In just a few years LoFiDelic Records on Main Street in Belmar has become a hub of activity for the Jersey Shore’s music scene. In addition to stocking thousands of new, vintage and hard-to-find albums, the store hosts shows, DJ sets and open mics that are now a thriving part of the community.
NJ Next’s Angelo Gingerelli recently got a chance to sit down with owner David Hernandez and talk about the shop that’s supplying some of your favorite DJ’s with the records that keep clubs, house parties and shows rocking all over New Jersey.
How did you get into collecting records and when did you decide to open Lofidelic?
My parents owned a record shop in Jersey City NJ back in the late 1960s, so I was born having thousands of records around the apartment and listening to vinyl at a very early age. I started buying my own records probably in 1986 when Hip-Hop was just getting big. Back in those days when you hung out with a bunch of guys or a “crew” you had to pick your specialty.
My brother was great at art so he became the graffiti artist, our other friend was the break dancer, another was the Emcee and I decided to be the DJ even though I didn’t have any DJ equipment! Me and my good friend Vito, who was the only other kid into Hip-Hop at our school, would cut class and take the bus to Jack’s Music in Red Bank and buy all the Hip-Hop records with our lunch money. Eventually I saved up enough to buy some 1200’s (turntables) and a mixer and that’s how it started with my record obsession. I eventually collected close to 10k records after all those years.
I worked in manufacturing for over 30 years. I started on the shop floor of a warehouse and worked my way up to becoming a Production Manager at my last company for 10 years. Unfortunately (or not) new upper management came in and decided that the place needed a change and dismissed all managers with seniority and that included me.
At first I was p***ed off about being let go because I put so much into helping that company succeed but then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I shouldn’t have expected anything less from a huge multi-billion dollar company. It’s sad to say that big corporations do not care about the everyday people that work for them. Always remember that large companies will get rid of you one day and the next day they won’t remember your name! That was a real eye-opener for me and from that moment on I promised myself that I will NEVER work for anyone else ever again and that’s when the idea to open a record shop came to me. The media was reporting that records were “making a comeback” and I figured it’s now or never. The fuse was lit.
Who is your typical customer?
That’s a real tough question because it’s so hard to narrow down. Being a former DJ, I wish I could say that most of the customers were fellow DJ’s but in reality I have met just a handful of DJ’s that still spin and collect vinyl records. Believe me when I tell you that the few DJ’s that I have met in the shop are now my closest friends!
When I first opened the shop I was struggling to figure out what genre of music people were buying on vinyl. I knew what kind of music I was buying as a collector, but that did nothing for the average person walking in for the first time. I quickly learned that a lot of customers from the Jersey Shore area LOVE Classic Rock like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors etc. Those records usually sell out the fastest and they usually are sought after by the High School kids.
The younger collectors start off by sneaking all the cool records out of their parent’s collections and then filling in the gaps by hitting up a record shop. The older collectors who were around when records were everywhere, are coming in and finding the records that they had back in the day that might have went missing or were damaged. I would say it’s a well-rounded mix of ages. I think the youngest record buyer was this very young girl who bought a rare ABBA promo of the wall!
Do any notable or well-known DJ’s from New Jersey frequent Lofidelic? Can you tell us who they are without them getting upset that we are telling people where they dig in the crates?
[Laughs] Their secret is safe with me!
I have met a few DJ’s who used to work at another record shop in New Brunswick way back in the day and they are both my good friends now. My buddy who goes by the name Belmar Sol, gave me a CD of his house music when I first met him in Manasquan. I couldn’t believe that someone was producing great House Music right out of Belmar! It turns out that we were both in the “scene” back in the early 90’s when house and techno music were huge. Look out for Belmar Sol real soon because he is putting out record #2 very shortly!
Another time I met this young lady named Juliana and she asked if I had any records from a group called Brothers Vibe. I told her I didn’t know off hand and I jumped on discogs.com to see if I knew the artist she was talking about. When I saw his discography, he had been putting out House records since 1986!
