Permanent Records joins NEUW’s Record Store World Tour with a limited edition collaboration.
Each season, NEUW Denim celebrate the best independent music stores around the globe with their Record Store World Tour: a collaboration series that pays homage to those championing the survival of independent music by putting cultural integrity and quality before profit.
This month, we induct LA-based and globally renowned Permanent Records into our Record Store World Tour series. And rightly so. Permanent Records have been shaping independent music culture for 15 years, stocking records by and hosting shows with up-and-coming and established DIY artists. They hosted Thee Oh Sees, Kurt Vile, and Ty Segall (just to name a few) before most of the world had ever heard of them.
They released records by local bands from Los Angeles and Chicago as well as international talent places like Santiago, Chile and Metz, France. Our limited-edition NEUW x Permanent Records collaboration brings the record store’s iconic insignia to life across a range or premium tees with its famed ethos, “life is short, buy more records”.
Shop The Collection
Can you tell us a bit about yourself, your relationship to Permanent Records as well as the independent music scene?
I’m the founder and owner of Permanent Records and the Permanent Records’ Roadhouse. Permanent has always been deeply rooted in and supportive of the independent music scene. We are of, by, and for the independent music scene.
For 15 years, we have been stocking records by and hosting shows with up-and-coming and established DIY artists. All of them started small and some of them have become household names.
We’ve hosted shows with Thee Oh Sees, Kurt Vile, and Ty Segall (just to name a few) before most of the world had ever heard of them. We’ve released records by local bands from Los Angeles and Chicago and from exotic locales such as Santiago, Chile and Metz, France. We are purveyors of good music of all shapes and forms, especially music from independent artists.
What’s the history of Permanent Records?
The history of Permanent Records has been a long, strange trip. We started in Chicago in 2006 on a wing and a prayer as a salmon swimming upstream against the current of digital media shuttering brick-and-mortar record stores everywhere. With tenacity and persistence, we have adapted with the times and survived against insurmountable odds as a small independent business in an extremely competitive marketplace with multiple physical locations in a digital world.
We fought tooth and nail and worked our fingers to the bone to get to the point where we could open our new venture, the Permanent Records’ Roadhouse, a live music venue / bar / record store in 2019. And then, just 5 months into it, a unprecedented pandemic hit. We weathered that storm as well. We are called Permanent for a reason. We are here to stay.
What kind of music does Permanent Records focus on?
There are two types of music…good music and bad music. Permanent Records focuses on good music. We carry the best-of-the-best new releases and reissues and hand-pick quality used records from rarities to fairly common classics. We focus on keeping the bins full of desirable records and we let the filler go for next to nothing. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again…ALL KILLER, NO FILLER is our motto.
What’s the best thing about running a record store?
There are many wonderful things about running a record store, but the best thing about it is getting to share music with people for a living.
The records we’ve bought and sold and the lives we’ve enriched through the process (including our own) are what makes it all worthwhile.
We’ve met some incredible people over the years and made connections that have allowed us to do some amazing things over the years. Naming names is tacky.
Those who have followed our travels over the years know what I’m talking about. I, as a representative of Permanent Records, have lived a very charmed life.
You run live events out of the Permanent Records Roadhouse, how has the live music scene changed since Covid?
The live music scene has changed drastically since the pandemic hit. Bands are not touring as much as they did in the before times. There is much more uncertainty when it comes to booking shows, etc. That said, it’s still amazing and it’ll always be amazing. You just have to know how to navigate the waters. We are loving every minute of it because we now know what it’s like to have it taken away from us. We’ll never take it for granted again.
How would you describe the LA music scene?
The LA music scene is the best in the world! All genres are represented and the representatives are outstanding. We are very lucky to be based in a city where our “local bands” are household names to many.
I challenge anyone to show me another city in the world who brings it as hard as LA does in every single genre. No one else compares. It’s eclectic, interesting, and vast just like the Pacific Ocean.
Last thoughts?
We never have any last thoughts because we’re not going anywhere. Only continuing thoughts. That said, THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us over the last 15 years and thanks to Neuw Denim for collaborating with us on this new line. We’re honoured to be a part of it!
