JUST FOR THE RecorD 10 | BOROMAG.COM | AUGUST 2015 SHOPS Story & Images By BRADLEY HAWKS Few things can trigger a trip down memory lane like a magenta lava lamp, vinyl wrapped in plastic, wooden crates with handwritten stickers boasting records available for a dollar, and Technicolor album artwork strewn along the walls. With the rise of the compact disc came the fall of the record store. But in an age where digital media can be downloaded from your phone in a split second, the actual classic record store of yesteryear is finding its way back. Thanks to Javi Velazquez, you no longer have to travel deep into Brooklyn to browse bins of vinyl or gaze at glorious album artwork. He recently opened HiFi Records, a shop tucked away on Steinway Street just a half block north of Astoria Boulevard. “When I can just afford to take a record home every day, that’s when I’ll know I have made it,” the passionate owner says. “I just opened this because it’s what I love. In my house, we grew up with music.” The first record he ever bought? “Led Zeppelin One. At that point I hadn’t heard anything like that, because my sisters listened to mostly folksy stuff. When I heard Led Zeppelin for the first time on the radio, it blew my mind. It was heavy, but it was bluesy… and after that, it’s just been a love affair.” It’s a love affair that he’s passionate about sharing. “People gravitate to vinyl for many reasons,” Velazquez reflects. “For some of them, it’s nostalgia. But for some, they never experienced it. I think vinyl lovers will always be vinyl lovers, but now millennials who grew up in a digital world never had a relationship with a record. But we’re humans, and we like to touch and we like to interact and respond to all our senses. When I was a kid you learned to love the whole album— because you paid for every single song.” “You get the truer, fuller sound on a full album,” Velazquez continues. “Does it have its limitations? Yeah, sure it does. If it’s an old vinyl, it has props and ticks and noise and surface noise, but guess what? Life has surface noise. I’d rather listen to a phenomenal band in a crowded room with people kissing or talking or glasses hitting each other than a horrible band in a isolated room with clean, pristine sound. Music isn’t made in a void. You go to a concert and you are there bumping elbows with other people, and smelling them, and whatever else is in the environment, and that’s what vinyl is. Vinyl is more like life.” Around 5,000 albums are available in the store, with thousands more stored in the basement. There’s a tiny café, as well, where patrons can sip java and sample the tunes. You can even purchase an affordable turntable, developed by U-Turn Audio. Swing by and peruse the bins, grab a coffee or just say hey. This is a store we’d like to see in business for years to come. 23-19 Steinway St., Astoria • 718-606-1474 www.facebook.com/hifirecordsastoria
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