What time Mark Pickerel hasn't spent behind drum kits and guitars, he's put in behind counters and cash registers. The former Screaming Trees and Truly drummer and current Praying Hands frontman and musician-about-town owned and ran Ellensburg's Rodeo Records from 1991 to 2005. After a five-year break, he's splitting stage and retail time again as the co-owner and well-coiffed face of Belltown's Damaged Goods. Days ahead of a Facebook-fueled grand opening of sorts—which featured free beer, wine, homemade margaritas, and a shopful of old-school scenesters and new-school browsers—I spoke with Pickerel about his new venture, its future, and what it means for his other career.
So what brought you back to retail?
When I closed Rodeo Records, I was frustrated with the current state of music retail, but I hadn't given up on it entirely. So some friends of mine who just moved here from Los Angeles mentioned that they were interested in finding a space to open up a gallery. They wondered if I might be interested in running retail space out of the same spot, in the hope that I would attract some foot traffic and generate interest in the place. It just happened to coincide with me needing some income—I became a stay at home dad a couple of years ago, and I'd found it more and more difficult to make a living as a musician while being distracted with my daughter most days of the week. [Laughs] They found this gallery space right next to Roq La Rue, which is one of my favorite galleries. We met with the building manager the next day. So literally within 24 hours of imagining getting back into retail, I confirmed that we'd be moving in by January 1.
And you needed stuff to sell....
Right. I still had a lot of old stock in storage out in Ellensburg, and I had less than a month to try and dust it off, call up the old distributors, approach some friends about consigning things here. I decided I wasn't going to take out any loans—I'm still paying off some debt from Rodeo—and that I would build this off of what I already owned, my friends' collections, and through relationships with labels. So that's what you've got.
How will you keep the place stocked?
I don't want to be burdened by the pressure of being an A-Z record shop, trying to cater to everyone's needs. Any new buying I do will reflect my own interests and passions. I'm not going to bring in 80 or 100 new releases every Tuesday like most stores do. I'm going to keep my eye out for releases that I find relevant and exciting. We're also going to have an emphasis on box sets and limited-edition releases. Where most stores treat box sets as a nuisance—they end up on a top shelf covered with dust, and when you reach for one, you knock another over—we're going to make them the focal point of the shop. We'll be more like a music gift shop.
What reflects your interests?
We just brought in the new Spoon vinyl, the new Vampire Weekend LP, Pearl Jam's new vinyl, all the Light in the Attic releases. And every time there's a new Art Walk—every second Friday—I'll try to curate a section of the store that highlights a specific record label. Or I might pick a specific genre, city, and time. Like New York City from '68 to '78. Have a whole section of the shop devoted to everything from my favorite music from those years to biographies of artists and musicians who were so important, to all the vintage clothes that I can find from that time. I want to reflect a period of time in music, fashion, literature, art, everything. You'll already see evidence of that starting to happen. A silly example is a Farah Fawcett puzzle next to a pair of vintage Farah jeans with the "Farah fits" tags on it. And that's alongside some music from the 70s—a soul-jazz box set called "Can You Dig It" and Bette Davis CDs. We're kind of showcasing an entire lifestyle here.
Eventually we're going to do legitimate art walk openings. I already have Jon Langford confirmed for an opening and appearance. I think we're going to continue to show his work. Kind of like the arrangement he has with the Yard Dog gallery in Austin. We're going to try be a second home for his artwork annually, because it fits in aesthetically with a lot of the imagery I like. I think it would enhance the identity that we already have here, give us a little extra notoriety.
Will your personal music history influence the shop?
Yeah. I'm making a conscious effort to buy Seattle-centric music that both reflects my own career and the artists that Seattle has come to be known for: Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees. I know that's going to be expected of me and I certainly want to accommodate that. But I don't want it to be the only thing we're known for. Frankly, my interests are much broader than that and I'd get bored if we just turned into a grunge tourist trap. I'm as interested in carrying Nina Simone, synth pop, Moog vinyl, reggae, pub rock... And we've tried to make the genre cards a little more fun: "Devil Worshippers," which includes all the obvious acts. Our comedy section is called "LOL." We have a huge "Hippies Use Back Door" section with everything from the Youngbloods to early Steve Miller. And everyone's favorite card is "Something Recent That's Actually Good." [Laughs]
It seems you're doing all your PR via Facebook.
I noticed it was very valuable in the promotion of my shows as a musician. It quickly became more effective than Myspace or flyering the city or paying for ads. When you post a show on Facebook and invite 1000 local friends and 100 RSVP, that's the best bang for the buck that I can think of considering you don't actually pay for it. And I only invite friends that are in the city and that I think are interested in a particular event. So when we're doing certain events, I'll only invite people who I think will enjoy or benefit from it.
All this obviously requires a lot of time and effort.
I hope that I have time to actually do it all. I did it before in Ellensburg. I went touring with Neko Case for a month at a time, then watched the shop during holidays. I'm not doing that much touring right now, but if the opportunity comes along to tour as Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands or with the Tripwires, I'll cross that bridge when it comes along. Sometimes my pursuits benefit each other. There were times at Rodeo Records when I'd come back from a tour inspired with fresh ideas that I'd picked up in New York City or Paris or some hillbilly town in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes touring can lead to great acquisitions.
What's on your music plate in the near future?
I admit, I haven't taken my guitar out of its case for six or eight weeks. But I do have some recordings that are being mixed as we speak. The Praying Hands just finished up some tracks at Ian Moore's home studio. I'm really happy with the results. I'm hoping to have a CD and maybe a 12" EP out before summer. Hopefully we'll play some shows to coincide with that.
Wasn't there a Truly reunion in the works?
We actually went to Spain last year for this incredible festival. It was the Sonics, the Sex Pistols, Ray Davies, the Gutter Twins, Los Lobos. We played to a few thousand people, and hundreds of kids at the front were singing along with these songs. I had no idea they'd made an impression on a new generation over there. It was incredible. We're actually halfway through a new recording, with the intention of releasing a full-length within the next year. There could be more touring, and definitely local shows within the year. All of us have other projects, pursuits, and families, so we're not approaching it with a huge marketing scheme. [Laughs] We'll just see where it goes.
Visit Mark Pickerel's Damaged Goods at 2316 2nd Ave. You never know what you'll find. (Rare Soundgarden vinyl? Check. Old movie posters? Yep. Early Sub Pop releases? Cool art? Funky fashion? Uh huh.)
Subscribe to our Front Page Stories
Most Recent Comments