Juliana then says “Yeah he’s my father and we live right down the block!” A few weeks later here comes Juliana again with her father, Tony Rodriguez of Brothers Vibe fame. Needless to say we spent hours talking about music and records (he has a 60K collection in his house…) and he is one of my closest friends now. My son Ethan LOVES him like an uncle!<
I also met my good friend Dave, DJ DSKYY who is an amazing DJ. Dave has a residency at Little Buddy Hide Away in Asbury Park and he is working very hard with the rest of us House Heads to bring a House music venue back to the Jersey Shore area. There are still tons of people who love House music and would love to hear it played like it was 1990 on VINYL!
We can’t forget our favorite Hip-Hop DJ, DJ Danny Stax who also spins all over Asbury Park. Danny is a Hardcore Hip-Hop head and for a white dude with tons of tattoos, he knows more about Hip Hop music than anyone I know! Check out Danny spinning vinyl during Wu-Tang Wednesdays (also at Little Brother Hideway and covered by NJ Next here).
My good friend DJ Alex Kayne is an old school DJ from the 1970s that comes in all the time and he has a SICK record collection! Alex is a Heavy Metal DJ now and plays at all the huge metal shows all over the tri-state area.
We also have a lot of up and coming DJs who have rarely spun vinyl before. My good friend Chris May has done a few live sets at our shop and has been killing it!
Sorry if forgot any DJs out there! We have love for all the DJs that come in, dig and spin vinyl!
Why has vinyl stayed “cool” for so long and other formats like cassette, CD and 8-Track don’t have nearly the level of devoted following?
I think a lot of it has to do with the album covers and the album artwork. There is nothing like holding an LP in your hands and flipping to the back cover or opening up the gatefold and reading the lyrics and liner note or the credits of who played or worked on the record. Have you ever read the credits on a downloaded MP3? Of course not!
I always loved going into record shops (before I opened Lofidelic) and looking at every single record they had on their walls. It was a great experience because the cover art was so incredible. To see a record wall with hundreds of pieces of record art is like walking into a museum. I have tons of people who look at our record wall point and shout “Hey I used to have that record!”
Funny that we were just contacted by Vinyl Times magazine to contribute to their “Favorite Album Cover” story for the next issue. Grab the next issue to see what records we picked!
Why do you think vinyl has had such a resurgence in the last few years?
I think that the old saying of “everything old becomes new again” has a lot to do with it. It’s the same reason that kids are fixing up old classic cars instead of buying new ones. Shopping at thrift stores for clothes instead of department stores. Kids today are wearing the same checkered slip-on Vans sneakers that I used to wear (for BMX) back in 1983 for the same reason. Cool things from the past are cool again with a brand new generation of people experiencing it and we think it’s great.
With records I also believe it’s a pathway to learn more about what your parents were into back in the day and it’s a way to connect with them with something cool. It’s a way to bond. Some of our happiest moments are when the kids come in with their parent (or parents) and record shop together. I can hear the parents tell the kid how they saw this band or that band live when they were younger. I see the parents picking out records saying “if you like so and so band, you should check out this band too.” It really is a great thing to see and experience.
Even though my son Ethan is only 5 years old, we share a record bond too. He has his collection of records and he considers himself a DJ as well! He knows how to hold records the right way, how to place the needle on the grooves and work the mixer. Recently I have been teaching him how to find the “breaks” in the old soul records! That is our father and son bond and I will always consider Lofidelic Records OUR shop and not MY shop because this place is ours TOGETHER. I really regret not having that record bond with my parents when I was younger and that’s why I love seeing it now when families come in.
Music is such a powerful thing that can heal or hurt. Make you laugh or make you cry no matter what age you are. One father came in here during Christmas time and told me the story of his teenage daughter who bought a record that she really wasn’t into but he absolutely loved. When he asked his daughter why she bought that record if she didn’t like it, she replied “I bought this record because it means so much to you and I want to experience it more to understand why.” WOW. That’s powerful and that’s the power of music and that’s the power of records. It brings us closer to our loved ones who were lucky enough to experience it firsthand so many years ago.
What are your thoughts on “Aux Cord DJs,” Serrato and the current crop of DJ’s like The Chainsmokers, David Guetta and Marshmello that have become pop stars at levels that would be almost impossible in other eras?
OH BOY Angelo! Here come the tough questions! HaHa!
