PAUL Holmes, 52, works at Holmes Music, a family business founded by his father, John, in 1963. A year ago he began Red House Records, an in-store vinyl record supplier which took part in the recent Record Store Day. Paul lives in Old Town and is married with two daughters.

THE vinyl junkie credentials of Paul Holmes go back to the 1970s.

“I used to buy a lot of my records from Kempsters, the music shop in Commercial Road.

“They had a really good record department downstairs and all the musical instruments were upstairs.

“That was back in the days when you had to get ‘Sounds’ newspaper every week to see what was coming out. Then you’d go into a music shop and say, ‘Can you order this for me please,’ because it was an American import and you couldn’t go into WH Smith’s and buy it because it was a bit more specialist.

“So you’d wait two or three weeks for this record to come in, but when it did it was very special.

“I bought a lot of records in Kempsters. My lunch hour every day was touring the record shops. Smith’s had a really good record department out the back, and there was Red Carpet Records in Havelock Street.

“That became my favourite shop. I got to know Ryan, the owner, quite well. He’d recommend things to me that he knew I’d like. He’d put a record on and I’d end up buying it.

“That’s part of the reason why I named this Red House Records - it’s a little bit of a tribute.”

Holmes Music has always been a family concern. Paul’s brother, Alan, and mother, Jean, work alongside him, and founder John is also a regular presence.

“He still pops in to have a look around every now and then, and tell us how they used to do it in his day!”

Paul went to Churchfields School, and candidly admits that his ambition was to play in a band and tour the world.

“I’ve been playing the drums since I was about 15. I’ve been in numerous original bands and cover bands. In the early 80s I was in a band called Cloud, which was a jazz funk band.

“The peak of our career was playing with Level 42 down in Cornwall. It was The Coliseum in St Austell - I don’t think the venue is there anymore, but it was their version of the Oasis.

“I had a lot of nerves. It was the biggest crowd we’d ever played to. We went down in a borrowed Transit van. The only way it would work is if the heater was on full all the time, so it was a bit of a stuffy old journey.”

Paul’s career at the music shop started with Saturday shifts while he was still at school, getting to grips with everything from the printed music section to a pre-automation, paper-heavy accounts department. He’s seen plenty of changes over the years.

“The main part of the business was electronic organs. We’ve got some old photos of the shop where the entire downstairs floor is just full of organs. That was the bedrock that the whole business was built on, really.

“We had organ records. There was a small selection of organ stars that were popular at the time. They’re probably quite collectable for people who like a cheesy cover - you’d be surprised by what they used to put on some of those covers.

“The keyboard instruments have become digital pianos and more portable keyboards. The big part of the business is guitars, drums, pianos and ukuleles.

“Acoustic instruments are really popular now. They’ve always been popular, but the focus has switched a little bit from the electric guitar to the acoustic. There’s a lot more acoustic music out there now, with the artists you see using acoustic and folk instruments in bands.

“A lot more of the kids are into the singer/songwriter/guitarists - and having a go at doing it themselves as well, which is great.”

There’s plenty of job satisfaction.

Paul said: “It’s on several levels. We’re selling items that we have something invested in as well, because we’re all players of an instrument of some kind.

“It’s really great selling a guitar to a young person who’s just getting into music for the first time, because you know that if they carry on with it, it’s going to bring them enormous satisfaction over the years.

“Helping to guide them as they get started is very satisfying.”

Like many shops of its kind, Holmes Music faces some uniquely modern challenges, but is holding its own.

“It’s a much harder business these days,” said Paul, “because with the internet you’re competing against the entire world. Everything has opened up.

“But instruments, unless they’re digital instruments, aren’t clones of each other like books and cds, which you can buy anywhere and they’re going to be exactly the same.

“Anything that involves wood and strings and has an aspect of being hand-made - they’re all individual.

“People like to get them in their hands, to look at and feel the potential new instrument, which is one thing the internet doesn’t offer.

“People can also come to us for advice and maintenance.”

Something else he’s noticed, of course, is the revival of a technology previously thought to have been dead for more than 20 years - the vinyl record.

“It’s difficult to put it down to any one thing. Our customers are of completely mixed ages. We have teenagers coming in and buying vinyl and some of them don’t have anything to play it on; they just like having the physical product.

“At the other end of the spectrum are people like me who abandoned vinyl for a while when cds came out. I got rid of all my records - I didn’t think I’d need them again.

“It was a big mistake.”