Chris Keena

Yeah, I suppose when I left school, I did work experience in the Virgin Megastore and I got a full-time job there for about six years.

So I would have learned the ropes from, I suppose, the stockroom out onto the floor to start buying records and CDs.

And yeah, all that experience is very useful today.

So from Virgin, I would have moved on to...

managing independent record stores in Ratmines and places around Dublin, and then worked for HMV and Warner Music.

So quite a long few decades in the music industry and at different stages of, I suppose, being on one side of the counter as a buyer and on the other side as a selling into record stores.

You couldn't stream songs at the time, so you would have been selling a lot of cassette singles and CD singles and EPs by bands.

So, yeah, at the time, I suppose you would have had a lot of...

artists at number one for a long time like Bryan Adams and Wet Wet Wet so my job was relatively easy like you just keep stocking the same thing but you know all the while there was a lot of independent music getting released which was my main interest.

They didn't, no.

I think the first one was Shaker Maker and went on from there.

I think the next few didn't sell and then definitely maybe it was released in September of 1994, I think it was.

And then by the time...

the other singles came out from what's the story morning glory everyone was going back to the original definitely maybe singles because that's where you could buy the b-sides and the extra tracks and they weren't available on any other record or cd at the time so i think at one point there was about seven or eight singles in the top 30 from definitely maybe and what's the story yeah and a big thing in those days chris um

It was massive yeah like I mean for fans and I still believe in it to this day to meet their heroes I suppose their favourite bands in a record store at the time I think Fate No More were in Virgin Morrissey was in Virgin most of the new bands were coming in to do PAs and I suppose the crowds showing up at these was unbelievable like you had limos pulling up with the bands you had airport security coming in to do the security on the day and

Yeah it was a real experience you know and it's something I still you know gravitated today with the bands that we're dealing with to have that personal appearance in a record store you know because it really is that event that an all ages kind of you know younger person can go into to see and hear the music and buy the vinyl so

It's something I've brought with me all the way through.

Tell us about Vinyl, because Vinyl is making a bit of a comeback, isn't it?

Well, it's been making a comeback since Record Store Day in 2007, I think was the first one.

So I think it dropped off late 90s, early 2000s, and then it started to come back in again.