Vinal Edge, one of Houston's favorite record stores, turns 30 years old this month

Chuck Roast, owner of Vinal Edge, poses for a portrait at his store in the Heights, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015, in Houston. Chuck Roast, owner of Vinal Edge, poses for a portrait at his store in the Heights, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015, in Houston. Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 47 Caption Close Vinal Edge, one of Houston's favorite record stores, turns 30 years old this month 1 / 47 Back to Gallery

For three decades Vinal Edge record store has been a favorite of Houston metal and indie rock fans. This month the store turns 30 years old.

It spent nearly 27 years on Houston’s north side, nestled in a strip center off Veterans Memorial Drive, a far car ride for most Inner Loop music heads. It was common to hear collectors plan carpools out to the location, saving a Saturday or Sunday to rummage through boxes upon boxes of vinyl that owner Chuck Roast and his employees hadn’t yet priced.

There were always finds to be found and vinyl gold to be mined in those boxes. Roast boasts, to this day, one of the most varied inventories in the Houston area.

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The store moved into the Heights in 2012, opening up on 19th Street and adding a splash of punk rock culture to an area lined with boutiques and antique shops. The move was five years in the making with Roast waiting for just the right spot in Houston to open up and for the best price.

“We used to be a “destination” store. We moved closer to the bulk of our existing clientele, and the street opened us up to crucial 'walk-in' customers. The walk-ins tend to buy more, for lack of a better word, normal music,” Roast says.

This weekend the shop celebrates 30 years in business with a party on Saturday evening featuring three of the shop’s favorite local bands, with complimentary beer provided by the No Label brewery.

According to Roast the whole thing began in 1985, an outgrowth of him DJing the infamous “Funhouse” radio shows on KPFT-FM, beaming punk rock and hardcore onto the airwaves. They were one of the few punk shows of its kind in the country at the time.

“It was immensely popular worldwide, in a cult way. The radio show led me to booking punk shows for bands coming through town. I did this at Lawndale Art Annex, Cabaret Voltaire, Consolidated Arts Warehouse, and some noise shows at Commerce Street Artists Warehouse,” Roast says.

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In those days it wasn’t easy to find music from the Dead Kennedys and others on the shelves in Houston.

“As few stores even carried any punk records aside from the major label acts like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones I decided to sell records and punk 'zines on a table or out of my van at shows,” Roast says.

As his inventory began to take over his home his wife Lynda made a fateful suggestion.

“My wife Lynda said the sweet words 'Why don’t you open up a record store?' so I jumped at it,” Roast says. Three decades later he and Lynda are still the proud and frazzled owners of Vinal Edge.

Area record collectors love the shop for the diversity of its inventory, Houston music fan and blogger Jack Betz said.

“I always run into artists and bands I've never heard of before, which lead me into some really interesting discoveries,” Betz says. His latest discovery was a DVD of jazz oddity Sun Ra’s last few performances before he died.

Matthew Toomey owns the Boomtown Coffee shop directly across the street from Vinal Edge on 19th Street. An avid collector himself, he was very excited to see Roast and his team move into the area.

“I remember before they were across the street. The area lacked a certain coolness appeal. They brought the edge the block needed. We couldn't think of a more rad neighbor to have,” Toomey says.

Roast says that the early focus of Vinal Edge was always underground music and he has always gone the extra mile to chase down records from all over the world. Vinal Edge has a robust online and mail order following too for out-of-town collectors. They were one of the first stores of its kind to sell records on the web.

The move into the Heights also meant that some of the store’s top-selling artists also changed.

“At the old location it was all about the Butthole Surfers and the Flaming Lips that sold in quantity,” Roast says, “At the new location the things that sell the most are Artic Monkeys, Fleetwood Mac, Beach House, Sigur Ros, and the Really Red re-issues.”

(Really Red holds the distinction of being one of Houston’s first punk bands in the late ‘70s.)

“It’s the avant-garde, rare and obscure jazz or rock records that make us truly unique,” Roast says.

Vinal Edge was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the recent vinyl music boom in pop-culture. With teenagers now raiding their parent’s record collections and buying turntables of their own, Vinal Edge is gaining new customers.

“Over the years we have constantly pushed vinyl even in the lean CD years when many stores no longer carried vinyl. I feel the strategy has paid off as I would put our selection of records up against any stores in the US,” Roast says.

Like almost every other independent record store in the world, they also participate in April's annual Record Store Day. Like Cactus Music in the Montrose area, Vinal Edge sees long lines of people looking for limited edition releases every third Saturday in April.

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Former employee Sam Ackerman worked at the store from 2006 until 2013 and remembers the days before the vinyl boom.

“Once the boom started to become apparent, business really picked up. Our typical clients became teenage hipsters, their square, nostalgic parents, and, of course, the in-town record collectors and music nerds,” Ackerman says.

Ackerman adds that the more colorful record collectors weren’t seen much anymore after the move.

“The old store was a freaks-only zone. No normal people shopped there. I could rattle off so many legendary names,” Ackerman jokes, rattling off some names that can’t be repeated here.

Current employee Charlie Bryan has worked at the store for about two years.

“Working here has expanded my mind and exposed me to things I would have never discovered without it. I have met people and have been connected with an awesome group of creative folks,” Bryan says. A big moment for him was seeing Indian Jewelry perform in the store last year.

We have many dedicated customers, some who come in every single day, some that come in once a week and some who come in at least a few times a month,” Bryan says.

Getting to be a Vinal Edge employee isn’t as easy as knowing who GG Allin was or being able to rattle off inane Merzbow facts.

Roast’s application process for potential employees is one that is talked about in reverent tones in the local indie scene. Not everyone survives it.

He pulls a stack of records and other items from around the store and has the applicant assess the wares. They are to tell Roast everything that they can ascertain by looking at each piece. Roast says he maintains a poker face during the process. He stays silent.

“While I am paying attention to what they know, I am really seeing how they handle the situation, and noticing their ability to figure things out that they do not know,” Roast says. Most employees begin to shake during the test, which Roast thinks is endearing.

Those that pass his test can become Vinal Edge employees and impart knowledge to customers daily.

Roast is excited for what the next decades have in store for Vinal Edge. They’ve settled into the Heights ecosystem and can’t imagine ever leaving.

“The neighborhood is so kind to us. Our neighborhood shopkeepers are like family,” Roast says. “I think most people can see how passionate we are about what we do.”