Interview: Joe Smith of Joe’s Records

When you were growing up, you probably at one time or another had a dream of one day working at the local record shop so that you could get free CDs. Joe Smith took that dream and made a living out of it. It’s Evansville met up with Joe, owner of Joe’s Records, at his east-side store to talk about his store, the Evansville music scene and how the digital age has impacted his industry.

Tell me about Joe’s records.

Three years ago we opened our first shop on the West side and we dealt mostly with used CDs and Vinyl. We did well enough in the first year to open a second store on the East side of Evansville. We’re now looking to open a third one in Owensboro. It’s going well.

What prompted you to open your first store?

I managed the Coconuts in town here for 15 years and learned the trade from them. We fell out of love with each other, I took a year off and then came back to the only thing I know how to do. I could see it coming that [music stores] weren’t going to survive on new music, so we wanted to do the used thing. Even though we started used, we’re now immersed in the new even though we didn’t want to be, but it is what it is.

Well, if you didn’t want to get in the new media market, what drove you to it?

Usher’s Confessions CD was the one that got me back into new music. I pre-ordered 12 copies of that for people in town, and then realized that even though the profit margin on it isn’t as great as new music, it’s still getting people into our store.

Where do you end up getting most of your used music?

The best case scenario is someone just brings it to us. Other than that, there is Internet sites like eBay or Amazon. Besides that, if I want to build a particular platform or piece of merchandise whether its a video game or whatever, I can drive to Louisville and visit 10 pawn shops to get what I need.

Your guys’ Web site links off to a pretty large eBay store where you’re selling all kinds of vintage stuff. How does that play into your business?

It’s huge. It pays the rent and our payroll, but it’s a ton of work. We do it all here, so all my employees are immersed in the ebay culture. Both our West and East-side stores have their inventory online. It gives us a double chance of selling it. If someone buys it online, we’ll just pull it from the racks, and vice versa. If someone buys it in the store, we just pull the item off our eBay store. It’s amazing, because a lot of stuff thats not really salable in your store because no one’s heard of them, may sell on eBay to some chick who slept with the bass player across the world for $25.

So your eBay business is world-wide?

All over the world. We’ve shipped anywhere from Singapore to Australia. Probably 30% of our ebay sales are worldwide. eBay’s a niche market that helps independent stores like us thrive.

When I first saw that you’re store opened, I was actually surprised. Whenever I think of people buying music these days, I figured they would head to the mall or Best Buy.

You have to remember, we’re more than just a new music store. We love the culture [new music] creates, but we’re really a used media store that dabbles in the new stuff. We do video games. We’re diverse. Independent changes are thriving right now. Amoeba out in California did something like $50 million last year. They made a ton of money off of three stores.

There’s a lot of bad press about the record business as far as new CDs go, but that’s only 30% of our business. It’s not what pays our bills. A lot of that press is created by the labels themselves because they want to cry the blues. Downloading isn’t the villain that caused all the record stores to go out of businesses. Downloading is just a byproduct that the industry created with their high dollar bullshit. What did they expect?

When I was a little kid I heard The Night Chicago Died by Paper Lace on American Bandstand and I loved it. My mom took me to Risley’s up in Mt Carmel and I bought the single for a dollar. Today a kid hears the new Will Smith tune on the radio, goes to the mall and the CD is $20. That kid’s record buying behavior is stunted at an early age.

Everything the industry is suffering is self-inflicted.

One thing you guy are really into here is Vinyl…

The Vinyl industry is interesting. When we decided to open this second store, we wanted to immerse ourselves in the vinyl culture. Our new and used vinyl sales equaled that of our used CD sales last month. Nobody else in town is doing that. It’s like being an antique dealer. Three years ago that was seen as insane, but today it is making a huge comeback. We’ve got anyone from 16 to 60 coming in here for the stuff. Kids love the thickness of it, the packaging of it. It sounds better. It officializes the whole listening process. You have to flip it halfway through!

Empire Records or High Fidelity?

High Fidelity though I wish it had more record store scenes.

You advertise that you carry local bands music. How do you interface with the local scene and what do you think of it in general?

I think every scene defines itself. Casey down at 1123 has a really good thing going on. That’s the closest thing I have seen to a kids scene in a while. Other than that, this town’s pretty much cover-oriented, which is fine. I’ve played in cover bands before.

It doesn’t matter how thriving the scene is. No one will appreciate it until 10 years from now.

What do you think the city needs to improve or further the current music scene?

The right venue first of all, which isn’t here. Second, the right management for that venue. It’s hard for a bar owner to bring in a national act because of the guarantees and riders. We just need an outside source to come in and do it the right way. Evansville doesn’t suck as bad as everyone says it does, but no place really does.

You started your store in 2003, during the beginning of iTunes and post-Napster. What are your thoughts on things like the iTunes Store?

I don’t really understand the novelty, but that’s my own ignorance. I’m not going to criticize someone that does it. I just don’t get it. I’m a record store kind of guy. I don’t think it has anything to do with age. I personally just don’t want to go to a Web site to get my music.

As far as iTunes, Rhapsody and other paid sites, as long as the artists are getting paid, I can’t complain about it. As far as someone taking a record for free, I can’t support that. It has nothing to do with me being a record store owner. It’s just about what’s right and what’s wrong. You can’t just walk into my store, grab a disc off the rack and walk out without paying for it.

All in all, the music industry is going through a correction that it should have gone through long ago. The record industry in the 90’s was can’t miss with the rise of hip-hop and country. It’ll never be like that again. The industry just needs to realize that.

Anything else you want the It’s Evansville readers to know?

That whole snotty record clerk thing has got to go. It’s not like that here. It sounds so cliché, but I really enjoy people. I really enjoy people who are into tunes. It’s easy for me to connect with people. I like that contact. Here you’re going to get very genuine contact and customer service experience because every $10 or $25 sale is super important to us. It keeps the fire burning.

The Basics

Name: Joe W. Smith Jr.

Describe yourself in one sentence: I’m a tall, long-haired, uneducated man who knows his place in society.

Age and occupation: 40, retail business owner, dad, loving husband.

Hometown: Mt. Carmel, IL

Favorite place to spend time online: Blabbermouth or The Onion.

Favorite local business: I used to love House Of Como, but now it’s probably Musician’s Den on Burkhardt.

Favorite local hangout: O’Brians. I’m a sports bar kind of guy.

Evansville has the BEST… independent record store

You’ve never lived in Evansville until… you’ve hit every red light on the Lloyd Expressway

Evansville would be soooo much better if only: If the Oakland Raiders moved here.

Best restaurant: I hate to pick a chain, but Longhorn. Best steak in town.

Place you always tell visitors to check out: Check out the Casino and the downtown area.

Question you’d ask if you were doing this interview: How do you stay so young looking?

And what’s the answer? Clean living brother!

Joe’s Records has two stores in Evansville. The West-side store is at 5625 Pearl Drive while the East-side store is at 121 S. Green River Rd. Be sure to check them out and tell them we sent you!