Interview with store manager Jason | By Natasha Van Duser
Thompson Street—located in the heart of Greenwich Village—is one of the most iconic streets for specialty stores in Manhattan. It’s home to the Pluck U. wing house, Chess Forum, which literally just sells chess pieces, craft beer spot The Malt House, and The Classic Smoke Shop. Right before the corner of Thompson and Bleeker, you can stumble upon the best hidden gem the Village has to offer: Generation Records.
Generation Records has been around since 1992, and though it didn’t get its start until after New York’s punk rock boom in the late 1970s, it’s still the most DIY thing alive in the heart of the Big Apple. For over 20 years, Generation has been catering to only punk, hardcore, and metal aficionados. While you might not be able to pick up the latest Hank Wood And The Hammerheads record at your local Best Buy, chances are you can find it on the top floor of Generation Records. And hey, looking for an old post-punk compilation from the local Georgia scene? Check out the used CD section downstairs. Chances are, it’s there.
When you walk into Generation Records, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to hear. Some days, black metal may be blasting through the sound system; other times, it may be Siouxsie And The Banshees. On this particular day, it happened to be the second Deep Purple album, The Book of Taliesyn. “I just think the general vibe of working here is kind of like living on a pirate ship,” says today’s DJ and store manager Jason. Jason has been a part of the Generation Records team for six years, but first started shopping here back in the early 2000s. “We have a certain niche demographic,” he continues. “I think people in the punk and metal community always buy stuff, so it kind of keeps us going. Whereas a lot of people kind of stopped buying [mainstream] CDs, I still see a lot of people buying metal CDs and stuff like that, so it’s helping a lot.”
While new and used CDs are some of the major gems that Generation Records offers, they also have a plethora of vinyl, cassettes, posters, zines, DVDs, and even old school band merch all hailing from the metal and punk realms. “Vinyl is selling a lot,” says Jason, “but the used CDs are definitely taking over. I think most people who collect at this point just have everything. Like, I’ve got tapes, vinyl, and CDs here that I listen to; as far as the format, I’m always for whatever’s around.”
Since CDs are one of their biggest sellers, it should come as no surprise that Record Store Day is the equivalent of Christmas for the shop. To celebrate, the team always asks some of the hardest hitting artists to come out to play a live show in the store. “Kurt Vile was really good,” Jason recalls one of the store’s past shows. “I had actually never heard him until he played here. I was really impressed; it all kind of had a Neil Young vibe. We also had Misery Index play here. They’re like a death metal, grindcore band. The guys in the band kind of worked here all day just for fun and helped me put out records.” Other Generation performance alumni include Laura Jane Grace of Against Me!, The Gaslight Anthem, OFF!, Joyce Manor, Frank Turner, and The Bouncing Souls.
Generation Records loves to keep things diverse and local, thus the store serves as a hub for smaller indie label releases, CDs that never got the attention they deserved, and even homemade fan zines promoting today’s music and cultural scenes like they did back in the day. “I thought, ‘Why not just make a zine section and try to pump that up a little bit?’” says Jason. “I grew up more in the punk scene where zines were a big thing, and I just thought it was a good way to give some space to people who don’t really have budgets to make a book.” Everything from quality printed mini music magazines to patched together short story collections fill the zine wall.
With Record Store Day approaching on April 18, the store is currently preparing for their next in-house basement show. Since Generation Records is one of the few places in the city that still throws down underground punk shows like they did back in the CBGB days, it’s definitely an event any diehard music lover would kill to attend.
www.facebook.com/generationrecords
