I am really proud to bring you our April Record Store of the Month, 1-2-3-4 Go! Records. You are probably well aware that 1-2-3-4 Go! is a great label that has brought you releases by Git Some, In the Red, No Bunny, Foundation, Ringers, Big Rig, Cute Lepers, and more. This could have just as easily been a Label of the month feature, but what some of you might not know is that Steve recently opened up a brick and mortar record store and even more recently, he moved into a bigger space just down from his original location. Because Steve is part of our little scene, I wanted to do what I could to hip some of you to his store. It is located at 423 40th Street in Oakland and from the photos I have seen, it looks like a great spot.

Steve has been so kind as answer his thoughts on running a record store, some of his best sellers, what labels/distros do that bug him, his thoughts on independent labels vs major labels and more. It is a really informative interview that I recommend everyone read.

Thanks Steve for taking the time to do this interview. We congratulate you on your continued success and hope that things continue to get better and better.

VC: What is your name and what do you do
1234go: My name is Steve and I run 1-2-3-4 Go! Records the record store, the label and the mail order.

VC: When did your store open?
1234go:The physical store opened officially March 15th 2008.

VC: Where is your store located, are there more than one location?
1234go:It’s currently located a few doors down from it’s original location at 423 40th Street in Oakland California. We just expanded in to a larger space in the same building.

VC: As CD sales continue to slide, have you noticed an increase in vinyl sales? Do you carry used vinyl?
1234go: My store is actually 90% vinyl physically and probably 98% vinyl related in sales. I carry a small amount of CD’s but they’re definitely not the focus of the store. I’m actually working on a better display for them in the hopes of bringing up sales a little and making them easier to look through. As much as me and some other folks would like to say the CD is a dead format there still are people buying them out there. For the time being it remains a valid format. And I definitely sell used records. That’s anywhere from 40% to 60% of my business on a daily basis.

VC: Do you personally collect vinyl? Are you guilty of grabbing rare or out of print new or used vinyl before putting it out on the shelves? What is your best score?
1234go: I used to be a pretty rabid collector before I opened the store. Especially when I worked at another store when I lived in Seattle called Singles Going Steady. My collection increased probably tenfold during my time there. When I started my own store I took a page out of SGS’s owners book and put my collection in the racks. His theory, which I believe, is that when you open you have to have killer stuff to start your reputation for being a great record store. If you’ve got the inclination to start your own store chances are you have a great collection so there’s no better place to start than your own stuff. If you plan on being in business for awhile everything will end up coming back to you eventually. Anyway I still love listening to music but I’m more concerned about there being amazing stuff in the store for people to buy than carting it back to my house. If the business continues to be more and more successful I’ll probably get back in to collecting. But for right now I take more joy out of stoking someone else out on a rad record and having the cash flow continue to flow in the store.

VC: It seems as though retail distribution has become more and more difficult for smaller labels and bands who self-release their music; any advice for those folks on how they can get your attention and have you carry their records?
1234go: I’ve run a label myself since the summer of 2001 and I don’t recall in the last 8 years there ever being an easy time getting records in to distros and stores. A lot of them have been picky and bitchy for years. And rightly so in a lot of cases. You can’t afford to take on every new record released out there. However I think some records are unfairly locked out. My advice is to try and build your mail order base as much as you can and get in where you fit in as far as distros and stores go. There are a lot of friendly people out there in to the same kinds of music you are. You just have to find them. As a store though I will say that I’m more willing to take a shot on something that’s already in a distro when I can try out a couple copies and see how it goes. Most labels write me and want me to take 5 copies of something on CD that I’ve never heard of and pay up front. I can’t really afford to take that big a risk. Especially on a format I don’t really sell.

VC: You started a brick and mortar store fairly recently after so many long-standing stores went out of business. Did you not get the memo? What made you decide to start a record store in this retail climate?
1234go:Fuck that memo. I’m really sick of all the belly aching from people who refused to adapt or got too big for their britches. Not saying that’s the case in every instance but it is for a lot of the higher profile stores. I opened a store in the bay area because I saw that there was a gaping hole here the size and shape of an independent punk/indie focused store. Amoeba (a giant record store with two locations in this area and on in LA) put the fear in to people. I don’t think they actively muscled anyone but people see this monolith and think there’s no point in competing. I think Amoeba is a great General store. It’s got a good overview of everything…and I mean everything. The stores are massive. The SF one used to be a bowling alley. That’s how big it is. However I see two weaknesses in that. 1. There’s no real in depth focus on any one genre. You get the greatest hits for the most part but a lot of the more obscure stuff get’s passed up. 2. Stores that size can be intimidating to people and in this area especially people like to go out of their way to support a smaller business. I won’t say now is the time to open this kind of store anywhere but I will say that I think now is a great time to open something you know your community will support. It’s going to take a lot of work on top of that but I don’t think the record store is dead or anything apocalyptic like that. There’s still a ton of people who love combing through stores looking for gems. Both of new and used records. I mean March 0f 2009 has been my best month ever. I just expanded in to a space 3 times the size of the old one and I’m more successful than I was before. Some of the armada is sinking but the whole fleet isn’t on the way down. Some of us are still steaming along.

