Today we’d like to introduce you to John Gaudry.
John, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Head Line Records store started in Sept 1995 by Jean Luc Gaudry (the French guy!!). The first location was in the corner of Westwood Blvd & Pico Blvd in Los Angeles, CA. A year later, the store moved right down the street, on Westwood Blvd. After 3 years, the store moved to Melrose ave, behind Brooklyn Project store. 4 months later, we found a big location. We were sharing the spot with my good friend Dave Naze (owner of Chaser Merchandising). After a few years, Chaser moved to a bigger location, and we had to move to a smaller location: just next door, where we are right now.
About me: I’m just a music fan. I like all types of music (from Jazz to Classical etc..). But whats drives me is punk/hardcore.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
After 20+ years in business, of course I had some up and down. Well, the big down was in 2009 when recession hit the bottom (I lost from 2001 to 2009, I lost around 75% of my gross sales). It was tough. Didn’t buy anything that year and it has been a hard recovering since. But … it’s what I do and it’s my passion. I adapt to the situation.
Headline Records – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Headline is specializing in Punk Hardcore Garage Thrash Grind Psycho, Rockabilly Music. We carry patches, stickers, vinyls of course, collectibles CDs, DVDs, books posters, etc. I always try to find items who are hard to find or unusual. DIY has a huge part in the punk culture and headline was done (still) with DIY ideology (90%): from accounting to painting etc.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The day I choose to start the store, to start my life from scratch and follow my passion. Months of preparations … you have a deadline … and you make the decision. the work before and after is NOTHING to compare to the decision making.
Contact Info:
- Address: 7706 Melrose Ave,
Los Angeles CA 90046 - Website: headlinerecords.com
- Phone: 323 655 2125
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: headlinerecords
- Facebook: headlinerecords
- Twitter: headlinerecords
- Yelp: headline records
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