Sound and vision – gearing up towards another Record Store Day celebration with Gatefield Sounds

SOUND AND VISION

Writer and photographer

Cheri Percy

As Gatefield Sounds gears up towards another Record Store Day celebration, our Editor Cheri Percy speaks to owner Jon Ashby on new music discovery, the renaissance of vinyl, and the shop’s decadespanning history

It was funk band Sly & The Family Stone who first soothed about a family affair in their hit single back in 1971. Funny to think then that, just one year later and miles from Stone’s San Franciscan setting, local entrepreneur Mick Winch opened his first record shop in Faversham with little idea the business would go on to be exactly that. Now, nearly five decades on, nephew Jon Ashby stands at the helm of the counter at Gatefield Sounds. The second of Finch’s shops, the Whitstable brand opened in 1979 and has had its home on the High Street for over 40 years.

During the 80s and 90s, the Gatefield empire had a real monopoly of the Kent coast with outlets cropping up in Herne Bay, Deal, Broadstairs and Sheerness. But today Gatefield Sounds is sadly the only remaining sound house. The shop’s genesis is important to acknowledge for Ashby, marking not only where he started out but also where he went on to make roots of his own. “When I was 15, I managed to convince my school that I could do my work experience with my uncle at the shop. I became the Saturday lad in 1990. I did that for a few years before then going down to Deal where I met my wife Erin.”

With the premises clocking up quite the innings, it’s not surprising that Ashby’s welcomed in quite a few local legends over that time too, as he explains proudly. “Peter [Cushing] was a customer of ours. I hate to say it but that carpet down there is the same carpet that he used to stand on,” he shares bashfully, pointing to the right-hand side of the till. “Christopher Lee used to come in with him and you’d see him having to duck under the door!”

His story is cut short as he picks up a call from a customer putting in his order for the latest St Vincent and Phoebe Bridges releases. It’s clear that aside from fostering exceptional taste in the town, Ashby also knows his customer base personally. From Kevin on the blower to Colin from Swalecliffe who pops in during our chat to collect the latest Selena Gomez record. But while the foundations of Gatefield Sounds have remained the same over the years – personable service across a breadth of genres – music consumption has shape-shifted beyond measure.

But while vinyl might be experiencing a renaissance – the Guardian reported 2020 sales were the best year in three decades – the stalwart CD still has a place in the record racks at Gatefield. “In 2019, our CD sales had gone up on the