My Vinyl Underground

My Vinyl Underground is a basement record shop in Portland, Oregon, with a strong focus on indiepop, indie rock, powerpop, post-punk, janglepop, and other less obvious corners of pop music. Owner Chris writes descriptions for obscure records, keeps shop prices fair, and wants people to feel comfortable asking for recommendations or taking a chance.

Interview with My Vinyl Underground

A basement record shop where the owner writes little histories for the obscure records in the bins — that's a specific kind of love. What made you commit to doing it that way?

A number of reasons, really: for the new stuff (which is actually my primary focus; the used records are honestly more of an afterthought to me), I only sell what I like - much of it from bands/labels I know, though I've certainly expanded the catalog over the years. And since a lot of what I sell is fairly obscure, I like to affix my wee labels to each release to help people get an idea of what to expect. And besides - since there are descriptions for each record on the website anyways, it's not even much extra work to do them, ha ha!

The shop has a reputation as a quiet, welcoming space — including for neurodivergent shoppers who find most stores overwhelming. Was that intentional from the start, or did it grow out of how you run the room?

You know, I never really thought of it that way, but being neurodivergent myself, it probably just happened naturally, eh? However, if you wanna see overwhelming, just take a look at the chaos that is my back room which is overflowing with extra stock and literally thousands of used cds/records/tapes that I don't have room for out on the shelves! Oof...

Keeping rare finds consistently under $30 is almost a philosophical position in today's market. What's the thinking?

Yeah, I just like to keep my prices fair and not mark things up like crazy in the shop. Sure, I'll mark things up to "market value" on discogs (because that's what the internet's for, right?), but that same record in the shop would have a more reasonable price. I pretty much look at things from the point of view that I'm a bit of a cheapskate myself, so why would I over-price my records? And not just that, but when people bring me records/etc to sell, I have a custom spreadsheet/formula I created that averages out the expected value of what they've brought (eg. out of a batch of 100 lps, 15% might probably sell for $10-12, 20% for $5, and so on, but then 10% will probably never sell) in order to come up with a fair price for both parties. I mean, I've always kinda prided myself on my sense of fairness & honesty...

The Record Store Day blind-box giveaway — free, no purchase needed — is a lovely tradition. How did it start?

The main reason I do that is because although I believe that Record Store Day was likely conceived with good intentions, it's become this crass & disgusting bi-annual event that demonstrates everything that's bad about capitalism and the record industry. I mean, there are maybe one or two RSD titles worth stocking but the rest is useless overpriced crap that no one needs (even though they've been convinced they do). So, since Ebay Flipper's Day is no longer anything that resembles fun, I like to put out my free box, because getting people excited about going to record shops and learning about new music is what the event SHOULD be about!

What do Portland diggers hunt for at your shop specifically — what do they know they'll find downstairs that they won't elsewhere?

Well, it kinda depends, I guess? There are definitely a fair number of regulars who also love indiepop/indie rock and know this is the best place to go for that; but at the same time, I still get similar fans who are just discovering the shop for the first time and find quite excited to know there's a local source for the type of stuff I specialize in! As for the rest of the shop visitors who aren't into what I love, some are adventurous enough to ask for recommendations (which I definitely love doing!), while the rest just go through the used stuff (which covers pretty much the whole spectrum of genres), so there's really something for everyone...

When someone wants to sell records, what's the best way to start — and what makes a collection an easy yes for a shop as curated as yours?

I definitely do love getting collections (cds/vinyl/tapes) full of great indie titles, which is always an easy yes, but that doesn't happen too often, unfortunately. Otherwise, I'm happy to take in pretty much anything, since I stock all genres in the used sections - as long as they're in decent shape and more importantly, not moldy or smoky!

What's an obscure record you wrote a bio for that finally found its person?

Hmm, I'm not sure about that, but I've definitely had several occasions where customers have bought records based on its li'l description! Usually, the descriptions I write stylistically describe the music and/or reference similar bands, but every once in a while, I'll take a sillier tack, such as my blurb for a recent lp from U.S. Highball that reads "you know that really nice guy that everyone loves but never seems to get the girl? this is his band..." - which actually directly resulted in a sale once, ha ha!

First visit to My Vinyl Underground — what should someone know before heading down the stairs?

Don't hit your head on the ridiculously low EXIT sign that the fire marshall insisted I install - many people over 6' tall have bonked themselves on it over the years... Seriously, though - have fun browsing our collection of over 20,000 new/used cds, records & tapes! And also, please don't be afraid to ask for recommendations or take a chance on something new from our vast assortment of (mostly) obscure indiepop, indie rock, powerpop, post-punk, janglepop & more from all over the world!

Last updated: 2026-07-31