Matteblacc DJ’s JNR & Drem shares their love for the physical format by creating a common ground, Choice Cuts Goods + Coffee, to set more organic conversations flowing.
How did you go from being DJs to setting up a record shop?
JNR: We’re a collective called Matteblacc, and our strongest selling point is that we appeal to both a younger audience and a more mature, sophisticated one as well. Discerning music lovers that enjoy quality hiphop, funk and soul. As we were doing our gigs in cooler spots like cocktail and gastro bars, we started to be in demand at the clubs again, but at that point our regular clientele were a bit older — they had more responsibilities, some were married, some even had kids — and we still wanted to keep that community. So we figured why not have a record shop/cafe where we can do these gatherings and events and have people just hang out. Sort of a guilt-free option for a maturing audience or people who don’t club.
Drem: Yeah it wasn’t something that we forced ourselves to do. We love music and we love vinyl, and it’s not easy to find vinyls anymore, so we wanted to get a small record shop going with good quality soul music. As for the cafe, it was like “Why not coffee too?”. Everything just came together organically.
Choice Cuts is obviously more than just a cafe selling vinyls.
J: There’s the common ground of people liking music. The conversations are natural because it’s a place where people are open to talk about what they’re into, whether it’s music or interesting things to do on the weekends; we also share with them what’s on our radar. And now that we’ve moved to the new place, there’s more seating so it’s comfortable; our original shophouse felt more like a retail space.
D: We wanted people to come in, have a sit and just experience what we offer in our space. It’s not just a record shop or a coffee place; anybody can come in with their vinyls too…
J: We have this ethos where if you love music and collect records, you shouldn’t be a closet collector. Come and share it. We have an open platform where if you want to hear your records out loud and you know your way around the equipment, there’s no reason not to hit us up and have a little jam session with your friends. We’re totally cool with it, so long as it fits with what we’re doing musically, and it’s amazing what you come across in other people’s collections.
You guys double up by doing everything: brewing coffee, selecting music, even constructing the furniture.
J: Honestly, it’s just that we have a do-it-yourself ethos as well. Whatever we could do we’ve done ourselves, and everything that was beyond our capabilities we’ve gotten contractors to help us. All the furniture is made by the team headed by [Drem]; we spent at least six months testing out the flavour profile of our coffee; we work the shifts. It’s our place so we work it and take pride in doing things ourselves. It’s a constant work-in-progress though — unlike throwing a couple hundred grand and voila! Everything’s done — but it creates talking points and people can feel like they’ve grown along with us.
D: We like the hands-on approach. Normally, you’ll find me late at night building stuff…
J: It’s artisanal! [laughs]
There has been a trend for nostalgia recently. Why do you think this is so?
J: People our age — well I’m speaking of our generation, the Gen Xers [laughs] — are now in the time of their lives where they can afford the things they like. So it’s about indulgence: I could never afford Jordans when I was 13, now I’m going to buy all the Jordans I want. That resonates into throwback movies, video games, and the vinyl format as well. There’s a certain keepsake quality with vinyl; people want something tangible after the whole thing with mp3s and piracy.
D: Somehow it comes back full circle.
J: A surprising number of millennials are picking up vinyl collecting without being forced to. And it’s interesting because we found out some of them have yet to even buy their first record player! So yeah nostalgia and vintage has always been cool, but that’s not what we’re trying to do. What we do is sincere and comes from a place of passion. If it happens that we’re on trend, then great. When that trend passes, we’ll still be there.
D: We’re from that old school, where vinyl has always been. We still have our record collections at home, and we’ll bring them to the shop sometimes to do vinyl sets. It’s in the art, I guess.
JNR wears Christian Dada Wool sweater
Drem wears Christian Dada Cotton hoodie
Photography Elvina Farkas
Photography Assistant Lucas Milone
Styling Belda Chung
Grooming Hongling using Kevin Murphy and NARS
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