Record revival

Growing up in Fresno, Matthew Garcia remembers visiting flea markets with his father and brother, and always going to that one guy who sold records. Garcia’s house was always blasting classic rock, and he loved cycling through his dad’s record collection. Now a Chico resident, Garcia, along with his wife, Melissa, started Outpatient Records, a pop-up record shop, two years ago. A clinical social worker for Butte County Behavioral Health, Garcia said opening a record shop was a dream he and his brother concocted years ago. The original plan was for the two to have a record shop that doubled as a therapy practice—his brother is a family therapist. Though that dream was never realized, Garcia kept the name and started Outpatient Records to meet new people, listen to cool music and fund his record collection. You can find Outpatient Records at The Winchester Goose from 7:30-10 p.m. every Monday this month. Garcia says he’s not a fan of social media or technology—“I still listen to records, man”—but you can follow the shop on Instagram.

Where do you keep the records when you are not selling them?

My wife and I have a two-bedroom apartment, and I have completely dominated our extra bedroom to where it’s probably unsafe to be in there. We have, currently, 1,000 records on hand. I personally have 1,000 records. We need to move into a bigger place.

Any odd requests from customers?

I recently had someone inquire about us popping up at their wedding. We have never done a pop up at a wedding before. I told them it’s not something we have done before, but if it would please the bridal party, we are all about it.

What are people in Chico listening to and buying?

Chico people want Bob Marley, Bob Dylan or The Grateful Dead. But I have a lot of people asking lately about metal. I want people to fill in with the classics. I want people to have a T-Rex record, I want people to have all the Pink Floyd records. I want people to get exposed to jazz. You’ll see I have an abundance of soul and jazz music, some funk. I think everybody should own one funkadelic record.

What is it like having to haul all of the records from place to place?

My back is killing me. It’s the worst possible thing to haul. Why did I pick something so heavy? But, it’s just fun. I love holding onto records. It’s my safe place. It’s how I get centered. My wife knows I’m having a bad day if I’m in our spare bedroom going through all the records.

Think you’ll remain a pop-up shop?

I’m really happy to see there’s been a resurgence of vinyl, but as far as a brick-and-mortar, hopefully in the future. As long as it remains fun and I keep meeting people and hanging out with people and getting exposed to new things all the time, I’m happy to do it.