Meet Tom Maher

We were lucky to catch up with Tom Maher recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Tom with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

I think I come from a family of hard workers–my dad and my brother in particular. My dad kept at a job for 17 years and always used to say that he liked the work he did but not the company he worked for–still he continued to work at that place year after year till he finally retired in the late 90’s. For better or worse, I learned from him to do a job even if I didn’t like it. And to do a good job while I’m at it. My brother kept a job beginning in gradeschool.
It was really when I was in college that my work ethic strengthened. I worked at a health food store for a boss who was incredibly demanding. From the moment I would arrive, till the time I’d check out, I would be busy doing stuff. There was no down time. He encouraged me to always find something to do. And so I did. And I think that experience solidified what my work ethic would be going forward for the rest of my life.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am the owner and operator of Kismet Records inside The Wink Incubator Space in Dutchtown. We’ve been around in one form or another since 2014. I love introducing people to music they may like based on their interests. I tend to take the road less travelled when it comes to what I choose to carry in the store. If I find music I’ve never heard of but enjoy, I’ll get that album in stock. It can be an uphill battle at times to introduce new (and reissued) music to the masses, but when it happens, it’s very rewarding. To fully appreciate our store, a customer needs to be somewhat open to the unfamiliar and have a sense of adventure. And then it’s those customers that keep coming back. That said, I do do some things like sticking a post-it note to the covers of albums in stock that describes what’s inside. I also include information in our weekly emails to help people understand what we’re carrying.
Another joy that comes out of running this record store is the conversations I have with customers. I get interested in stuff they like and vice versa. Without that back and forth, a record store would be really boring.
In the near future, I have plans to book more shows at The Wink Annex, including concerts, open mics, poetry readings and performance art. The big dream is to have part record store part cafe part venue.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Openness. I think openness has the effect of drawing people in. People wanna talk shop. They wanna learn more and ultimately share their knowledge. Our shop is a place for that. We don’t grow without being open.
Risk. Sure, there are the bands that most people know. And we definitely want carry some of that stuff, but that won’t stop us from getting an under-the-radar acid-folk reissue just because people haven’t heard of it. Indeed, that is one of the qualities we have that makes our store unique.
Curiosity. I love going in a direction I don’t expect. I don’t care what the genre is, I will give it a listen. Oftentimes it’s my curiosity that drives the decision to get or not get a record. If there is something magical about it or different about it–if it’s something new to my ears, there’s a good chance I’ll add it to stock. I’ll go with what’s unexpected. That’s not the only thing that gets me ordering something but it certainly does not hurt.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

We don’t get a lot of foot traffic. Less people see us because we’re off the beaten path. Our shop is a destination location. On top of that, many people have never heard of us and, worse, don’t know the quality of selection. I had a guy last week, whisper to his girlfriend, “This place is kinda awesome.” He was surprised. It’s just that not enough people know about us.
I do believe we’re in an up-and-coming neighborhood–where Cherokee was 10 years ago. So I have patience.
The other thing we’re doing is advertising. We just sealed a deal with Arkadin Cinema to flash our ad during their previews. We’re really excited about it. We are considering advertising with KDHX, but we’re just not there yet.
These interviews, too, help us out. Hopefully people want to know more about us.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kismetrecordsstl.com
• Instagram: kismet_records
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tomkismet/