Shops / record store day
Record shop bouncing back after closure
Over his 25 years in the business, record store owner and DJ Chris Farrell has seen his fair share of highs and lows.
Financial pressures forced him to spend two years operating out of a storage container, but since reopening the doors he says his store, Idle Hands, is doing better than ever.
“I feel grateful for it every day that I get to work in music,” Chris said. “It’s never been easy, but I love my job and, as I get older, I think you know what? This is probably my calling.”
He decided to open Idle Hands on City Road in 2011 after spending a decade working at record stores across our city like Imperial Music, Replay and Rooted Records, all of which have since gone out of business.
The specialist dance and electronic music shop formerly in St Paul’s closed in 2022 but reopened on Lower Park Row in 2024 following a two-year hiatus.
He said: “The really bad times were when digital music really came in, and it destroyed a whole kind of infrastructure of how record shops worked.
“Over the last year, I’m not sure if it’s just because I’ve reopened again, but I’ve seen a whole younger generation of people really getting into playing records, and when I’m getting booked for gigs, if I don’t bring any vinyl, they’re kind of upset, really.”
The Lower Park Row store specialises in dance and electronic records – photo: Jack Davies
A staple of the city’s dance music scene, the dance music DJ said people are “sick of AI and want something with a little humanity”.
“If people find that in vinyl, then great, I’m here for it. If people find it when DJs are mixing on vinyl and mess up their mixes, even better. Isn’t that real?”
“If people are like just getting started DJing or if people are just interested in second-hand, you know, we have piles of records that are cheaper than a pint of beer,” he added.
Idle Hands, like many record stores across the city, may not be stocking the exclusive Record Store Day releases, which takes place on Saturday.
But the beloved store is teaming up with St Paul’s-based store Disk Frisk to transform the store into “two record shops in one for one day only”.
Chris hopes that the promise of all-day DJs and free beers will entice those who do not usually come through the doors.
2025’s Record Store Day event spilled out of the shop – photo: Chris Farrell
Chris said: “I know sometimes the dance shops can be a bit intimidating for people.
“They don’t know much about the music, but just so they know, we’re, you know, we’re a relatively friendly bunch.”
What makes the Bristol record scene special, according to Chris, is “we’ve all got our own little niches”.
He said: “All the shops kind of get on to a greater or lesser extent. I think we’re quite lucky as a city that that happens.
“We’ll personally call up some of the other owners, and we’ll go for a drink or go to the football or something like that.
“I remember, probably twenty years ago, it wasn’t really like that. But I think if you’re opening a record shop or running a record shop in 2026, you’re already probably pretty dedicated.”
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To celebrate Record Store Day on Saturday, events are taking place across the city.
New record store Hot Wax in Bishopston is offering ten per cent off to celebrate their six-month anniversary, while Park Row’s Astro Vinyl is hosting an in-store gig from blues band Kirris Riviere and The Delta du Bruit.
Elsewhere, Rough Trade is hosting live music from 2pm to 7pm in-store, including Hetta Falzon, Scott Matthews, Rabbit Vision, Eva Penney and M/X.
Main photo: Jack Davies
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