VC: What have been some of your best selling vinyl releases over the past year?
1234go: One that sticks out right away is Jawbreaker’s “24 Hour Revenge Therapy” LP. They did a small run to fill out some sleeves and I sold 60 copies out of this store. Which is far and away the best single seller I’ve had to so far. Probably followed more recently by 40 copies of the new Hunx and His Punx 7″ and an unholy amount of Nobunny LP’s. There are a lot of great consistant sellers. Wavves always does well, Cock Sparrer, Jay Reatard, Neutral Milk Hotel. Lot’s of others new and old.

VC: What things do labels/distributors do that really irritate you? You don’t have to give an exact example, but you can.
1234go: On the label side I really hate it when a label intentionally presses 500 copies of something on the first round that they know is going to sell quite a bit more than that. Especially when they’re not doing it for any other reason than creating hype or being obtuse. Records like that can really backfire on stores because people get really hot for it while it’s out of print and either download it because it’s impossible to find or spend a ton on it on Ebay. Once it’s repressed everyone has it so we end up moving a handful of copies instead of what could have been a potentially great seller.

One more recent thing is In The Red (records not the band) giving copies of the new Oh Sees record to the band last month, mail ordering them from their site this week and having the official release date at the end of next month. I get calls almost every day asking if I have the record because people think it’s out and they think I’m crazy when I say it doesn’t come out for another month. I see the advantages on the label side of doing this, because the profit margin is larger, but it hurts retail sales in stores like mine who generally go out of our way to support labels like In The Red.

The most annoying distributor in my book went out of business in the last year so it’d be beating a dead horse to talk about them but I think the worst is opening a box and finding it filled with trash as packing material or not well packed. Other than that I feel like most places I go through are on their game. I know there will be slip ups from time to time with fills and they suck but I don’t let it drive me too crazy.

VC: What do you see as the future of music sales?
1234go: Who can really say? In some ways I see the rift growing between independent/small time bands and main stream bands. I think the smaller guys will still have physical formats including vinyl well after the main stream gives up on it again and I think the future of major artists is digital (for the bullshit for the most part) and deluxe packages (for the real artists and musicians). What’s the point of buying a regular jewel case CD with nothing special about it when you can just get the files? If the majors want people to keep buying physical things they’re going to have to pick up the quality of what their offering. On the inside and the outside. People are either going to filter down to us on the independent level because that’s where the good music is or over to digital because they could care less about anything but having a song from some soundtrack to go muddin’ in their truck to. I feel like the major labels focus on these sorts of people at their peril though. They’re trying to appeal to people who see music as disposable. Those people are fantastic consumers…however they’re unreliable. You never know what they’ll want and how long they’ll want it for. But that’s most people. I’m not so dense that I don’t see that everyone doesn’t live and breath music like me and my friends do. But I think we’re the safe bet in the long run. We’re picky but we’ll be buying new music for the rest of our lives. Although Rock Band just sold a billion dollars in music. Who knows what the fuck that means. They have less than 300 artists available for the game. Pretty unbelievable.

VC: Have you noticed that the bundling of MP3’s w/ vinyl has helped you to sell music in a physical format?
1234go: For sure. I’ve definitely seen it be the decision maker when it comes to gift purchasing especially. People feel like it’s safe. If Timmy doesn’t like vinyl records too much in a month he’s still got the files. Or sometimes people think that people have turntables but aren’t really sure. However they know they have an Ipod. Also the physical nature of the thing makes it a much better gift than an itunes gift card.

VC: It seems to me that there is a new generation of music listeners who have never set foot in a mom and pop brick and mortar store. What are they missing? What would you like to tell those people?
1234go: I think the internet is really convenient. A certain portion of my sales are made there so I obviously believe in and appreciate it. However I think human beings will always like to physically touch things and hunt for them in ways that aren’t possible on a computer. That’s what a store offers. Or to approach in from another way. Say you really like Vinyl Collective. It’s your favorite place to go online because you know music you like is stocked there and they don’t tend to carry a lot of stuff you don’t care about. It’s convenient, you get what you want and on occasion discover new stuff. A store like mine is essentially the same. It’s pretty focused and when you come in here you’re going to find music you like and stumble across some new stuff you want to give a try. But now you’re out of the house and BS’ing with the guy behind the counter about music and maybe finding out about a show or meeting up with friends. It offers similar positives as far as music goes but you also get this added human contact aspect that a message board doesn’t provide. Oh and you get to take it home that very instant. No waiting for the postman or the heartbreak of discovering your records got mangled on the way to you. I think there’s room enough for both kinds of businesses in the world.