Robert Smith started selling used vinyl during the Covid pandemic and soon saw “ridiculous” growth.
In a matter of months, Rob found himself on the phone to global music marketplace, Discogs, who had called to let him know he was now one of the UK’s top 30 sellers.
After many long days of packing shipments in the morning and listing more vinyl in the evening, the work became more fluid. “I was like a machine,” he said.
By 2023, Rob had opened up a record store, Recycle Vinyl in Elland, West Yorkshire – 15 years after he left London.
The following year he moved back to Hackney to realise his dream of an “adaptable, multi-use space”, where people could shop for records and dance to DJs spinning only vinyl.
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In opening his spacious second store just off Dalston’s Kingsland Road, this looked set to become reality.
But an unseasonably dry and warm April meant more potential customers were in beer gardens and not thumbing through stacks of second-hand 12″ inch dance tracks.
To get more foot traffic, Rob has been angling to use the building’s backyard for a string of day parties, bringing more people through the doors and increasing exposure.
But he has run into opposition from both unhappy neighbours and the authorities.
“The summer looks bleak,” said Rob, having just had his plans for a silent disco quashed by the Metropolitan Police and Hackney Council. Concerns about noise complaints were the stated reason – noise, that is, from the silent disco.
Despite being initially granted temporary event notices (TENs) for music events ending at 9pm, the Met and the town hall’s environmental health team later blocked a second party, Rave Yard, after several noise complaints linked to the previous event.
“The whole theme was to have a graveyard, showing what’s happening to clubs in London. So it’s ironic that it happened to us too,” he said.
Though Rob “completely understands” the needs of his neighbours, he alleges that the main thrust of the complaints are not being made in good faith.
Later on, three civil enforcement officers turned up after receiving complaints, but since there was no legal limit on the volume before 10pm they left shortly after.
“There was nothing we needed to do, we were fully compliant,” he said, though he had told neighbours he was open to suggestions to manage noise over the coming weekends.
To try and find a way forward, Rob proposed hosting a silent disco, capping the number of guests or limiting the rave to the indoor space and simply using the yard as a beer garden, but these were denied and he was forced to cancel the second event.
On the silent disco option, the Met said patrons wearing headphones in the back yard would still make too much noise.
Recycle Vinyl still plans to host late-night events later in the year, but the summer plans are now in disarray.
Rob said: “August was going to be one of the stronger months. It might have pulled back some of the investment.
“But it’s just guaranteed we can’t do anything in the outdoor space, so it’s not even worth the headache or the paperwork.”
Alongside the loss in potential revenue, Rob estimates he has spent £5,000 on equipment, leasing the yard and promotion for the scuttled events.
“I’m not here to make big bucks,” he added. “If I was, I’d probably be better selling records back in Yorkshire but I’d be bored.
“Here I’m frustrated because there’s so much potential yet I’m dealing with the police, environmental health and professional complainers.
“It’s really upsetting. We are just trying to do something nice here.”
Thankfully for Rob, his enterprise is a magnetic one.
Conor Murphy, an aspiring young DJ studying part-time to become a chartered accountant, first encountered Rob when he came by to shift some of his own records.
He now helps out here and there with the day-to-day running of the shop, to “get it off the ground”.
In the absence of wages, Conor and other volunteers may get records in exchange, but Rob’s hopes of hiring even temporary staff for the events have been dashed by the cancellations.
Rob said: “People want to work here. I had so many job applications before we’d even opened.
“It’s a positive for everyone. Even at the first licensing hearing in January the officer said it would be great for Dalston and the community.”
