Spyda Whyte admits he’s lived his life “being out there” but it was a family tragedy that inspired his lifelong love of music, ultimately leading to his taking the reins at Richmond Records, a long-established music store in Sydney’s north-west.
“My brother passed away when I was 14 and I inherited his record collection, and that was all these bands I was never into. He had all the Buffalo albums, all the Zeppelin albums, Black Sabbath — I wasn’t into all that right then. But as soon as I inherited those, I was introduced to a whole new line of music that I thoroughly enjoyed,” Spyda recalls.
Spyda played with several bands over the years and even recorded with the likes of Steve James, producer of The Screaming Jets, but his “turning point” career-wise was buying Richmond Records in 2023. “I used to go around interviewing bands and artists and I found this place and I just loved it,” Spyda says of the store that’s been operating since the 1980s. “It came up for sale and I bought it and that took me into retail, something I’d never been into — now I’m an executive on the Chamber of Commerce!”
But Spyda is still rock ‘n’ roll, and his passion for music is eagerly shared with the people who visit his store. “That’s what I love about the store. Kids are coming in here and they’ve just bought their first record player and they’re realising how great an album is; it’s tangible, in their hands. They can read about it, look at it, take it out and put it on. And when you take a record out, you tend to listen to it, whereas on something like Spotify you’re just flashing through it.”
“I get young women in here buying Frank Sinatra albums — that’s great! That’s what this store is about,” Spyda exclaims. “I love when people come in here and find the album that they want. I had a bloke cry in here once because he finally found ‘his’ album; he wanted to find it in a record shop. Stuff like that I just love!”
Richmond Records & Music
161 Windsor St, Richmond, NSW 2753
Ph 02 4578 1251
Richmond Records is open Monday-Friday10am-5pm; 10am-4pm on weekends.
