Vintage vinyl victory

Access Hip Hop in P.B. and Beat Box Records serve the hip-hop community from different angles. Access sells new hip-hop albums by current artists. Beat Box sells the 40- and 50-year-old soul, jazz, and funk vinyl that hip-hop artists use to create their tracks.

Access is closing after 15 years. Beat Box turns 2 on Saturday and its founder says business is booming.

“To me, playing vinyl just feels right,” says Bernie Fishman. “When you’re hunting through bins, you’re looking through 50 or 60 years of recorded music.” But he admits carrying crates of singles can get tiring. “A lot of DJs just stopped buying singles. They can get all they need on the internet.”

Fishman still spins as DJ Inform. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, he discovered this wonderful otherworld of vintage vinyl while producing his own tracks.

“Like a lot of people my age, we got into soul and jazz through sampling. You hear this stuff and you want to find out more about the original artist. And it just grows from there.”

But isn’t the universe of classic vinyl by jazzman Donald Byrd or funk-rock band Coldblood finite?

“A lot of my friends are convinced it’s all dried up. But that’s not my experience at all. I look for records constantly. I go out five or six times a week to estate sales, garage sales, and swap meets. I go to L.A., Arizona, and in a couple weeks I’m going to Minneapolis. If I get too much to bring back on the plane I’ll have it shipped back. I eat, sleep, and breathe records.”

Beat Box clientele includes average music fans and snooty collectors. Fishman knows a “holy grail” disc when he sees it. “One of the best discoveries I ever made was by a psychedelic rock band from Escondido called Brain Police. They only pressed 100 copies of their record not to sell but just to get gigs. Then they disbanded.” He says that record is are worth four figures to collectors.

Because of his Barrio Logan locale he says certain oldies artists “fly out of the store. Like Mary Wells, Otis Redding, Brenton Wood, El Chicano, Bill Withers. If I see someone checking out one artist I’ll tell them, ‘You might also like this.’ I let people play anything they want in the store.”

The store’s two-year anniversary show — and Fishman’s 34th birthday — is November 12 at Beat Box Records (2148 Logan Avenue). Fifteen DJs, including XL Middleton (L.A.) and San Diego’s Marsellus Wallace, perform from noon to 6 p.m. Free admission.