A much-loved independent Australian record store is turning to the Melbourne music community to help re-fit their flagship store into a gig-ready space for future events and concerts.

Polyester Records have today launched a crowdfunding campaign on Pozible to raise $12,000 towards renovating their iconic Brunswick Street store to better host in-store performances and events, such as those that ran regularly at Polyester’s CBD store in Flinders Lane until it shut its doors earlier this year after six years of operation.

“At the moment, we’ve obviously got less space than we had in the city store, and so with a few little space-saving modifications we’ll be able to comfortably host in-stores the way that we were without too much hassle,” Polyester co-owner Simon Karis tells Tone Deaf about the new crowdfunding campaign.

“Some of the best times we’ve ever had were in the city in-stores, it was such a good thing for the shop,” he adds of the four years’ worth of free, all-ages gigs featuring local and international bands alike hosted at the city space. But the significant financial strains of operating in the CBD forced Karis and his business partner, Nathan Nott, to shut the Flinders Lane store and consolidate towards strengthening the Brunswick Street location.

Now Polyester is aiming to raise $12k within 40 days through Pozible, putting the funds towards “renovating the shop so that it can be used for in-stores,” says Karis. “That basically involves putting up a wall that separates the office from where the counter is now – completely removing that – and using that as an event space,” he explains, with the re-fit placing the counter at the front by the entrance of the store.

The $12k will also be used towards building new modular racks for the stock “that are solid yet easily movable so we can create some space directly in front of the performance area for punters,” Karis details. They’ll also be replacing the “harsh neon 7-11 lights” for something more conducive to live music ambiance.

“We want to make it a good space to have gigs,” Karis says, and as the Pozible pledge page succinctly puts it, “it ultimately means that we can get back to hosting free gigs by bands we all love and guess what – everyone’s invited!”

[include_post id=”386917″]

“Times have been really tough for us – and all record stores – and we just don’t have any extra money to put into these kinds of things,” says Karis. “We definitely don’t just want to come off us as ‘hey, poor us’ and ‘give us money’. We want turn the money into something we can all share – I guess that’s the overarching thing that makes us think that it’s a valid and ok thing to ask for help with,” he continues.

“To that end, everyone gets something out of it – we get something, punters get free shows, bands get support from us and punters – it’s just a good reciprocal, community-like thing and we always want to be part of that and always have good times; it’s just a really healthy thing.” “If it wasn’t for us selling so many specifically Melbourne and great Australian bands… it really is the lifeblood of the business.”

It’s not the only thing that pledgers will get out the campaign. The Pozible rewards range from Polyester-branded merchandise, gift vouchers, and lucky dip prize packs from local indie labels Chapter Music, Bedroom Suck, Two Bright Lakes, and Inertia, through to lifetime 15% discount memberships and even taking home the store’s iconic neon smoking man.

Karis acknowledges that the $12k target is “nothing to sneeze at,” adding he was “wary of the whole [idea]” of crowdfunding. “Maybe it’s just me, but there’s more and more of it happening all the time and it’s only natural for people to get a little bit more blasé about it and start to feel more entitled about it as it becomes more common place,” he says.

“If we’re going to ask for money for help to do something like this, it has to be worth everyone’s while and we believe that it can be and we want nothing more than for it to be successful and to be part of a larger music community. If it wasn’t for us selling so many specifically Melbourne and great Australian bands…” says Karis gratefully; “it really is the lifeblood of the business.”

Should Polyester reach its target (or exceed it) within the 40 day deadline, Karis hints there’s already been “a bit of discussion” about which bands might have the honour of christening the new in-store space.

“Friends in bands that we’d consider” – he teases – could be Dick Diver, The Stevens, Twerps, Ela Stiles (Bushwalking, ex-Songs), or even the “broken up” Boomgates or Harmony, who had the honours of hosting the final city in-store last March.

As for Polyester’s revamped online store first touted back in February, Karis says that it’s “taking a bit longer” than anticipated to roll out, but is expected to launch in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the introduction of second hand stock has been working “exceptionally well”, with Polyster stockpiling and buying more records to meet demand.

Visit Polyester Records’ Pozible campaign page here

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine