Culture
Now you can buy new and used records and sound systems at a small business in Athens again
By: Emily Votaw
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After nearly four years without one, Athens, OH is once again home to a brick and mortar record store.
The Republic of Athens Records (ROAR) opened in November at 79 ½ East State Street – next door to The Standard Salon and across the street from the Prokos Hotel.
The shop’s owner and operator, Michael Wood, is a lifelong music enthusiast and Athens area resident who began ROAR as a pop-up shop in Little Professor Books this past summer. His efforts were greeted with such gusto by the local music-loving community that when an opportunity to open a storefront presented itself, Wood knew he had to embrace it.
“I think everyone was feeling the void of not having a proper full-time store in Athens any longer,” said Wood. “I had capacity over the summer to start the popups — and given the enthusiasm for those, the people stopping in every day, saying ‘it’s so great having records in Athens again!’ even though they were literally just folding tables at Little Professor — just the enthusiasm for that made me wonder if there might be enough energy here to (start a proper full-time record store).”
There certainly was. In fact, the region’s enthusiasm for the shop was so great that ROAR had to pause its operations for a few days after its opening on November 19 to make sure the store could be restocked and prepared for Black Friday.
That kind of eagerness might be difficult to understand for some, but for others, such as Brian Koscho, it makes a lot of sense that Athens, particularly, would be so hungry for a record store after years without one. Koscho is one of the founders and directors of Aquabear Legion, an Athens-based musical collective that has worked to promote, preserve, and advocate for local music since 2004.
“A brick and mortar record store is important to a community for a variety of reasons. It gives a literal home to people like (Aquabear Legion) and to artists and musicians and community members who appreciate that kind of thing, but it also gives an outlet for those same people, too,” said Koscho. “Michael (Wood) was super quick about approaching me about offering Aquabear Legion stuff — even when it was just in the pop-up — and he was really receptive when I was bringing things for him to put out — and that’s huge. From the perspective of Aquabear, it’s about getting more music heard and getting these things that we make and put our hearts and efforts into in the hands of people who are gonna care about them as much as we do.”
Jonah Silverman is a student at Ohio University who is excited about having a record store in Athens.
“I started buying records when I was in middle school, I think just because I liked having physical versions of albums that I loved — being able to have a tangible thing to hold that represents something I love,” said Silverman.
Record stores have a certain reputation for being places wherein one’s musical taste, and thereby certain facets of their identity, may come under scrutiny. ROAR is no such place. Wood is adamant about creating a warm, welcoming environment for all music lovers, regardless of their experience with the medium or the breadth of their musical knowledge.
“What’s been pretty wild is that certainly people have their stereotypes about what a record collector looks like, and it couldn’t be more off base,” said Wood. “And that’s really energizing to me — the fact that the record collecting space isn’t made up of just old white dudes — it’s a really interesting and vibrant space, and people have so much interesting taste. I think what’s really cool is that the Internet has made it so you can have all of world’s music at your fingertips — but it does sound quite tinny from an iPhone.”
“What’s been pretty wild is that certainly people have their stereotypes about what a record collector looks like, and it couldn’t be more off base. And that’s really energizing to me — the fact that the record collecting space isn’t made up of just old white dudes — it’s a really interesting and vibrant space, and people have so much interesting taste. I think what’s really cool is that the Internet has made it so you can have all of world’s music at your fingertips — but it does sound quite tinny from an iPhone.” – Michael Wood, owner and operator of Republic of Athens Records (ROAR)
Why name the only store in Athens that sells both sound systems and new and used records the Republic of Athens Records?
“So, the joke is that we live in ‘the people’s Republic of Athens.’ But really, the best record stores and the best bars and the best places like that become part of their community. You talk about them and you refer to them not by their name but as ‘my bar,’ ‘my record store,’ — people start to have some ownership of it and it takes on the personality of the community,” said Wood. “So I hope that (ROAR) is reflective of the very interesting and cool vibrant community that we have.”