To continue our 'In Conversation' series, we visited our go-to merchandise creators and now record store, SoundMerch. Since their inception in 2009, Jack, Tim and the team at SoundMerch have produced and provided high-quality merchandise for Australian and international artists, brands and businesses. They are deeply passionate about the music industry and have forged a reputation as Australia's leading music Merch supplier. Pre-Covid their main business was tied in with touring, which all changed overnight when lockdowns hit, online was the way forward. This led to SoundMerch stocking more merch and titles and then had them thinking about and then actually opening a record store smack bang in the heart of Collingwood! Only makes sense right?

To celebrate the opening of the store and the focus on local artists, we've teamed up with SoundMerch to offer a free SoundMerch branded slip mat and a $50 Up There Voucher to the first 15 people to buy a local artist record in-store. 

Read a bit more about the team at Soundmerch below, courtesy of Tim Everist, and be sure to head into the store at 64 Oxford St, Collingwood to peruse and shop their vinyl and merchandise selections. Shop our latest collection of Up There gear which was embroidered and printed by none other than SoundMerch.

Q: Who and what is SoundMerch? 

Soundmerch is a music merchandise company / we produce merchandise for whoever needs it, and we sell it at live shows, festivals and online. We also sell lots of vinyl. And we just opened a store in our new Collingwood warehouse.

Q: Thank fuck Covid lockdowns are finished with, am I right? How did you adapt/cope during the last 22 months or so? 

Touring died off, and we found a massive increase in our online sales. The business flipped on its head overnight. The online store went insane and became the main part of what we do. Artists were pushing their merch online, for many it became their main source of income. We were the facilitator between bands and their fans. Previously we were all about the production of merch for touring. Then it turned and was all about the production of merch for online. With that came a massive uptake and demand for vinyl records. So we started stocking more and more titles to the point where we could (and did) open a real-life record store. We're now selling more records than merch!

Q: How good has it been out of lockdown?

Better than being in it!

Q: Favourite local artist? 

There's been a bunch of great records this year for sure…King Gizz' Butterfly 3000', Amyl and Sniffers' Comfort To Me',  Good Morning' Barnyard', Genesis Owusu' Smiling With No Teeth'

Q. What's your dream gig? Lineup and venue?

A one-year-long festival of all dead artists in Heaven, as long as I can come back to Earth after.

Q: And finally, tell us a little about the space, more specifically the rabbit!?

The store was built and designed by my cousin, Toby Everist and myself.

The Rabbit lived on top of a Shopping centre in Kyoto and found its way to Australia via a Japanese antique importer!