The Blog

Pair your beers with vinyl. A new, curated record and cassette tape selection from Disco Death Records opens on Saturday, March 13 at Quincy Corner, Indeed's to-go operation in the Northeast Minneapolis brewery. We chatted with Colin Wilkinson, co-owner of Disco Death, about the record shop's history and its new partnership with us.

What is Disco Death Records’ story?

Disco Death Records started out of the ashes of Dead Media Records which I was a part of for almost five years of its existence. It was a great place but with the pandemic happening and the rent needing to be renewed I just didn't see the point moving on with the formula which was Dead Media. Joel Eckerson, who is my business partner and co-owner of Disco Death Records, joined me last year. Dead Media was alive and was helping me a lot.

When Dead Media closed we wanted to give it another go with a new concept and a new way of doing things. The downfall of Dead Media was its lack of a website and webstore. If Dead Media would have had that before we could have made it a lot further. But we got a nice spot in Northeast in The North Wind Lofts and hit the reset button. We built a website and a webstore and started curating differently than what we were doing at Dead Media. We launched in September and it's been going very well. Both of us had no idea what we were doing really when it comes to e-commerce but I really feel like we figured it out and the new formula has been working very well. Instagram has been a primary marketing tool for people to see what we have in stock. Since the building we're in isn't open to the public, online is where we shine. We have been periodically open on the weekends from 12-5pm for people to come walk in and see what we have. This summer is going to be very exciting as well. We're going to try something we've always wanted to and we're both very excited. Both Joel and I have worked very hard in the last year building something new during a pandemic and a lot of uncertainty in the world. We both couldn't be more happy and proud of what we both have accomplished.

How did your partnership with Indeed/Quincy Corner come about?

Kiersten from Indeed actually was the one that contacted us about the possibility of having this happen. Since we don't have a storefront at the moment, this opportunity was really exciting for us. First of all, it's Indeed Brewing. Indeed has been an institution in the community for a long time so getting the chance to work with you guys and to be able to collaborate during these times is awesome. People have to look out for each other more than ever now and Indeed was so awesome to reach out and ask if we wanted to do this. We love that and we can't thank Indeed enough for this moment. We can't wait to bring the records in!

What kind of selection will you be curating at Quincy Corner?

Since the table will only be 4-feet-by-6-feet, it will be curated to be nice and easy to browse but all the hits will be in there. We went pretty hard to bring in some good records for this spot. So I would say it will be half and half new releases and reissues of some good classics and the other half nice used records of all genres. There will be a little of something for everyone. Rock/Pop, Electronic, New Wave, Global, Metal and Punk to name a few. Also a small selection of cassette tapes. Also will be a nice small collection. You'll see many local tapes on that wall for sure.

Who designs the genre graphics?

Our buddy Jesse Peterson. He's been a great buddy for a long time and he's a fantastic artist. We asked him to help us out when we're starting out and he was kind enough to help us out with some great art work. He also did our logo. He is awesome.

What else do we need to know?

We're very excited about this adventure together. We've been working hard to get all this together and I hope people like what we bring over at the Quincy Corner. We will be flipping new records in and out throughout the month as well. We're going to make it fresh all the time.

Quincy Corner is open seven days a week from 12-10pm for delivery and curbside pickup; in-store shopping is available during taproom hours.

Peruse the record and cassette tape selection before, during, or after your reservation (psst: no beers allowed while flipping through records or shopping). Make a reservation here.