Last Saturday, Dead Wax Records (1959 Cherokee Street; 314-913-3692) quietly opened its doors for business, offering a few hundred square feet of neatly packed LPs for collectors and vinyl newbs alike to peruse. Shoppers and sun soakers have a new spot to stop in on Saturdays, and the small but well-stocked store offers a whole 'nother kind of "antique" down on Cherokee Street.
Dead Wax, a completely rehabbed space with plenty of DIY woodwork, comes from the combined efforts of long-time record collectors Tim Hendrickson and Jeremy Miller, who also co-owns the Mud House (2101 Cherokee Street; 314-776-6599) a block away.
"Jeremy's vision included another business on Cherokee for a long time. It was his vision and my little heaven," says Hendrickson. "I just couldn't be happier to be digging through vinyl and playing music all day."
Hendrickson got his start buying vinyl from mainstays like Vintage Vinyl and Euclid Records at an early age. Since then his personal collection has grown to a few thousand individual pieces.
"I'm kind of the old dinosaur who wouldn't let go of his vinyl," Hendrickson, now 55 years old, says. "When I see twenty-year-old kids get excited about it, it makes me feel like we're doing the right thing... I kind of felt vindicated a little. The dinosaur was right after all."
