing or even just seeing music in a physical format for the first time.

"I think it's the fact that it's tactile, like the artwork, the lyric sheets. It's just new to them, they're experiencing something that they haven't had before with music."

READ MORE: Dorset councillors facing suspension amid investigation

There were also some die-hard collectors that passed through the shop's doors, whose tastes in physical media went beyond vinyl and CDs to include cassette tapes.

Mr Nobes said some of these people had "horror stories" to share about offloading their collections decades ago, but he was always eager to help them rebuild what was lost and track down elusive albums.

"I do hear a lot of horror stories of people offloading collections to cheap or just throwing them on the tip," he said.

"We're selling to them as they rebuild their collections.

"People are back on physical formats for such an array of reasons, it's really cool."

READ MORE: Remains found after search for Shyanne-Lee Tatnell at Nabowla

The combination of stocking niche products, a dedicated customer base and boutique customer service has given the shop a long lease on life even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and other economic shocks affecting high street retailers.

Mr Nobes said there was potential to build out the store's presence further, but it still stood apart from the big-box retailers who are also stocking physical media.

"The fact that we are niche helps us in that regard," Mr Nobes said.

"We've become a bit of a speciality store.

"Those that are interested continue to come to us ... but we also have email lists. Any secondhand records that come through the shop, we send out notifications to people all around Australia."

Working in a music shop inevitably draws comparison to the Nick Hornby novel High Fidelity and its movie adaptation.

READ MORE: New Health Minister promises to 'build on momentum'

Mr Nobes said there were "similar aspects" to his job and the fictionalised accounts, however, it was not a carbon copy.

"I am a bit overdue to watch it again so my answer might change, but there are some similar aspects," he said.

"I was actually talking with a staff member a couple of weeks ago and we agreed that we should catch up and watch it."

He said he was "extremely lucky" to employ a great team of staff, whose music tastes were as diverse as his customers'.

Mr Nobes said he was hard-pressed to single out any particular albums from his personal collection as favourites as his tastes were constantly shifting based on his conversations with customers and staff.

He said he currently had Americana and Australian music on the brain, the latter of which was triggered by a customer request.

"It's hard to choose but everything at home I'll happily put on to play and enjoy," Mr Nobes said.

"At the moment I'm enjoying the new Jason Isbell album, Weathervanes - it's kind of Americana, kind of country.

"I'm also currently going down a rabbit hole of Australian music and finding bits and pieces that were only released in Australia, I find that really interesting."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: