An Inside Look at Our Interviews with the Curators of the City
Words by Avery Martin; Photos by Lydia Norton
For nearly a decade, Square Cat Vinyl has been a constant in Fountain Square, adapting as the neighborhood changes while staying rooted in the rituals that make record stores matter. Co-owner Patrick Burtch has watched the shop evolve from an ambitious hybrid of record store, café, bar, and music venue into a retail-focused space that still hums with community energy. As listening habits shift and vinyl finds new audiences, Square Cat Vinyl has evolved their approach, hoping to be a place where longtime collectors and first-time buyers can feel at home.
Avery Martin: How would you describe your shop’s philosophy when it comes to curating music?
Patrick Burtch: I would say we kind of try to touch on a little bit of everything. Our philosophy has changed over the years; we have moved from being a bit snobbish to being more of a place where you can get a little bit of everything.
AM: What do you think sets your store apart in Indy’s vinyl landscape?
PB: When we first opened, which was almost ten years ago, the idea was to be part record store, part coffee shop, part bar, part music venue. It was going to be very much equal parts, and that is how we ran it pre-pandemic era. We were doing around 190 shows the year before, in 2019. We have ramped down our live music component of what we do and focused more on the retail side of what we are doing.
AM: What’s a moment with a customer that’s stuck with you?
PB: I had a member of The Brian Jonestown Massacre come in here because they were playing across the street at the HI-FI. He went to the bathroom, came out, and told me how pristine our tile work in the bathroom was, and then proceeded to tell me the history of the tile for the next hour.
AM: What does community mean to you in the context of a record store?
PB: There are a few types of retail shops that build community, and record stores are one of them, where they bring like-minded people together in a setting that feels like they belong, and they can be themselves.
AM: Over the last decade, how have you seen your customer base evolve?
PB: I've noticed our customers have gotten more diverse in terms of age range. A lot more young people than when we first opened, which is great.
AM: What do you think keeps people coming back to physical media, even when we don’t need it?
PB: I think maybe it's a little bit of a backlash against the digital age to a degree, kind of like, everything is digital, and I want something different. For older people, there's definitely a nostalgia aspect to it. There is something special about just holding something in your hand. We just recently started selling movies, which we had never done, and I have already started collecting VHS tapes for myself.
AM: What shifts are you seeing in what people are buying, discovering, or talking about?
PB: So, comparing someone we first opened, it has shifted pretty heavily toward pop music. If you look at our bestsellers, it's heavily pop music now. Which is just an interesting dynamic, the idea that record labels realize you can now make money putting music on vinyl.
AM: What band best captures the spirit of your store? Why?
PB: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. They’ve been our shop band from day one.
