Dave Tinning profiles one of Prenzlauer Berg’s premier vinyl outlets….
Oye Records, nestled in a basement just off Prenzlauer Berg’s Kastanienallee, has carved a unique little niche for itself in the capital. Originally catering for collectors of Latin, soul and funk records, Oye has since diversified to cover a broader range of styles, from afrobeat to blip-hop to UK funky, and on to those Berlin club staples—house and techno.
Record stores are not always known for their approachability or even friendliness, which is where Oye stands out. Staffed by friendly music lovers with wide-ranging taste and in-depth knowledge, it has managed to maintain a loyal and diverse customer base.
Founder Lovis Willenberg, a local DJ of over twenty years, started Oye in 2002, after realizing his expensive record buying habits could be mitigated only by paying wholesale prices. This also, of course, guaranteed him the pick of the latest releases. After a short stint sharing a space in Tacheles, Willenberg found the right name (inspired by Tito Puente’s Oye Como Va, which roughly means ‘Listen To This’ in Spanish) and—eventually—the ideal location.
“Even in 2002 it wasn’t easy to get a store in the Kastanienallee/Oderbergerstraße area, so I was very happy to get this funky space. I rented it as a basement in very poor condition. Much work was needed to make it what it is now—a real shop”.
In 2007, long-time employees Tinko Rosht and Markus Lindner became partners in the store, having successfully assimilated new electronic genres in the racks, drawing heavily on their experiences from countless long nights moving dance floors in Berlin clubs.
Oye has succeeded in creating a space for DJs and music lovers of all persuasion to meet, hang out, share secret weapons and cross-pollinate each other’s record boxes. The basement space is made up of two rooms stuffed full of 12s and 7s, (and some CD racks) nicely laid out between new releases from Europe, the UK and the US, and older /second hand goods.
If there’s no space at the five listening decks you can chill on the sofa, read the latest Wax Poetics, or chat to the staff at the counter. “Everybody should feel comfortable at Oye as we aren’t nerds,” states Marcus Lindner. “No questions about music are stupid questions, because these days every customer is an expe…