New documentary explores Whanganui’s The Vinyl Room and record culture

You Can't Just Sell Records, a documentary by Kevin Double (right) about Ron Fisher's store The Vinyl Room, will be released on April 12. Photo / Olivia Reid

Whanganui business The Vinyl Room is the subject of a new documentary exploring the staying power of physical media, small businesses and community.

The 53-minute documentary You Can’t Just Sell Records follows Whanganui record shop owner Ron Fisher’s journey in starting a business selling records nearly two decades after the last dedicated CD store closed.

Director Kevin Double, of Double Farley, described the film as “a celebration of small businesses, and obviously records”.

The Vinyl Room started as a market stall and has grown over time to a physical store with staff and increased stock.

When Fisher opened the shop, he was met with doubt from some people, including a friend who did not believe a store could sell only records and be successful — hence the film’s title.

Despite initial concerns, The Vinyl Room has proved successful for reasons beyond the physical product.

“It turns out that we don’t just sell records ... it’s about an experience and a community,” Fisher said.

Double said the documentary was not just for vinyl fans.

“If you’re watching this and you don’t care about records but you’re setting up a new business in town, following Ron’s journey shows you that it can be successful.”

Fisher and Double believe records foster a sense of community and connection through history, emotion and identity.

“It’s predicted they’ll last easily 1000 years in perfectly playable condition so, if you think of the amount of people that will interact with something over 1000 years, it’s the equivalent of a stone tablet,” Double said.

Fisher said if someone put five of the same record in front of him, and one belonged to him, he would know which one was his because of its imperfections.

Compared to CDs, which either worked or did not, if a record got a scratch, it gained a memory “like a scar”.

“With an experience comes that memory and association and emotions.”

This reflected the documentary’s tagline “Records are not just stock … they’re stories”.

The documentary features some of The Vinyl Room’s regular customers, detailing how they interact with music and records.

“My motivation is the customer aspect — every day has some magic in this shop. There’s few places like that where it just really means something to people,” Fisher said.

Fisher is well-connected in the Whanganui music scene, from hosting gigs to helping budding artists.

The documentary follows his journey with musician Rebel Bourke.

All of the featured music was “donated” by local artists, with the film operating on a “low to zero” budget.

Fisher’s connection with artists was one of the reasons he found records special.

“It’s far more experiential to be interacting with something that the artist has created with their love and intention, from the artwork to the way they’ve designed the music from start to finish,” he said.

A pre-release screening of You Can’t Just Sell Records will take place on Saturday at 6.30pm at the Davis Lecture Theatre.

The documentary will be officially released on April 12, Record Store Day, on DVD in record stores nationally.

Olivia Reid is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.