To be honest I have never heard of any of those DJs that you mentioned!
I’m not trying to offend anyone, nor to come off as a vinyl snob or anything like that but I have no interest in listening to DJ’s who never played vinyl. They may be extremely talented and be able to rock a crowd of 10k people but I don’t follow any nor listen to any of them. DJing is a tough gig no matter what format you spin and if you can make a living doing something that you love… then perfect, great, hats off to you. It’s just not my thing and it’s not a Lofidelic Records’ thing. In our shop we have two turntables and a mixer and we play analog all day, every day and all the DJs that come here to spin know that and they are ready and willing to carry a crate of records in!
With all that said there are plenty of top DJs out there who play a digital format that I respect TREMENDOUSLY. I was just watching a DJ Jazzy Jeff’s Boiler Room set, DJ Little Louie Vega spinning at Lot Radio in NYC and DJ Maseo from De La Soul and they all KILLED it playing digital but the thing they all have in common is that they all paid their dues and broke their backs carrying crates and crates of records to a gig before they made the switch over. Carrying crates of heavy records sucks! There is no doubt about that!!!!
Look up Kenny Dope and Cut Chemist and DJ KOCO/ Shimokita in Vegas from a few months ago and watch how these guys turn spinning vinyl into an art form. It’s amazing!
This is a great time to be around Monmouth County for nearly any kind of entertainment. From bar basements to huge festivals music is flourishing. How does LoFidelic records fit into this landscape and what do you guys bring to the table?
We have discovered that there is a lot of talented DJ’s and musicians and bands around the Jersey Shore area and all they need is a place to show people what they can do and we definitely want to be a part of that. We feel that we are now in a better position to help get them some exposure that they deserve. We were fortunate to have a great local band called Flourish come play at our shop in Manasquan a few times and they are performing all over the place now! We had the incredible FungkShui perform for our 1 year anniversary. We had the talented Chris Rockwell and the Ballroom Riot film a music video at our shop in Squan and we have DJs like DSKYY and Danny Stax spinning live vinyl sets in here all the time. We want to host more events like that ASAP and we want to do it year round, not just in the Spring and Summer seasons.
We don’t only want to be your favorite local record shop, we want to be the place where the locals can come in and perform in front of their friends and family before they get huge and go on tour! We support the locals 100% and we have some live shows and open mics coming up real quick (maybe for Record Store Day???) Stay tuned to our social media to be a part of it.
And like I said up top, us House Music Heads are banding together and working on bringing a House Music scene back to the Jersey Shore area. We are scouting venues right now and Lofidelic Records will host it. We will have the top House music DJs spinning vinyl. We are looking to bring it back to 1988!
Record Store Day is this Saturday. Go Support LoFiDelic Records located at 904 Main Street in Belmar, NJ. (732) 722-7882
Top 5 DJ’s of all time
- Richie Hawtin
- Little Louie Vega
- Cut Chemist
- DJ Premier
- DJ Jazzy Jeff
Top 4 songs that get people dancing
- Groove is in the Heart – Dee-Lite
- Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin – Michael Jackson
- Once in a Lifetime – Talking Heads
- Big Pimpin’ – Jay Z Ft UGK
Top 3 “B Sides” of all time
- Green Onions – Booker T. & The M.G.s,
- Revolution – The Beatles
- Good Riddance – Green Day
Top 2 New Jersey Record Stores other than Lofidelic
- Princeton Record Exchange (I spent thousands of dollars there!)
- Vintage Vinyl (Because they have been around forever, the shop is huge and QOTSA performed there!)
Top 1 Reason everybody should check out Lofidelic Records
My vision for Lofidelic Records is not only a place where people can come in and buy records but a place where people can hang out and listen to records, talk about records, browse the record wall, look at the art and share stories about what records mean to them. We recently expanded our shop to have more room for performers to come in and more room for people to just chill out and relax.
Ethan and I hope that everyone that walks through our doors has a great time here and either discovers some new music or rediscovers some classic gems from their past. We also thank everyone who has come in to check out our little Father and Son shop! We couldn’t do it without you!
We want Lofidelic Records to be an EXPERIENCE!
