Nigel Graham sets the record straight ahead of vinyl club nights
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Nigel Graham has prided himself on his ability to unearth tuneful treasures over the years.
The Union Vinyl manager and owner has had many records pass through his hands since opening the shop doors for the first time back in May 2014, and has come across a few diamonds in that time – both professionally and personally.
“Sometimes we find pictures inside album covers,” he said. “There were love letters once, and one time there was artwork from the person who owned the album – they’d decorated the white inner with their love of the band.”
Yet the appeal of vinyl has over the last decade become about far more than these little snapshots of history. Business is officially booming, and the vinyl revival continues unabated.
2017 saw 4.1 million records sold in the UK alone – the highest number since 1991 – as vinyl helps to continue driving the music industry’s regrowth.
Part of the offshoot of that is that record-based club nights have become all the rage – as people scour vinyl collections old and new looking for tunes to share at the weekend.
No stranger to these nights, Nigel is set to spin the decks at the Tooth and Claw for the next two weekends in a row at two separate club nights that relish the record. “It’s always the same,” he laughed. “Sometimes I don’t do gigs for a couple months then two come along at the same bloody time!”
First up at the city venue this Saturday is the Union Vinyl club night Vinyl Revival, this time featuring a string of alternative/indie hits that span the decades along with a few guest DJs. “We’ve got Duncan McSporran joining us, who has a fantastic knowledge of music from all genres – particularly new bands,” Nigel said.
“Adele Pascale-Jones is actually having her debut on the night and is a Britpop fanatic so it’ll be a good mix we have, with us all playing our own style.
“I can’t really tell you what the others will play but it will be exciting to hear myself what choices are made!”
Then the following Saturday sees Nigel joining three other DJs at the Tooth and Claw for the club night Ready Steady Go Go – a night of mod, northern soul and ska classics.
There might not seem like there’ll be much of a crossover between the two nights, but Nigel’s put some thought into a tune that he could bring to both. “The only song I think could possibly work is Baby Charles covering Arctic Monkeys’ You Look Good on the Dance Floor, with its jazz overtones and sounds from the late 60s.”
These nights are only set to grow bigger and more popular as vinyl’s star continues to rise. Yet the medium’s growth has brought with it its own challenges to independent record store owners like Nigel, particularly as bigger stores demand a bigger piece of the pie.
Last year he announced that Union Vinyl would no longer be taking part in the annual Record Store Day that purports to celebrate shops like his own. “To me it’s become too corporate. It’s lost its way for small independent shops – you’re up against bigger shops that get the lion’s share of all the top releases and we get the scraps off their table.
“You also have to order in advance with, titles not knowing if you will get allocated any of said release. It’s all a gamble if you get anything really, whereas I think each shop should be given the opportunity to grab at least a couple of the top releases on the day so it’s shared about the country and not just for the major shops in the pecking order.”
Yet despite these challenges Nigel, at the forefront of records in Inverness, knows firsthand how popular the medium has become. “Inverness is growing more into the vinyl,” he said. “More and more people are buying turntables and in turn buying more vinyl – which is good for me!
“The younger generation are getting turntables and finding their parents’ vinyl and playing it, and people that used to play vinyl years ago are getting back into it or replacing worn copies of their favourite album.
“I have noticed a lot more vinyl nights starting in Inverness. It’s the only way to play music as far as I’m concerned.”
For more information, go to www.unionvinyl.co.uk or search “Vinyl Revival” or “Ready Steady Go Go” on Facebook.
