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Vinyl
What the Hell Happened to Backside Records?
Comments (17)By Art Tavana
Wed, Nov 12, 2014 at 3:15 AM
Categories: Vinyl, Hip-Hop
Backside Records in Burbank is still a record store, but just barely. You definitely wouldn't know it walking in — as rows of urban streetwear now torch your senses with a kaleidoscope of gaudy colors.
"Sale margins on vinyl are not the same as apparel," says the store's apparel buyer and partner, Eric Flores, who saw Backside almost go under back in 2009, when physical music sales couldn't pay the rent near Burbank's Media Center (the city's uncool version of Melrose). "Apparel seemed like the natural transition for us."
The evolution of Backside Records from local record store to Melrose-style boutique began in the mid-2000s, when most of America began downloading MP3s instead of buying CDs and vinyl. DJs began spinning with a mouse on Serato, and suddenly, Backside lost their most loyal consumer: the hip-hop DJ.
Unlike Atomic Records, which is located in the more artsy part of Burbank on West Magnolia Boulevard (closer to North Hollywood), Backside has always relied on local DJs and kids from Burbank High to pay the rent. Atomic is still a record store, probably the best in the greater L.A. region, while Backside seems to be moving beyond physical music sales into the more robust apparel market.
And who can blame them? Backside suffers from having a large retail space on North San Fernando Boulevard, in a neighborhood that attracts teenagers looking for the latest threads. Today, brands like Odd Future, Supremacy, Obey, and Radyo have replaced the CDs and old school hip-hop singles that once made Backside the spot for aspiring DJs.
To Backside's credit, they've survived by retooling for Burbank's teenage consumer. They stayed open for business while Penny Lane, Wherehouse Music and Sam Goody all turned into beauty salons and jewelry stores. The roof even caved in on the nearby Virgin Megastore, literally, when a night of heavy rain in 2005 brought the ceiling down during a slow afternoon. Nobody was injured because nobody was shopping.
As someone who spent most of his childhood hanging out in Burbank, I don't blame Backside for changing their business model. Instead, I blame Burbank itself. I blame the DJs and kids from Burbank High that gave up on the place.
"Around 2009, things got really bad," Flores told me. "As Serato came out, the singles we used to carry went out the window."
He has a point, but what he won't say is the stinging truth: Burbank breeds a soulless culture of consumerism that would never allow a Backside Records to flourish like Origami in Echo Park, or Vacation Vinyl in Silver Lake.
"Sale margins on vinyl are not the same as apparel," says the store's apparel buyer and partner, Eric Flores, who saw Backside almost go under back in 2009, when physical music sales couldn't pay the rent near Burbank's Media Center (the city's uncool version of Melrose). "Apparel seemed like the natural transition for us."
The evolution of Backside Records from local record store to Melrose-style boutique began in the mid-2000s, when most of America began downloading MP3s instead of buying CDs and vinyl. DJs began spinning with a mouse on Serato, and suddenly, Backside lost their most loyal consumer: the hip-hop DJ.
Unlike Atomic Records, which is located in the more artsy part of Burbank on West Magnolia Boulevard (closer to North Hollywood), Backside has always relied on local DJs and kids from Burbank High to pay the rent. Atomic is still a record store, probably the best in the greater L.A. region, while Backside seems to be moving beyond physical music sales into the more robust apparel market.
And who can blame them? Backside suffers from having a large retail space on North San Fernando Boulevard, in a neighborhood that attracts teenagers looking for the latest threads. Today, brands like Odd Future, Supremacy, Obey, and Radyo have replaced the CDs and old school hip-hop singles that once made Backside the spot for aspiring DJs.
To Backside's credit, they've survived by retooling for Burbank's teenage consumer. They stayed open for business while Penny Lane, Wherehouse Music and Sam Goody all turned into beauty salons and jewelry stores. The roof even caved in on the nearby Virgin Megastore, literally, when a night of heavy rain in 2005 brought the ceiling down during a slow afternoon. Nobody was injured because nobody was shopping.
As someone who spent most of his childhood hanging out in Burbank, I don't blame Backside for changing their business model. Instead, I blame Burbank itself. I blame the DJs and kids from Burbank High that gave up on the place.
"Around 2009, things got really bad," Flores told me. "As Serato came out, the singles we used to carry went out the window."
He has a point, but what he won't say is the stinging truth: Burbank breeds a soulless culture of consumerism that would never allow a Backside Records to flourish like Origami in Echo Park, or Vacation Vinyl in Silver Lake.
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