Each month, ARIA features an indie record store that contributes to the ARIA Charts. This month, we feature Canberra’s Landspeed Records.
Located in Canberra's Civic district, Landspeed Records have been serving up sounds to music lovers in the ACT for nearly 30 years. They're Canberra's longest running independent record store.
Covering a broad range of genres and formats, the store also includes Landspeed Clothing in the back. You'll also find merch, hifi equipment and much more.
We spoke to Blake from Landspeed about selling records in Australia's capital.
When did you open your store?
We opened in 1994.
Do you specialise in particular genres? What’s popular with your customers?
We pretty much cover all genres these days. Indie and Classic Rock has always been a staple but these days we also sell lots of Hip Hop, R&B and even Pop.
What formats do you sell/specialise in?
We mostly sell vinyl these days but we still also carry a pretty big range of CDs and also a handful of cassettes.
What’s been a highlight of running your store?
The people you meet over the years. Indie record store customers are usually pretty interesting and through talking to customers over the years I have learnt a lot about of different artists and music styles.
Tips for people wanting to start a record collection?
Buy what you love and you will always cherish your record collection. Also keep in mind with releases by a lot of Australian artists they may only do one pressing on vinyl so grab it when you see it as it may no longer be available in a couple of month’s time.
Tell us about the area your shop is located. Any places people should also check out when they visit?
We are at 30 Garema Place in Canberra which is right in the heart of the City. There are some other interesting stores nearby including Impact Comics and The Green Shed which is a massive second hand/junk shop.
Landspeed Records' Top 5 vinyl sellers for April 2022...
Run a record store and want to contribute to the ARIA Charts? Contact us here.