Novelty in Miami: Sweat Records

February 26, 2008 12:01 PM
by Marcos Colón [email]

In every city there’s a staple in entertainment. For some small towns with nothing to offer, this could come in the shape of a theater or a local Wal-Mart (shitty huh?). Luckily for us Cool Junkies, Miami has many to offer. Places like Space, Churchill’s and Deuce Bar to name a few, are a must stop shop for both natives and visitors. But there’s an even more unique establishment that’s creating a large following for itself, as well as building a unique community through the many aspects of entertainment that it offers.

Located in the heart of Little Haiti, Sweat Records is Miami’s saving grace when it comes to novelty, being one of South Florida’s only indie record shops. Surviving hurricanes, changes in location and all the glam leaking over from the Beach, Sweat’s a pure establishment that has a lot to offer, definitely making it known to all that it’s here to stay. This comes due to the hard work of those behind the scenes, or register should I say.

Co-founded in 2005 by Lauren (Lolo) Reskin and Sara Yousuf, Sweat’s first space was damaged by Hurricane Wilma, forcing Sweat to close for a couple of months and relocate. Luckily, a legendary venue opened its doors to Sweat, providing a space for them to open up shop and resume business. Churchill’s was home to Sweat for some time until the perfect space opened up next door. Now, Sweat and Churchill’s are connected not only architecturally but also through its affect on visitors with music and entertainment.

After finishing up law school at the University of Miami, Yousuf’s career became demanding and she graciously stepped away from Sweat. Now Co-owned and operated by Lolo and Jason Jimenez, whom jumped on board last year, Sweat is in full force. The store offers an array of CD’s that range from world music to indie rock. Sweat itself looks more like a chill hangout than a store, a unique characteristic that attracts many. Not only offering music, Sweat also has in-stores, movie screenings and an organic menu of coffee and tea that’s a must to try (the espresso is as legit as it is in Milan).

Cool Junkie recently hit up Sweat to pick up some local tracks, throw down some espresso and catch up with Lolo to pick her brain on Sweat as far as where it has been and where it’s going.

Lolo: Well I worked at the Virgin Megastore in South Miami from when I was 16 until I was 21 or 22. During that whole time I was a DJ and promoted indie clubs so I helped start Revolver and I was DJing there for the first three years it was around. I was DJing at Poplife when it was at Picadilly, I had my own 80’s party over at SoHo called Vice that we still do the prom for every year. The whole time I was doing that I always loved indie music and loved going to record stores in other cities. And eventually within the club stuff I saw a scene that was large enough to support an indie record store, so I figured let me do this. I got together with my best friend Sara, who’s a lawyer, and she was in law school at the time. We had planned everything for 2006, but everything fell so well that we did March of 05’. So we opened and we had tons of in-stores, our first location had a big-ass backyard, and we had good punk all-ages shows.

CJ:Where was the first location?

Lolo: It was on 23rd St. and 2nd Ave. In October of 05’ Hurricane Wilma blew away the whole facade of the second floor, but luckily it didn’t damage too much and we only lost a couple thousand dollars worth of stuff, but most of the stuff was fine so we closed for two months and then Churchill’s offered us that warehouse space we had in the back for a while, which meant to be temporary but we ended up there for like a year and a half. So we were waiting for this current location to open and when it became available we snatched it right up. We opened here Nov. 30th and we’ve been getting a crazy response from it.

CJ:It’s a really good space.

Lolo: Yea, it has a nice storefront, plenty of parking, it’s comfy and people can use our Wi-Fi. There’s no hang out chill coffee places that’s not a Starbucks here practically.

CJ:Would you say this is one of the only things that Miami has of its kind?

Lolo: Yea, but there’s a lot more popping up every week. Every week there’s a new independent boutique, so I’d say there’s definitely stuff coming up.

CJ:What about as far as record shops go?

Lolo: As far as record shops go, there’s Uncle Sam’s and Grooveman on the beach but they focus more on electronic music. But there’s really not a classic indie record store in Miami besides us. There’s a really great one in Fort Lauderdale called ‘Radioactive Records,’ and we share customers a lot.

CJ:What do you find that keeps you going and inspires you?

Lolo: The people down here are just so awesome and supportive and friendly and nice. Everyday I meet new people who are so interesting and positive and just want to help out. And they come from so many different disciplines; artists, designers, activist kids, punk kids, noise making kids and you know this is a proper place for them to come together. And here they have an open space where people can throw a meeting or things like the film screening next week about peace in the Middle East. We do everything here. We have a book club, we started a science club and we have movie nights as well.

CJ: So in a way you’re building a community around Sweat?

Lolo: Yea, definitely. We have a huge mailing list and we get a huge response from it. We try to have a huge variety of events. And definitely one of the more important things that we do that people really appreciate is that on the list of events that we do we’ll list anything, even if it’s direct competition. So that’s in an effort to try and get people to work together more and not have beef and realize that the more stuff that’s going on the better it is for everybody. So that’s the kind of thing that we try and put out there, so we should all try and work together.

CJ:Just out of curiosity, how did the colors of the logo come about?

Lolo: We’ve had these going since we’ve opened. Our first and second locations had the same colors, that’s why when people see it now they say “Oh, it’s Sweat Records.” They’re kind of like the modern Miami pastels from the deco and the purple is very sunset and subtropical.

