At the beginning of the year, Paul Wilson had a dream of opening a new venue in town. While he continued to push the thought away, it gave him no peace. He eventually caved, feeling that he would never know if it would work, if he didn’t give it a try.
On Saturday 12th April, on World Record Store Day, and after a lot of hard work, Paul opened Listen at 3/120 Wentworth Street, Glen Innes (next to Charlie’s Chickens). Because he wants to be open when other stores aren’t, his hours will be Friday to Sunday from 5pm to 9pm.
Paul feels that music is very important to wellbeing and wanted to bring a different musical experience to Glen Innes. Listen offers a place to disconnect from the world and enjoy active listening in a comfortable environment. He has set up the best stereo system he can and has been playing with the acoustics to further enhance the sound.
As well as encouraging people to come to the store to listen to a range of music, he is also selling everything about music and listening, including LP’s, singles, cassettes, music DVD’s (films and concerts) and books about music and musicians. He has a range of technologies for sale (eg: DAC – digital audio converter) that enrich the listening experience without costing too much.
Paul’s new dream is to see Listen develop into a place for live performances and recordings. Although the space in Listen is compact, he feels that performances by solo performers or duets could work. He is determined to continue to work on improving the acoustics so that recordings can be realised.
All this is very new and exciting. Paul encourages anyone interested in music to visit Listen. However, as a realist, he is giving the venture six months to develop its potential.
It’s now up to Glen Innes music aficionados to see if Listen works for them and support a new local venture.
