Record Store Days

My book is out in just over one week

When I was just out of college, I had a job interview at Easy Street Records, a great record store in the West Seattle Junction, an antiquated, old-American downtown district near the house I shared with four roommates. Matt, who owned the store, was surprisingly young—in his twenties—and affable with a quiet confidence. I’d never worked in a record store, but I accidentally nailed the interview when Matt explained to me, “We’re not just a cool record store, we sell everything from Metallica to Roy Ayers.” I told Matt that Roy was my father, and I started my new job the next day. That was the first time my father had ever done something for me, even if it was unintentional.

I did my job well at Easy Street, but I spent my breaks on the phone doing band business. My coworker Jason, on the other hand, went above and beyond expectations—he treated the store as if it were his own. One day he frustratingly vented to me that he worked his ass off and our boss Matt didn’t seem to notice, and that I did nothing more than I was expected to do and Matt loved me. I agreed, and explained that I loved my job, but that I reserved every moment of personal time to further my own interests. Jason looked at me silently, then he responded with determination, “We should open a record store.” That night at a bar, we laid out a simple budget on a napkin, and when we both agreed that we could realistically achieve the small monthly gross income needed to cover our rent, we jumped in and opened Sonic Boom Records in September 1997. We sold the store to a customer in 2016, and it will celebrate its 25th anniversary this fall.

I’m excited to return to both stores on Saturday, June 11, as well as Sub Pop Records’ (where I unsuccessfully tried to get a college internship) amazing downtown store, Sub Pop on 7th. These events are technically “book signings,” but really I’ll just be hanging out in some spaces that I love and miss. Jeff Kleinsmith, the incredible designer who made the Sonic Boom Records logo, was kind enough to repurpose the Sonic Boom and Easy Street logos for the occasion.

Saturday June 11 Seattle book signing events:

• 2pm @ Sonic Boom Records (Ballard)

• 4pm @ Sub Pop on 7th (Downtown)

• 6pm @ Easy Street Records (West Seattle)

My memoir My Life in the Sunshine will be published in less than one month, on June 7.

My book tour begins on June 7 in Brooklyn. I’ve wrangled some great conversation partners, including Wyatt Cenac, Hrishikesh Hirway, Joe Wong, Cheryl Waters, Liz Lambson, Justin Barney, Angel Bat Dawid, and Gilles Peterson, and I’m honored to have several local independent bookstores involved. If you’re unable to attend an in-person event, the June 10 Seattle event will be live streamed.

More details and updates can be found HERE. More dates in July and August will be announced soon.

I hope to see you in June.

Nabil Ayers / Brooklyn

Website Tweet IG FB LinkedIn Pre-order My Life in the Sunshine