OK, so maybe no one else remembers that old ’90s show — Two Guys, a GIRL and a Pizza Place. But it was my favorite show as a 16-year-old girl with a huge crush on Ryan Reynolds.You know what else is my favorite? Guestroom Records. And it all started with two guys who loved music and worked at Pizza Shuttle. Check out our interview below with Guestroom Records co-owner Travis Searle.
When and how did Guestroom get started?
We opened our first shop in July of 2003 in downtown Norman. For a year and a half previous to opening, we ran a small distribution/door-to-door record shop. We would collect names and phone numbers and call folks when we got in monthly orders and take them around various homes.
Justin Sowers and I met while living in the dorms at OU and worked up our business plan while driving pizza for Pizza Shuttle. Decided that we both had the same good idea — and that two intelligent music fanatics would have a better chance to succeed than one. When the shop was ready to open, we put our entire personal music collections (Justin had about 1,200 LPs and 400 CDs, I had about 1,500 CDs and 400 LPs) into the shop to give us a great opening used stock. It’s been fairly uphill since then.
What made you decide to expand to Oklahoma City?
From the onset, we had the belief that at some point we would outgrow our Norman location and need to open a second store. We didn’t really want to move to Tulsa, Denton, etc. Fortunately for us, the current location of Guestroom OKC (3701 N. Western) came up for rent in February 2007. The price was right, the location was fantastic and the space was just what we needed. We sort of hit a plateau in Norman and knew that the needs of music lovers and collectors were not being met 100 percent in Oklahoma City. Made sense to us then and our sales numbers (roughly 25-35 percent larger than Norman store) show us that it still makes sense.
What are your top five favorite albums of all time?
It changes pretty regularly. I could narrow it to 30-ish that would stay the same. As of today my favorite albums are something like this:
Neutral Milk Hotel — In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
The Ramones — Rocket to Russia
Thee Oh Sees — Help!
Mika Miko — We Be XUXA
The Replacements — Let It Be
What new music are you listening to right now?
Again, it changes every day. This week, I’m digging the new albums by The Black Keys, LCD Soundsystem, Ty Segall, David Cross, Tobacco, Thee Oh Sees, Rainbows are Free, Woods, Roky Erickson, The National… geez too many to list. Come ask me in person and I’ll give you an updated rundown of what’s worth hearing.
What are some of your favorite local bands?
There are so many great local bands in Norman and OKC! Here’s what I can think of off the top of my head — The Boom Bang, Rainbows are Free, Brother Gruesome, Shi**y/Awesome, Mayola, Student Film, Gang Starr Museum, Penny Hill, Jacob Abello, The Starlight Mints, Gentle Ghost, Depth & Current, Evangelicals, Early Beat… there are lots more but I don’t want to take up a gigabyte.
What’s in the future for Guestroom?
More of the same… but with mustard! We’re holding pat on opening another shop for the meantime. We’re concentrating on maintaining quality in the stores and working on our record label (Guestroom Records Records). Future plans include hosting more shows, throwing more parties and figuring out time travel.
What do you love most about Oklahoma?
Tough one to answer. It’s definitely NOT the weather. I’d say it’s probably the number of awesome people I get to see on a daily and weekly basis. The scene is pretty fun currently. I wish there were more independent businesses to support, but they’ll come with time. Thanks for keeping it local.
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