Each Tuesday, Behind the Counter speaks to an independent record store to ask about its recent favorites, best sellers, and noteworthy trends.
The term “record store” only begins to describe Tender Loving Empire in Portland, Oregon. The multifaceted shop is run by the multi-talented husband-and-wife duo Jared and Brianne Mees.
What exactly is Tender Loving Empire, and how did you get involved in so many artistic avenues?
Tender Loving Empire is a record label, retail consignment shop, screenprinting studio, and gallery focused on supporting local art and music while fostering community exchange. We started in 2006 as a pretty casual, back-bedroom label of sorts, to release Jared Mees’ (my husband and co-owner of TLE) first album, If you wanna swim with the sharks… We quickly expanded the project to publish some books and music by good friends. We had always dreamed of having a physical location for a collective of some type.
It took on lots of different forms (venue, artist studios, coffee shop, store), but we settled on trying our hand at opening a (very) small consignment shop with a relatively small amount of overhead. We worked other jobs and had lots of friends volunteering to keep it open at the beginning. Since then, we’ve just naturally expanded to fit more and more artists and musicians into the fold. Everything has just been a stepping stone, leading to the next opportunity or next relationship. And we’ve worked really hard.
How does your storefront fit into your operations? How about the website?
The store was originally conceived as an excuse to have a physical representation of our record label. The record industry is usually this estranged, invisible force that mostly exists on websites. We wanted to be accessible and be something people could feel like they were a part of. I think it has helped us get a local following more quickly, and it has definitely helped pay the bills. It’s also been great to work with and help support hundreds of artists through the shop, rather than just the five or so bands a year that our label works with. The music aspect makes our store more interesting, and the store helps promote our music. It gets pretty complicated to keep everything up, but I think things are moving along nicely.
How many releases does TLE put out each year?
So far, usually around five or six.
Which albums are currently in rotation at TLE?
We only listen to local music (from local bands or local labels) in the shop. Aside from carrying our own catalog, we carry stuff from Hush Records, Bladen County Records, Marriage Records, Home Tapes, Lucky Madison, Kill Rock Stars, Badman, High Scores and Records, Audio Dregs, and a bunch of other small labels and independent bands that have brought their music in on consignment. It all gets in rotation, but some of our heaviest played are albums by our most recent releases, of course (Boy Eats Drum Machine, Typhoon, Y La Bamba, Loch Lomond, and our annual compilation, Friends and Friends of Friends). To mention some other favorites that are not on our label, we play a lot of Nurses, Guidance Counselor, Reporter, Horse Feathers, World’s Greatest Ghosts, Mimicking Birds, Sean Flinn and the Royal We, Brainstorm, Drakkar Sauna, Karl Blau, etc. Too many to list, really.
Tender Loving Empire celebrated a birthday this year. What went down?
It was a party, for sure. We filled up the Wonder Ballroom, had a killer lineup, and all the cake, balloons and prizes any three-year old could want. Typhoon, Finn Riggins, Y La Bamba, Boy Eats Drum Machine, and Jared Mees and the Grown Children played. And then two of our buddy bands that are in the family, but not officially, opened up the night. (Yeah Great Fine and The Denouement). It’s always a good time to get the family together. I’m always impressed, watching the line up, because every band that goes on totally blows me away. It makes me really thankful to be able to represent such good and talented people.
Any big future plans for the store?
Well, we just moved into a new, more central location, and got through our first holiday season, so to be honest, we’re just gonna coast for a minute. The plan is to keep doing what we’re doing and see what happens.