Shelf Life: Phonica

London electronic hub

Soho is past it, worn out… knackered.

The area is losing its romance, with the chains moving in the independents being priced out. Yet in a small, unassuming corner of those ancient streets Phonica are not only surviving but thriving.

The clean, well laid out store stocks the finest in electronic music, with a few outsider curveballs invited along to the party. Staff are efficient, friendly while the turntables (often battered and bruised in other shops) are very rarely less than immaculate.

Hosting some spectacular in-stores, Phonica remains at the heart of London’s dance scene. As part of our Shelf Life series, we invited the staff to answer a few questions about daily life in the shop.

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How long has Phonica been going? Give us the highlights,from its conception to the present day…
Phonica’s been going for nearly nine years now… We’re celebrating our ninth birthday this autumn and we’re just a year away from the big 1 0. Highlights? Too many to pinpoint. Launching our website, which gave us a worldwide platform was one… Starting our label and various sublabels was another one; gives you the feeling you’re putting something back into the ‘scene’ as opposed to just being a shop. The parties have always been big, albeit hazy highlights too…

Who shops in Phonica? Do you have plenty of big name DJ’s? Have you seen any grow from being customers to superstars?
We’ve got plenty of different types of customers in the shop… The avid collectors that come in with lists of catalogue numbers, the budding DJ/producer types that are looking for tunes and of course the ‘big name DJ’s’ who are looking for that special 12” they won’t have been sent or downloaded. There’s loads of things that are still vinyl only! There’s been a few people that’ve grown exponentially in those nine years we’ve been around. Most of them still visit the shop on a regular basis. Don’t like to name names but a certain someone that was voted best DJ last year at RA’s polls springs to mind.

How do you manage to keep the store so eclectic?
It’s a tough one. It’s a balancing act between things we really like, things that are current and things that people ask for. If it’s a record we ain’t feeling, we probably won’t stock it….

Tell us who’s been on the decks for in-store performances. Which have been the most special?
We’ve had a few over the years. Carl Craig, Richie Hawtin and the Minus crew, Four Tet, Francois K, Tensnake, the Night Slugs crew, M.A.N.D.Y., Simian Mobile Disco, Dam Funk, Peaking Lights, the Horse Meat Disco guys and many more.

My personal favourite was probably Francois K who came to the shop an hour in advance, spent that time listening to the releases we had at the time and playing for nearly 2 hours things he picked from our shelves. I can guarantee you he hasn’t played the same set again. Kieran’s (Four Tet) in-store was pretty special too… It had been on the cards for a while and when it finally happened the shop nearly turned into a club – about 300 people in here (or at least it felt like that) and Four Tet spinning for 3hrs plus. Couldn’t get him off the decks.

What makes Phonica unique?
I think it’s a combination of things. We stock quite a wide range of music, always trying to be as up-to-date as possible; we try to be as open-minded as possible, after all there’s a few of us working here and we all bring our own flavour so to speak to the table. But the most important thing which keeps people coming back is the personal relationships we form with customers, knowing what the like, what they want and pointing out record we think they’ll like and they’ve probably missed.

How has the way people view and consume electronic music changed since you’ve been open?
One of the big changes we’ve seen over the last 5 years or so is the decline in sales of the sort of ‘dancefloor-fodder’ records (for lack of a better description). Records people would buy, play a for a month or two (at best) and then never touch again. That simply won’t do anymore… The other change we’ve seen is the amount of things that get repressed; there’s certain releases we could sell loads more but we just can’t get the stock.

With a big mainstream retailer up the road how do you maintain customers and stay independent?
Sorry, we don’t view the big ‘mainstream retailer up the road’ as a threat… Last time I went up there to get some CD-Rs we needed (which they didn’t have btw), I didn’t see a lot of music in there, let alone vinyl, which is our strongest point.

Are there any albums you’ve stocked which now have a special significance to the store or serve as a reminder to a certain time?
There’s a few records over the years that have got that sort of power, though I’d say it’s mainly singles… M.A.N.D.Y. vs Booka Shade ‘Body Language’, Paul Woolford’s ‘Erotic Discourse’, Carl Craig’s remix of Theo Parish ‘Falling Up’, Carl Craig’s remix of Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom’s ‘Relevee’ (there’s actually a few Carl Craig remixes that we hold close to our heart!), Ame’s ‘Rej’, Loco Dice’s “Breaking Through Shadows and more recently Todd Terje’s ‘Ragysh’ & ‘Snooze 4 Love’. The list goes on… And that’s not even mentioning all of our own releases to which we’ve got a special sort of attachment.

What’s the weirdest customer/musical request you’ve had in the store?
We’ve had plenty of weird & funny ones through the years. ‘Give me something organic but funky’ is one that always stands out… When the whole minimal thing exploded, we had loads of people asking for minimal techno and then complaining it was too minimal. We even had fonejacker call us once. Sadly we didn’t make the cut…

What sells better in there CD’s or vinyl?
Definitely vinyl!

I’m going into the shop on Friday (genuinely am). What should I pick up?
Too many good things on offer at the mo. This new Julio Bashmore (‘Au Seve’) is pretty infectious, Four Tet’s ‘128 Harps’ is essential, Falty DL on Ninja Tune will make your speakers rattle, the Ondatropica cover of Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’ is a personal favourite and I’d probably get fired if I didn’t make you buy a copy of our latest release, Sinkane’s Runin’ complete with Daphni remix…

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Find Phonica on Facebook.

Interview by Simon Butcher

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