Fruit Fly Records Opens Rare Vinyl Store in Miami

At Fruit Fly Records, South Florida’s latest file retailer, the rarest, costliest file on show is a limited-edition, Japanese urgent of Daft Punk’s seminal 2001 album Discovery, sealed and in mint situation. Emblazoned with the cartoon solid of the album’s feature-length animated music video Interstella 5555, it is one of the crucial sought-after data by collectors. The highest worth anybody ever paid for a replica on the file market web site Discogs? $2,368.56.

The retailer’s copy is just not on the market.

This is just not the sort of place one goes to select up a dusty copy of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, in different phrases. It’s a store the place chances are you’ll simply be capable of discover one of the best file you have ever heard. Owner Giovanni Hanna says he needed to place into the store the identical stage of meticulous care that he makes use of for his personal assortment. Most of the inventory is in mint or near-mint situation.

“I’ve at all times been neurotic about situation,” Hanna says. “No matter what it’s I’ve purchased in my life, I’ve at all times carried out a little bit of analysis.”

Fruit Fly Records takes its title from Hanna’s doctoral research on the evolutionary traits of fruit flies. Struggling with the educational course of and seeing little satisfying outcomes from his analysis, Hanna seen his fiancée having success with a plant store and determined to attempt to create a enterprise of his personal out of his different ardour: file accumulating.

The store is presently appointment-only, though Hanna would not need this reality to discourage guests and can fortunately take same-day appointments. The store’s inventory can be accessible to peruse on-line, and a Discogs web page is forthcoming. Located in Kendall, it is one of many first retailers of its form within the space. Hanna says the store has been well-received by locals following a gap celebration on January 27.

“People have been actually excited to see that one thing like this exists within the space,” he provides.

Over the years, Hanna has assembled an enviable assortment comprising genres from everywhere in the world. He has a shrine-like show devoted to releases from Daft Punk, in addition to Roulé and Crydamoure, the French home labels based by the band’s two members, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, respectively. Most of the Daft Punk assortment is display-only, although a couple of data by the pair are listed on the store’s web site. Fruit Fly additionally carries uncommon pressings of artists corresponding to Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, and Chic. Jazz, funk, and disco from world wide are explicit focuses of the store, which additionally carries data by trendy artists corresponding to Rosalía and Kendrick Lamar.

But maybe essentially the most fascinating and very important a part of the Fruit Fly assortment is Hanna’s intensive holdings of Middle Eastern music. Hanna, who’s of Armenian-Lebanese heritage, grew up listening to music from the area however laments that not a lot has survived from the heyday of vinyl.

“People in that space are typically obsessive about know-how,” he says. “Lots of people simply trashed their data or left them behind.”

In that respect, rescuing and recirculating data from artists like Munir Bachir, a legendary Iraqi oud participant influenced by Spanish flamenco guitar, or the necessary Lebanese composer Ziad Rahbani is a method of cultural preservation. Obsession helps, in fact. Hanna says that when a reissue of Rahbani’s 1985 album Houdou Nisbi got here out, he ordered so many copies the distributor ran out.

“This music is a part of historical past, and numerous what I take care of is historic,” Hanna explains.

With this attitude, it is smart that Hanna is such a stickler for high quality. He desires clients to maintain their vinyl and dislikes that many secondhand file shops carry low-quality pressings or scratched product. Hanna desires to promote solely one of the best, most well-maintained vinyl data attainable at Fruit Fly. He seeks out solely one of the best pressings in the absolute best situation for his inventory, free from scratches or defects. It could also be costly — or it might not. The level is that it has been taken care of, and if it is maintained in the identical situation, it will final without end.

“Quality would not essentially include a excessive worth,” Hanna says. “I do not need you to have to purchase the identical data greater than as soon as in your lifetime.”

Fruit Fly Records. 9830 SW 77th Ave., Ste. 135, Miami; 619-565-4262; fruitflyrecords.com. By appointment solely.