Jessica Herman

It's surprising to walk into Lincoln Park's Gramaphone Records on a ninety-degree Wednesday evening and not feel suffocated--the corridor-shaped store is packed with mostly guys who take new records for a test spin, scour the racks and network with "old-school" friends or new connections. But a dotted line of ceiling fans and lamps keep the place cool, hanging about eye-level for the DJs on duty who spin on a platform in back of the store, adjacent to the owner's office.

"I'm the original person of the store," says owner Joe Dale, waving his hands in the air, in the middle of the office's cramp and clutter. That makes Gramaphone's thirty-fifth anniversary last month a personal milestone for this "old-schooler." As co-sponsor of the first annual DJ Wednesdays for Grant Park's thirteen-week SummerDance festival, Dale also spearheads a milestone for Chicago house music. Since so many internationally renowned homegrown DJs have worked at the record shop, half of the headliners--including Derrick Carter, Ralphi Rosario, Superjane--are Gramaphone alumni.

"A lot of people will feel very odd about the concept of watching the sun set instead of the sun come up," he quips. Ideally, Dale wants the city to sponsor a three-day event, comparable to the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, at Soldier Field this August.

As a central nerve for the Chicago house scene, Gramaphone keeps open a bundle of communication lines--three phones, three yellowish computers and an intercom. "Family" members, as the DJs prefer to call one another, like DJ Shani and DJ Mike Serafini, grope each other and discuss the state of Chicago house. There's plenty of name-dropping, too.

Gramaphone used to be full of "rave kids who wanted to be DJs in the late nineties," Dale says, "but with 9/11 and the dotcom bust, sales for everything have gone down." The new Best Buy store that recently opened across the street doesn't help, but Dale says it's had little effect on his specialized business. House, according to Dale, is going underground again.

Back in the booth, the DJ lets her girlfriend spin while her own samples pipe through the headphones tucked into her pixie cut. "Where'd you get that one?" a customer asks the temp DJ. "It's all on that one album," she replies and points to the record stacks behind him. Her friend, the official DJ, whines. She wanted that track.

(2004-06-16)

Also by Jessica Herman

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A guide to the city's fashion finds
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The cool hunt is on
Urban Remedy sends its members weekly newsletters on events or updates on fashion, beauty, music, film--generally anything related to lifestyles and free deals
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Fraying and finishing
Anne Novotny spreads a shredded but flouncy satin silver "skirt" over her jeans, bends her knees out and waddles in place like a duck
(2004-05-05)

War zone
(2004-04-27)

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