Bella Union's Simon Raymonde chats with Best Fit about his new record store

How did the launch go yesterday?

We had great fun! It's been a long time coming; we took the shop on four or five months ago and just been trying to do it up since then. We had a few guests come down to play some music, and the place was rammed by the end of the day.

Did you get a lot of people down?

A lot more than I expected. It was quiet in the morning – we opened at midday, and there were a couple of people waiting outside. Fiona Brice, whose album has just come out, came and played so it got really busy, then we had Jamie Lee from MONEY come and play at and it got incredibly busy, and then Mercury Rev turned up and it was overflowing.

What sort of feedback did you get?

Everyone thought it was a really nice thing for Brighton to have. It's not like there's a shortage of vinyl shops down here, there's actually quite a lot... I don't think there was a need for another brand new independent record shop selling a bit of everything.

There seemed to be a great reaction to what we're doing though, which is a bit different. It's not the same, we're only selling our own stuff, and it's this tiny little shop – you can probably only fit about 50 people in there in one go.

It's a customer-facing hub, which is quite different for record labels – do you think this could spur others on to follow your example?

I don't know; I guess this was a personal choice. I grew up in record shops, that's where my first job was, so it's in my DNA I suppose. The first thing I did after leaving school at 18 was working at Beggar's in South Kensington – I've always loved record shops, and I've always dreamed of having one.

After moving down to Brighton we stumbled upon this place in The Lanes, and the rent was cheap, so we looked at it and thought 'it's not too much of a risk, the rent's reasonable... we're not gonna lose anything in this... so let's see what we can do!'

So has this been in the works a while?

We thought about it a year ago, and then my wife Abbey came home one day from town and said she'd seen this tiny little shop for rent in The Lanes. She showed me a picture and we went and saw it the next morning, and when we found out how much it was we just took it on there and then.

It's taken a lot longer than we'd liked to get it up and running because we've had this special unit built for all the records to sit in. It's not just a shabby shelf, it's a proper bespoke counter – it took a while to get right, and then for the guy to make it... but we wanted to make sure it everything was right. There was no mad rush to get it open on this day or that day.

We tried to open for Explosions In The Sky's new record on 1 April, but that didn't happen, and then we tried for Record Store Day, but that didn't happen, and then we tried for The Great Escape, but that didn't happen either! When we finally got our neon sign yesterday morning at 9 O'Clock, that felt right. We knew we were ready to open.

You had Jamie Lee and Fiona Brice playing and then Mercury Rev went down too – how was that?

It was a great time for Mercury Rev to turn up. People were leaving work and then taking pictures and things and letting people know we were there... the shop's in a little alley, so we didn't want to make a big noise. We're not really bothered about a huge amount of footfall. I think we're a nice place for people to discover by accident or, when they know we're there, come to us.

Are there plans for more in-store performances?

Definitely, but we have to be respectful of the neighbours (there's a guy who lives upstairs but he's super friendly and really into music so hopefully it shouldn't be a problem). Also, the shop is so tiny so we can't do anything like they do at Rough Trade... but acoustic things we can definitely do. I'm into it... why not?

We really wanna do late openings as well. We'd like to open midnights on Thursday nights, when there's an important release – we wanted to do it with Explosions In The Sky – even if only 10-15 people turn up. iTunes start selling releases at one minute past midnight, so we thought we should do the same. We might only open at quarter to midnight and then shut at half past, but we think we should at least let people come in and buy the record as soon as it's out.

It's almost bringing back the ritual of going back down to your local store...

People really want that. It's not like we're bored of Spotify or anything, and there's definitely a thirst for streaming. It's obviously the future, to a degree, but with that comes a nostalgia for what went before. It's not just people my age either – I'm in my 50s, and I grew up with vinyl – and half the people that came in yesterday were in their 20s or 30s. This isn't just an old man's game. It's something people gravitate towards because they're limited things – it's an artefact, something that brings you closer to the artist, perhaps. You can hold it, smell it, watch it spin around... it's just a bit more interesting than a data file... a lot more interesting!

Does the store have any other plans for the rest of the year?

We hope to do something with Beach House on Monday when they're down! I haven't spoken to them yet, but I hope they'll stop in at least. I'm pretty sure John Grant will come and do something when he's down for his show later in July. We'll keep people updated with what's going on.

We haven't actually even sorted proper opening times yet. I don't think we'll bother with Mondays. Not many people think about buying vinyl on a Monday. Certainly where we are, later in the evening and on weekends is definitely good. Maybe we'll open Tuesday until Sunday.

The Bella Union Vinyl Shop is located in Brighton, along Ship Street Gardens in The Lanes.

Top image of Raymonde is from his day at the John Peel Archive. Other photography from Facebook.