Featured Store: Capsule Records

Capsule Records is one of the many new shops to have opened in recent years and is already making a big impression on the South Coast, attracting music fans from near and far. Graham Jones asked co-owner Lawrence Bleach for the story behind the shop.

The story so far
We opened in March 2023 as a record and coffee shop in Hove on the South Coast. Over the last three years, we have expanded our offering to include a selection of beers and wines, as well as a range of Pro-Ject Audio systems. At the end of 2025, we opened our new Listening Room in conjunction with a local specialist audio manufacturer, Audio Note. This gives us the opportunity to host listening events where we play back albums in incredible quality — usually in the dark to further accentuate the experience. We stock only new vinyl across genres such as contemporary and classic jazz, funk, soul and disco. We carry a strong selection of African, Middle Eastern, Japanese and South American titles, alongside hip-hop, electronica, soundtracks, and classic rock and pop from across the decades.

What inspired you to open a record shop?
We left our previous jobs in 2017, took time out to travel the world and, on our return, wanted to begin the next phase of life doing something we truly enjoyed. We had just arrived in Brighton & Hove without knowing anyone, and during the various Covid lockdowns began to develop the idea of opening a record shop as a way to spend our time meaningfully. The inspiration actually came from listening to Gilles Peterson’s WWFM radio shows during lockdown. He was curating his best 20 ‘whatevers’ each day, and we reflected on the idea that if Gilles Peterson says these are the best 20 titles in a sub-genre, you would confidently go and buy them. We wondered why record shops didn’t take the same approach to curation and merchandising to help people discover new music. From that thought, we began to dream up the idea for Capsule.

What are your memories of your first day?
Chaotic, invigorating, nerve-racking but rewarding. We were still putting stock out and testing the EPOS and other systems when, having inadvertently left the front door open, our first customer walked in. When she asked if we were open, we decided we might as well be. She wanted a Cymande LP and, as it turned out, all our systems worked — and we could actually sell it!

Any interesting tales of life in the shop?
One of our customers is a music producer who brought one of his artists, Chip Wickham, in for a coffee on Record Store Day 2024. It transpired that Chip originally came from Brighton and was delighted to see that we had several of his titles in stock. We stayed in contact and, when his new LP The Eternal Now was released last year, he chose to launch it in the shop. That’s fairly typical of how Brighton works — a very supportive, mutually collaborative infrastructure of venues, creators and retailers.

What Proper releases are you looking forward to?
We’re really looking forward to receiving the next Luke Una É Soul Cultura compilation in March. These have been big sellers for us and perfectly sum up the musical tone of the shop.
For Record Store Day, we’re also excited about the next DJ Koco 7” box set on Mr Bongo. Another Brighton business, Mr Bongo epitomises what RSD releases should be about when they curate these box sets — and they fly out of the door as a result.

The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made It Happen

Graham Jones is the author of ‘The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made It Happen’ which has features on over 200 independent record shops that he has visited. The book was made in to a film titled ‘The Vinyl Revival’ available on DVD. Both can be ordered from Proper, independent record shops, Amazon and other online retailers.

Read about the book, film and vinyl soundtrack here