Having spent the previous year slowly building a business, music enthusiast Jack Doyle is preparing to open his first permanent record shop

Timed perfectly to coincide with an annual celebration of independent record shops, Sound Records, which specialises in selling and sourcing new and old vinyl records, opens its doors on Saturday (April 21) at the lower ground floor of the Peter Luis Building, 9 to 11 Duke Street, from 10am.

Stocking everything from blues to jazz, punk to soul, and funk to metal, Jack hopes that Sound Records will fill a big gap left in Douglas high street, which has been without a dedicated music shop since the closure of HMV in 2016, and the first independent record shop since the closure of Shocks, the much-loved music store that closed many years ago.

For Jack, this marks the next step in his efforts to organically grow and generate his business, and he hopes that the shop will become a centre for people to reconnect with their love of buying and browsing for music, as opposed to the modern-day methods of streaming and down-loading.

Once having been almost consigned to the technological dustbin, vinyl records have been making a steady comeback, thanks in part to such events as the International Record Store day, which has become a global phenomenon, with many major bands appearing at small independent record shops across Europe and the US.

’There is a massive demand for vinyl still, and it just seems to be getting bigger and bigger,’ said Jack.

’On the Isle of Man it is a little bit different, as we are a totally different market.

’But globally, more records are being sold now since they were in the 1970s, so there is definitely a demand for it.

’People are moving away from the digital side of things, and they want to own a physical bit of music. Vinyl is the only way to do that, really.

’April 21 is the official international records store day, across the whole world, and it just happens to be happening on the day that I open.

’I hadn’t exactly planned for that, but it is a great piece of fortune for me!

’Next year, hopefully I will be on the official list of record stores that are taking part, so I will be able to get all the exclusive releases.

’At the minute I have a few limited editions and first press albums, which will be good to get out to people, as there is only a limited number of them, so people will have to get down quick if they want them.

’I’ll be playing music all day, and hopefully be putting on free drinks for people, and I will also have some exclusive records coming out.

’I’ll also have a raffle prize as well, and some merchandise too.’

Jack began exactly one year ago, during the 2017 Record Store day, with a pop up stall at Castletown Market. Since then he has appeared at many other fairs and festivals, and finally took on a small temporary shop in Onchan precinct over the winter.

He said he was amazed by the demand, and that convinced him to open a permanent shop.

’I have heard that this is the first independent records shop in Douglas for nearly 20 years,’ he said.

’I’ve had a few people come to me already, saying that this is the first time they have been to a shop and bought music. That’s great.

’The joy that you get from seeing people finding new music is incredible, and that is what keeps driving me and keeps me wanting to grow it. And it will keep growing.’

I’ll keep turning it to what people want, bringing in the music that people want and keep building it like that way.’