Although two record stores in Athens have fallen by the wayside, Haffa’s Records, 15 W. Union St. has been able to remain afloat by keeping up with national underground trends, staying in tune with local bands and a bit of old-fashioned luck.
“Not everything is on Spotify yet,” said Scott Hedrick, guitarist for Skeletonwitch and a long-time employee of Haffa’s. “People are coming in for the most random, obscure horror films or really rare records,”
Hedrick said he’s been working at Haffa’s Records, 15 W. Union St., on and off because of touring with his band, for 10 years. His brother previously worked at the store so when Hedrick arrived in Athens as a freshman he secured the “cool record store job.”
“I ended up getting turned on to so much music because of that (job), and Haffa’s is probably why I decided to play music and go that route,” Hedrick said.
Haffa’s owner, Andrew Lampela, had a great impact on the Skeletonwitch guitarist’s music taste, as he’s always recommending new music to listen to, Hedrick said.
“There are not that many Andrews left,” he said. “We tour a lot … and there are fewer and fewer record stores. What you get there at Haffa’s, and not a chain store, is recommendations. Andrew knows what people like and when people come into the store it’s very much like ‘High Fidelity.’”
Lampela has a very sarcastic and often grouchy exterior, but Hedrick said when he gets talking about music, he’s a wealth of knowledge, recommending everything from jazz to metal.
“He acts like he’s all grumpy all the time but 10 minutes later he’s like ‘Hey, did you hear this? I know you like old soul records and we just reissued all this stuff,’ ” Hedrick said. “You’ll get recommendations on Spotify but those are mostly bulls--t. … There’s a human connection to having a real record store that cares about music.”
Lampela begrudgingly admitted that DVD trade-ins have also been on the rise, with more and more customers turning in the old format taking up space in their basements.
“As cassettes went out DVDs came in,” Lampela said.
The store features a local section where customers can buy CDs and vinyl from Athens bands from year’s past, including some of Lamela’s picks for favorite local groups, past and present.
“Athens is a pretty small town to be able to support a record store,” said Victor Rasgaitis of local band The Ridges. “The community and the students help it and support it, which makes it one of the cornerstones of the Athens music scene.”
He said one of the first things he did as an Ohio University freshman was drop off some high school recordings of his music, as he began to work the local coffee shops for shows. You can still pick up copies of his first CD at the store, just look for Rasgaitis’ 15-year-old face.
However, Lampela said the section can be rather unpopular, despite his support for the local scene.
“Having been in bands forever, I like (showcasing Athens bands) but this town is pretty apathetic as far as buying things from local bands,” said Lampela, pointing to free outlets such as Spotify or the artist’s Bandcamp page on a name-your-own-price basis. “A lot of people that really want it buy it at the show.”
@Wilbur_Hoffman
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