Beyond Vinyl: The Story So Far

I’ve wanted to have my own record shop for a very long time. Before that, I wanted to be a pop star.

I was a shy kid who’d sing and dance in his bedroom to the Top 40. The Jackson 5, Wham!, Duran Duran, Bros, New Edition, New Kids on the Block, East 17 and Take That were all in the mix, along with The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Dr Hook and Lindisfarne. There were plenty more—some probably cooler, some probably not. Music was everywhere in my life, although the confidence to get up and perform wasn’t.

I did join a rap group at secondary school. My mate Ali asked me to join XR Slamm and we even played Newcastle’s Mayfair in the early ’90s. I went by Razor B. Yes, really.

There’s a story there, and quite a few others. For this first post I wanted to tell you a little about how Beyond began, where it’s taken us, and where things stand now. I’ll go back and tell the longer stories as this blog goes on.

Finally doing it

I studied Music Technology at Newcastle College and started working in record shops after leaving in 1996. Over the years I worked at HMV, Virgin Megastore, Zavvi, Impulse Records and JG Windows, where I managed the record shop.

I’d talked about having my own place for years. In 2017, I decided to just do it. Beyond Vinyl opened its first shop on Westgate Road on 31 March 2018.

I wanted more than shelves of stock and a till. I wanted a shop where people could browse, talk about music, discover something unexpected and see artists play. I knew from working in record shops how much those conversations could mean.

Of course, wanting to do something and keeping it going are different things. Running your own shop means carrying the costs and making the decisions, including on the quiet days when you wonder where the next customers are coming from. There have been good moments and difficult ones, and plenty of learning as we’ve gone along.

Coming back to where I started

After Covid, there was a period when people were excited to get out, shop and do things again. But as that settled down, business slowed and people weren’t spending as much. We reached the point where we were closing Beyond Vinyl. We’d announced it and were already in the process of winding things down.

Then, in those dying weeks, we decided to have another roll of the dice. In March 2023 we moved to the John Marley Centre in Newcastle’s West End. It’s the building where I studied music. Now I’m back here with the shop, a studio and a record label. I never expected that when I was a student walking through its doors.

The move gave us room to do more. We’ve had live shows in the shop, worked on recordings and started building opportunities for young people. But a bigger space and more ideas also mean more to organise and more costs to cover. A great night in the shop can remind me exactly why I started; a slow week can bring me straight back to the bills.

Some things have happened that the kid singing in his bedroom wouldn’t have believed. I started recording music for charity around lockdown, and those releases led to two number-one singles on the Official Physical Singles Chart, with others in the top five. Through Beyond Records we’ve also released singles for local artists that made the physical top ten. I even performed with East 17 in Newcastle and released their album 24/7 on the label. I still find that a bit mad.

These weren’t steps in some grand plan. One thing led to another, usually with a lot of work and a fair bit of figuring it out as we went.

What we’re trying to build

Beyond Records is about giving music a chance and working fairly with artists. Right now we’re working on putting Umajets’ Demolotion on vinyl for the first time. There’s a link there to Jellyfish’s Tim Smith, and to Jellyfest, which Paul and I put on at the John Marley Centre this August with the blessing and contributions of all the Jellyfish members. They couldn’t be there in person, but they were involved. I’ll tell that story properly another time.

Beyond Studios gives us space to record and work with musicians. Beyond Music Community CIC, through the Academy and Beyond Live, is helping us create opportunities for young people too. Thanks to National Lottery players and funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, Beyond Music Community CIC’s music programme gives young people space, equipment and tutors to try things out and develop their ideas.

I care about all of it. I also know that none of it runs on enthusiasm alone.

Where we are now

The hardest part at the moment is covering the cost of keeping the shop open and getting more customers through the door. Sales aren’t always consistent, but the rent, stock costs and other bills are. We’ve also had to rebuild the website after problems with the old one. Getting everything online has taken a huge amount of work alongside serving customers and putting on events.

Some days it feels like we’re building something with real possibilities. Other days I’m looking at what needs paying and wondering how to get more people to find us. Both things are true.

I don’t have a neat ending to that yet. We’re still here, still working, and I still believe there’s room for a record shop that brings people together and gives artists and young people somewhere to do their thing.

If you’ve bought a record, come to a show, worked with us or told someone about Beyond, thank you. It makes a difference.

I’ll use this blog to go back through the journey—the early years, the first shop, the moves, the people and the moments that changed things—and to share what happens next, even when it’s messy.

Browse records online or come and find us at the John Marley Centre.

— David