Each season, we celebrate the best independent music stores around the globe with their Record Store World Tour: a collaboration series that pays homage to those championing the survival of independent music by putting cultural integrity and quality before profit. This month, Amoeba Music joins them.Amoeba Music have been shaping independent music culture for 30 years - stocking records by and hosting shows with up-and-coming and established artists since 1990. Dubbed a “Hollywood landmark” by the LA Times and “in the top 10 of the entertainment industry’s most revered Holy Places” by Variety Magazine, Amoeba Music’s award-winning “What’s in My Bag” series and in-store appearances have featured Duran Duran, Haim, Ice Cube, Orville Peck, Big Boi, Interpol, Vince Staples, Dave Grohl, Ghost, Stromae, Jhene Aiko, Garbage, Sir Paul McCartney, Kehlani and Jack Harlow to name just a few.The collaboration marks the 10th edition of NEUW's Record Store World Tour

What’s the history of Amoeba Music?

Founded in 1990, and with locations in Berkeley, San Francisco and Hollywood, Amoeba is in the heart of the most diverse and exciting neighbourhoods in the world.

Great people watching as well as amazing shopping, customers can explore new, used, and collectibles from every music and movie genre, on all formats (including cassettes, laserdiscs and 78s!) as well as books, posters, t-shirts, gift items and more, but our focus remains rooted in music.

All our stores host live shows and artist signings/meet and greets, and special events all the time as a way for customers to stay connected.

With 30 years of record store fun, there are so many! Epic staff holiday parties, unforgettable live in-store artists and performances, meeting Sir Paul McCartney (the exception to the “don’t meet your heroes” saying), our annual tradition of celebrating Fat Tuesday with floats and a parade, incredible Record Store Day experiences..

We aim to carry every genre and type of music. With our new and used stock, we can cover obscure rarities and out of print titles alongside new releases and up and coming artists. While we carry all formats, vinyl is our biggest selling category these days.

Being in the midst of creative and collaborative people, like our staff, who keep me discovering and appreciating new music, books, and movies, and the ability to help people find what inspires them inside the record store walls.

Our popular ‘What’s In My Bag’ video series started out as simple lists on paper in our San Francisco store. It evolved into photos, mostly of staff, alongside a list on our website around 2001 or 2002, then video, and gradual increase in popularity to where we now get more requests than we can film or accommodate. 

One of our first videos for ‘What’s In My Bag ‘was with punk icon Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks, OFF!). Since then, we’ve done 13 seasons and hundreds of videos. 

The two most-viewed videos on our YouTube channel are Die Antwoord with 4.6 million views and Mac DeMarco with 2.4 million. Too many cool guests to name, but Duran Duran, Ice Cube, Orville Peck, Big Boi, Interpol, Vince Staples, Dave Grohl, Ghost, Stromae, Jhene Aiko, and Garbage are a few notable ones…

We love and appreciate their simple, functional aesthetic, and their use of organic cotton and reducing the toxic impact on the denim dyes is a great thing and something aligned with our environmental goals to reduce waste and harm.

The future is unknown, but Amoeba will be here as the cultural trading post it’s always been. A place for people to gather, browse, discover and share. Formats or what’s most popular may ebb and flow, but people’s collective need for music, film, books, art remains a constant.

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