We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Carlos Melendez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Carlos below.
Hi Carlos, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
For my whole life, I have been a lover of music. Not playing it or talking about it, but listening and collecting music. When I was a kid, every Christmas and birthday, I only asked for CDs. My dad used to take us on drives around Milwaukee and I would listen to my CD player on those long car rides. As a teenager, I was a Limewire kid (shhhh). Every night, I would spend hours looking up lists of the greatest albums and artists and downloading songs to try them out. iTunes became the new thing, and I’d use my dad’s credit card to buy full albums, which did not sit well with him! One time, I accidentally spent over five hundred dollars without knowing and was scolded. I received my driver’s license at sixteen years old and every weekend I developed a routine of going to several record stores, buying up CDs and eventually vinyl records. From there, my obsession grew and grew!
In 2023, I was working at a bank in Waukesha, Wisconsin. I started there in 2020, during the pandemic, after giving up my dream job of working at a record store in the Chicagoland area because the store’s future was uncertain with everything that was going on. At the bank, I was paid well and the work was easy, if not a bit unorganized.
Starting in 2023, I started to become really frustrated with the job. I started to have issues with the institutions management style, treatment of employees, and my future with the company. I’ve always been someone who likes to take on a lot of tasks, learn as much as I can, and instill value in my position. I reached a point where I felt my position no longer provided those opportunities for me.
In a lot of ways, I’m a little pushy, a little stubborn, and I like to speak my mind, which is not ideal for an employee, especially for an office position. With these traits in mind, it made sense for me to start my own business. I wanted something for my own. Whether it failed or succeeded, its all up to me and that idea made me excited.
I was still an avid record collector and something to do with music made the most sense for me to dive into. We, everyone, have the most practice with being ourselves. Most jobs require us to move away from ourselves and become someone the company needs. We spend forty hours a week working, most of our waking hours not being ourselves. With starting my business, I wanted it to be representative of me. I love music. I love movies. I love to write and make jokes and create. I love being a weird guy. Weirdo’s Records has felt more me than anything else I have ever been a part of. Being myself is my purpose.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Weirdo’s Records is a one-man pop-up record store in Milwaukee Wisconsin that specializes in highly curated records. Weirdo’s was started out of concern of the effects that inflation, the algorithm, and the general dissolution of quality journalism are playing on the curiosity of the arts and the exploration that comes from that curiosity. We stock interesting titles that exhibit the full breadth of entertainment, especially in the current vinyl collecting scene. We want to move away from the classic rock stigma and put a spotlight on new artists, reissue labels, and music that may have slipped through the cracks.
Right now, we operate on a market-to-market plan. By forgoing a stationary retail space, we can avoid paying a large overhead and keep our prices low. We also sell records through our website, www.weirdohasrecords.com, and our Discogs page, WeirdosrecordsWI.
Outside of our retail pursuits, we also produce a quarterly zine called “The Carlverse.” I am a graduate of UW-Whitewater with a degree in English, and I wanted to incorporate an original, creative writing side project to help me stand out. The zine is a mix of store updates, jokes, and an ongoing horror short story about a mysterious, cursed vinyl record. Illustrations are commissioned by local artists I meet while attending markets. I make sure they include their store websites and social media information to help promote their art. A copy of the zine is included in (most) of my online orders and at markets.
Recently, we have started a “public access” podcast, also called “The Carlverse.” The podcast is a series of short, comedic interviews with up-and-coming small business owners, musicians, and eccentrics. It isn’t often we get a chance to hear business owners have fun conversations and it is our hope that this help promotes them in a positive way. Full length videos of the interviews are available on our new Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/Weirdosrecords. Highlight videos are posted to our Carl.verse instagram page.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three areas that I found were most impactful in my business journey are: resilience, creativity, and collaboration. Starting a business is hard. Not only does it take capital, planning, and effort, it also takes a thick skin. A lot of businesses fail and that’s daunting. There are times when it’s hard to keep going because the odds of financial success are against you and, sometimes, you don’t have the emotional support from your personal circle of friends and family. Most people have the attitude that small businesses are bound to fail and that is a big deterrent for your support system to give you their full support. As a business owner, big or small, you need to stay resilient. If you believe in what you are doing, then you need to just keep going even when it’s hard.
Your business also needs to be uniquely you. There are a lot of endeavors started with the thought of, “this person does this, I can too.” However, the issue comes up that “that person does this, and now you are too.” I’ve talked to a lot of vintage clothing vendors at big markets who say that it’s hard for them because the event is FULL of other vintage clothing vendors. There are only so many local sports team shirts customers can look at. I’d say before starting any business, ask yourself, what makes you different from everyone else personally?
Also, if you can, find ways to incorporate others into your work. The more people you involve, the bigger your audience will be. Collaboration lifts up everyone involved. New ideas, new faces, larger reach.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I am always looking for people to collaborate with. I’ve worked with artists, community organizers, market vendors, comedians, and everything in between. Everyone has something to offer. I’d say the people I seek out for collaboration are people who are accepting of off-the-wall ideas and suggestions. Just like with improv, a “yes and” attitude is always the ideal person to work with.
For example, for my zine, I never tell artists what to create. I tell them to take what I write and interpret it however they want. I even tell them to put as much effort into the project as they want. If I leave it open-ended, it shows me exactly who they are and their character. Whatever they create for me, it’s a mirror to who they are and that is something completely different from anything I could ever come up with myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.weirdohasrecords.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weirdosrecordsllc/
- Other: https://www.patreon.com/Weirdosrecords
https://www.discogs.com/user/WeirdosrecordsWI
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
