Thomas Milliron remembers the very first vinyl he purchased in his youth: Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.”
There was something visceral about holding that 12-inch black chipboard cover in his 11-year-old hands. It was looking at the vividly surreal artwork combined with tearing open the packaging in anticipation of the heavy guitar riffs he was vaguely familiar with lurking in that black LP.
Touching the needle to vinyl almost felt forbidden.
“I listened to it [that first time] and was just like, ‘God, it’s really cool.’ It felt maybe a little dangerous compared to the mainstream stuff,” Milliron told InMaricopa.
That combined with trips to the record store with his older brothers led to a lifelong obsession with collecting vinyl and, now, opening a small record store with his wife, Teresa, outside their Hidden Valley home.
The couple hosted a grand opening Saturday for Geno’s Records, 50523 W. Mayer Blvd. And based on the first few hours, the area’s first record store was a much-needed destination for locals.
“We’ve had maybe 50 customers. We’re very encouraged,” Milliron said.
“I’m just browsing. I just got a record player, and I don’t have any records, so [my mom and I] were trying to find some record shops” she said.
It even brought Ron Anzaldo from Surprise, who purchased more than $100 in records.
“I’ve been doing this my whole life,” he said, gesturing at his stack of records sitting on a counter. “I have a memory attached to every record, I remember what I paid and the time of year.”
At Geno’s, some of those finds range from a compilation of Miles Davis tunes to Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumors” to Taylor Swift’s “Folklore.” They also carry a small stock of limited-edition items, 45 RPM records, CDs and turn tables.
And in an era of streaming and cloud services, Milliron said he’s glad to not only see the community support but also the resurgence of physical media.
“There’s an emotional reward there when you have it in your hands that says I have this record and I can play it on my turntable,” Milliron said. “To see [vinyl] coming back just validates that the passion for that media is still there and it’s still alive.”
Geno’s Records is open weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit their Facebook page.