CJ: You’re known to reach out to a lot of local bands in Miami. Can you talk a little about that?

Lolo: Yea, we carry local music. Our new revised policy is that if you bring us two copies of your CD’s we’ll buy them. It’s not complicated, there’s no paperwork, we’re supporting your band, and now we have two copies of your album that your fans can come and buy here. We definitely throw a lot of local artist showcases and we’ll promote anyone’s show if they send us their information, on our mailing list. We’re definitely here to help because everyone’s getting better and getting more attention.

CJ: What are some of local bands or acts that people should take note of?

Lolo: There’s a whole acoustic scene that’s happening here Wednesdays at Churchill’s and it’s awesome. I love all those kids that play there; Rachel Goodrich, Jesse Jackson, Raffa and Rainer and the Down Home Southernaires. There’s so many other people that are talented and doing great stuff for the city. Like Otto Von Schirach is kicking ass hard now.

CJ: What are some of the goals that Sweat has for this upcoming year?

Lolo: This year, being our first solid year, we’re just working on so many projects. Getting all the events and club nights and in-stores scheduled. We’re going to do a lot of in-stores during Winter Music Conference, we have our third year anniversary coming up, which is really exciting and we’ve just been contacted constantly by bands and groups and acts from the smallest indie label to like huge legendary people. So we’re working on a couple of big shows.

CJ: What are three albums in the shop that you think people must have?

Lolo: There’s so many!.... I’ve drawn a blank, can I just get back to you on that one?

CJ: How about just one?

Lolo: That’s even harder! What the hell? (laughs) I would just say for people to come in and buy some local music. I don’t want to pick just one because we have such a huge range of music. We have world music that’s big, we have real popular indie, obviously we have Radiohead and things like that. We have something for everyone.

CJ: So do you think the scene is getting a lot more attention and respect now?

Lolo: Easily. Judging only from the amount of emails and interest I get from other cities. We can definitely start to be seen as a place that’s not just Latin, just hip-hop and electronic music.

CJ: What kind of affect do you think Miami’s club culture has on music in the city?

Lolo: Well anything that has that level of popularity is going to encourage some reaction. That’s why I think that there are some things that are just really cool, like the experimental electronic scene as well as the dance stuff, like next door there’s that Noise Conference that’s going on, and it’s just crazy and it’s just so unique to Miami. There are people here from Australia, France, and some people even drove all the way here from California, just to come to Churchill’s this weekend! It happens every year and every year it gets packed. So that’s getting bigger, Langerado’s getting bigger and Conference is getting bigger. All these little things that happen every year are starting to blow-up and that’s so good for us.

CJ: Do you think that Miami will start attracting bigger shows, because it hasn’t had the best resume as far as bigger bands coming down to play goes?

Lolo: It definitely has already grown like 300% of what it used to be. We’re getting bigger acts like Spoon and Iron and Wine.

CJ: But do you think that the lack of shows is because of a geographic standpoint?

Lolo: Geography does have a lot to do with it, but I think that if you put on a show good enough then the bands will come. For example, Ladytron came down, sold out Studio A, and now guess what? They’re coming back in June, because the show was awesome. Yo La Tengo came down last year for their first time in their 18-year career and they sold out Studio A.

CJ: Are you still spinning parties at all?

Lolo: I’ve just been doing more art gallery events and random things like that. I’ve just been promoting parties more than anything. I’m about to start a new one over at Vagabond. It looks awesome, and the back looks so dope.

CJ: What kind of music are you guys going to play there?

Lolo: It’s going to be a pretty open format indie based dance party. You’ll hear stuff like White Stripes and some party tracks and new rave like Klaxons and Cut Copy and all that kind of good stuff.

CJ: When will that kick up?

Lolo: In like three or four weeks. It’s going to be ‘Fridays at the Vagabond in collaboration with Sweat Records.’ So it’s going to be like a Sweat party. It’s gonna be pretty awesome. Everyone’s been like “There’s nothing to do on Fridays, please, please throw a party!” When I started my last party there was nothing to do on Saturdays, and then that party just blew up. But this is gonna be better because there’s more parking, there’s valet if you want it and the drink prices are going to be super reasonable.

CJ: So what does Churchill’s mean to you?

Lolo: Churchill’s is awesome. They’ve been around longer than I have. They’ve been open since 1979. The first time I went there I was 15 and I snuck in for a show. It’s just great, there’s live music seven nights a week. Besides the rock stuff that they do, their Monday night jazz jam has been going on for five years and every week is awesome. When the hurricanes happened they had a generator going and were open like that day, so that was pretty awesome. Then on Wednesdays their acoustic thing is so good. And so many bands have had their first shows there. Marilyn Manson’s first show was actually there. Iggy Pop has played there; Dick Dale has played there.

CJ: So what’s one thing that you think everyone should know about Sweat?

Lolo: That it’s a labor of love above everything and is here for everyone else more than it is for ourselves. I have this many CD’s at home, you know, I don’t need these. We pretty much just want to have something for everybody. If you’re not into buying CDs you can have coffee here. If you’re not into drinking coffee you can have tea. Or you can use our space to write about the book you wrote. I guess the thing that everyone should know is that we’re trying to unite Miami’s culture.