From an electronic dance music label of the same name, More Rice Record has grown into a bonafide record shop, home to what could possibly be Thailand’s largest collection of underground dance music records.
Around ten years ago, the only people who would buy vinyl records were mostly working DJs. Vinyl shops like the now-defunct Jazzbah Records were a meeting place for DJs of all stripes from chill-out and house to drum & bass and Detroit techno. Due to the limited client base, vinyl shops were sadly forced to shut down.
It wasn’t until recently that the vinyl record scene in Thailand gloriously rose back to life, with new crops of shops like Zudrangma Records Store quickly becoming a favorite haunt among record collectors.
This year, we welcome a newcomer More Rice Record Store, a record shop dedicated solely to pure underground dance music run by a team of underground DJ and producers DOTT, Jay, and Elaheh. Let’s find out what they’ve got in store (literally) for us!
How did More Rice get started?
“I got to know Jay because he would always ask me for song recommendations for his podcast. One day, he asked me if I wanted to open a vinyl shop with him because he wanted to promote more Asian artists.”
You guys started out as a label, why a shop also?
“We didn’t really plan it. It just so happened that DOTT’s girlfriend M found an empty space in front of a friend’s shop. She asked us if we wanted to do something with it and we said yes.”
How do you manage the shop during the pandemic?
“We make sure that we always sanitize our shop. We also limit the number of customers and a visit is by appointment only.”
Which genres do you stock at the shop?
“Mostly sub-genres of house and techno, and a bit of others well”
“We also stock some jazz and hip-hop, but they’re not our main focus right now. We want our shop to be a little niche and different from other shops, so we concentrate on underground dance music.”
What is your favorite record store and why?
DOTT: A small shop in Berlin called Audio-In. Turn up on the right day and you’ll find some rare gems.
Jay: Phonica in London would be one of my first choices.
Elaheh: I love Technique in Miami, Rush Hour in Amsterdam, and Clone Records in Rotterdam. I’ve never been to any of them yet, but I’d like to someday.
What do you think about the vinyl scene in Thailand?
DOTT: More and more people are interested in collecting vinyl records, but not many would want to play them on a DJ set because of the lack of right equipment on the venue’s part.
Jay: Since opening, I see that there’s more people interested in this kind of music than I’d expected. I’m hoping there’ll be even more.
Elaheh: We hope that we’ll get to welcome more vinyl lovers now that the shop is open. We start to see customers who aren’t a DJ, but a collector with a huge collection coming in. We hope it stays like that so we could all share knowledge.
Apart from records, what can we expect to find at the shop?
“We sell bags, gears, and some t-shirts. We also offer a deep cleaning service for records and once we’re fully open, you can expect live gigs here as well.”
Between a selection of 10,000 records and 1 Bitcoin, what would you choose?
All: Collect that Bitcoin and buy more records because we’re a collector!
More Rice Record Store is located between BTS Asok and Phrom Phong stations. Opening hours are from Tue-Thu 13.00 – 21.00, and Fri-Sun 14.00 – 22.00 (closed on Mondays).
The shop is currently open only by appointment through their Instagram and Facebook page.
