However, Cochran said business has improved since the store reopened in May 2020.
“We were moving right along, and in March nobody was coming into the store,” Cochran said. “In May when we were opening back up, things just started going up from there. I think we ... were not terribly crowded, you could easily keep your distance from somebody else.”
With plans to continue to grow and expand in the future, Cochran said her store grew from a lifelong passion for music.
Finding the passion
Cochran said she began appreciating music from a young age. At the time, she said she would check the credits on the albums to see which producers and artists had worked on the albums.
“I got to learn where I could go to a record store or online, and follow that producer or artist and see what they were working on,” she said. “I would usually really like them.”
A personal favorite, Cochran said, is Butch Walker, who she noted helped produce and write on the newest Billy Idol album.
Cochran added she is not sure where her passion for music came from, but it has been prevalent in both her and her husband’s lives.
“There are certain things I remember,” Cochran said. “John Lennon passed away the day before my birthday when I was young. I also remember orchestra in middle and high school being a huge influence; it was why I went to school. When I was young, it talked to me. It said everything I could not say; it was always my best friend.”
More than just records
Cochran said Volume Music is more than a record shop. Along with vinyl prints of albums, the store has CDs, cassette tapes, books based on music and band clothing.
“I carry anything novelty that is band- or music-related,” she said. “It is about being a gathering place where you can come and talk about music; it does not matter what kind of music. I want to be that place where you can come in and pick it up. If we do not have it, I will order it for you because I want to hear about that band we do not have.”Cochran said physical music media has been seeing a resurgence in recent years, and people have a variety of reasons for wanting to collect.
“It is more of an active participation in music,” she said. “For a time, music became more passive, you just had to turn it on and listen to it in the background. When you buy a physical product, you have to pay attention to it. ... You have to sit down and listen to it or get up and dance to it.”
Cochran said she wants to expand the store to carry more products, and she wants to get a stage set up for live performances in the future.
Volume Music
436 Sawdust Road, Spring
281-903-5604
www.volumemusic.net
Hours: Mon. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Tue.-Sat. 10 a.m.- 8 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m.
