By Robert Mills
When Alison Ferrell suggested Jesse Bordiuk and Stu Lucero open a store to accompany their start-up record label, the trio didn’t take long to jump on the idea. In fact, three days after the brainstorming session, the group signed the lease for Ear Peace Records on Adeline Street.
Lucero, who along with Bordiuk and producer Cyberclops makes up the rap group Candlespit Collective, said word is spreading about the record store/label. [Watch the video above for an introduction.]
“Business is on the rise,” Lucero said. “I mean it started to sort of pick up, then it picked up a little more. You know, we’re just kind of adapting and figuring out what it is we need to bring in that brings more people.”
The shop’s inventory is constantly evolving, with new items added to the South-Berkeley hip-hop hub daily. The store — lined with colorful street art and canvas paintings — boasts a collection of classic vinyl for DJ sampling, new CDs, men’s and women’s clothing, paints, edged markers, and even custom art by appointment.
“We call it object tattooing,” Lucero said, pointing to a vibrant wooden duck created by one of the store’s in-house visual artists.
Along with a wide selection of goods, owners at Ear Peace Records provide a comfortable creative atmosphere for Berkeley’s many talented artists. There are areas to create new works of art and a lounge in the back to kick back and access free Wi-Fi.
“It’s like a community center with a really cool gift shop,” Lucero said.
Ear Peace Records is at 3268 Adeline Street, Berkeley CA 94703.
Robert A. Mills is a graduate student studying interactive journalism at The Reynolds School of Journalism at The University of Nevada, Reno. He is currently interning at Berkeleyside. See his previous stories for us here and the videos he has shot and/or edited for us on Berkeleyside’s YouTube channel.
