By: David Rachac
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Treehouse Records - Photo from their MySpace Page
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Mark Trehus is the owner of Treehouse Records, one of the Twin Cities' finest independent music stores. In this interview, he talks about the legacy that long-time independent retailer Oar Folkjokeopus had on the Twin Cities music scene, factors that are making it harder for the mom and pop stores to survive, and the Sixth Anniversary Party at the Turf Club on Saturday with Michael Yonkers, Paul Metzger, Koerner & Glover and Chooglin’.
HWTS: Although Treehouse Records is only six years old, there is a long and impressive lineage attached to it. Talk about Oar Folkjokeopus and the impact it had on the Twin Cities music scene.
Trehus: Oar Folk was huge for me, personally, long before I worked there. I had stopped in there a couple of times previously, but I really started going there religiously after checking every place in town for Patti Smith’s newly-released “Gloria” (45 for its flipside "My Generation"). They were the only place that had it. This was ‘76, and I was 21 at the time. I got Andy Schwarz on the phone, who later went on to edit the New York Rocker and become vice president of Epic Records. I asked him if they had it. He replied in a somewhat snooty, impatient sneer, “OF COURSE!” and hung up the phone. My immersion took off from there.
There is no question that Oar Folkjokeopus and the Longhorn Bar scene changed my life. It was there I bought my first Sex Pistols, Clash, and Ramones records, and got turned onto hundreds of other exciting things like Pere Ubu, Eno, Devo, etc. Oar Folk was THE place that the whole Twin Cities punk rock scene revolved around, and Peter Jesperson and the Suicide Commandos were my local heroes.
I came aboard after the great Oar Folk fire of ‘84, going to work for the owner, Vern Sanden. It was not an enviable position to be in, given that the old Oar Folk crew had started another record store called Garage D’Or while repairs were being made to the Oar Folk building. The fire was seen by most observers (myself included) as symbolic of the end of an era. Since ’85, when the store reopened, I have been there, endeavoring to carry on the best I could with what the original Oar Folk was trying to do.
The scene was splintered after the fire, and Oar Folk became another great record store in a town that by now had several (Hot Licks, which became Northern Lights, and later on Let It Be, Extreme Noise, and still later Roadrunner, among others). The store had always been and remains to this day a place where hardcore music fans could congregate, but in the old days it was IT!
HWTS: In the end, what brought about Oar Folk's demise?
Trehus: Oar Folk’s owner came to me after I had worked for him for around 15 years—this would be in 1999—and said that he wanted out of the music business. To make a long story short, I couldn’t afford to buy the business from him AND buy the building from the landlord, the latter circumstance being the only way that I could be guaranteed to keep a record store on the corner. I ended up helping Vern have a giant going-out-of-business sale which ended on March 31, 2000, and starting the store with only $15,000 worth of inventory the next day, April 1, 2000.
We are now up to about the same level of merchandise that Oar Folk had before the sale. The only thing that substantially changed about the business was the name itself. Vern was very good about letting me do things my way at the store, for the most part, as long as he made money. In the end, he wasn’t making enough to make it worth continuing. He and I just had lunch last month for the first time in a while. It was nice to see him. He has mellowed considerably now that he doesn’t have the stress of the business. He was no longer enjoying it, so he was right to get out. He and I had a great talk for a couple of old curmudgeons whose paths have been very similar yet very different.
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| Mark Trehus and Joe Strummer, circa 1979 |
Trehus: We had no choice! Dan was aboard for the last days of Oar Folk, and we didn’t have any idea what else to do other than to have a record store. So here we are, 7 years later, and I doubt we still know what we want to do when we grow up! Dan’s a youngster, but I’m 52 fucking years old!
HWTS: The last few years have not been kind to the music industry in general, and many independent record stores have closed. Is it all a function of file sharing and buying from iTunes, or is there more to it than that?
Trehus: That has been the hardest blow of all to the mom and pops. The move away from vinyl toward the CD, the box lot stores, the Amazon.com's of the world, the record companies favoring the corporate boys and not supporting us like they used to, the rise of other entertainment options other than buying CDs and records, eBay -- all of these things have had an effect. But iTunes and the like have hit us the hardest. Additionally, a bigger independent store, the Electric Fetus, which used to not infringe on our terrain, has tried to position themselves as champions of new vinyl, used vinyl and used CDs, along with their bongs, clothing and incense. Ten years ago, they couldn’t be bothered.
HWTS: So how will an independent like Treehouse thrive in an environment where so many factors, like the ones you mentioned, seem stacked against it?
We’ll see. “Thrive” is something I don’t think about. “Get by” works well enough for me. I have an advantage over other stores in that I own the property within which the business resides. If the city of Minneapolis doesn’t tax me out of my own business and we continue to have cool people who support us, I think we’ll be OK.
We finally got a computer connection at the store, so I guess we’ll be doing a lot more Internet sales. At present, I haven’t decided if we are going to do a website or not. I’ve had a couple of people offer to set one up for me for free, but I don’t want to impose on friends to do that much work unless I know that we are going to go at it full tilt. I don’t really like the idea, quite frankly. I don’t want to be a slave to a fucking keyboard and screen, you know? I’m an analog guy trapped in a digital world. But I got younger employees who’ve been brought up on computers and cell phones so they don’t seem to mind. They might even enjoy it. I’m still trying to sort the whole computer thing out.
HWTS: You are celebrating your sixth Anniversary with a show at the Turf Club on Saturday, April 7th. Tell me about it.
Trehus: I hand-picked four acts which I thought best represented the spirit of the store. Two of them—Michael Yonkers and Paul Metzger—have done or are doing vinyl records for my new hobby record label, Nero’s Neptune Records. Koerner & Glover have been friends of mine for years, and I produced their reunion record with Dave Ray, as well as the previous three by former compadre Dave Ray with Tony Glover, the first being on my old record label. I also am hoping to do a new record with Koerner in the near future. Chooglin’ is a great rock and roll band headed by Treehouse employee Brian Vanderwerf. They kick ass and will mop up the remains at the end of the night!
HWTS: Any final thoughts?
Support independent businesses. Trade in your old records with us. Do something to support the revolution. Work to get rid of these career criminals in The White House, the Senate and Congress and replace them with people who actually give a damn about mankind. And don’t forget to write your mother.
Artist Info: Mark Trehus
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