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Neurotica, the longstanding Queen West record shop, has returned to life in a new neighbourhood. Whether you're situated on the cusp of neighbourhood gentrification or finding a niche in a long settled hub, opening and operating a record store (or any business) in Toronto can be all about location. For Neurotica owner Scott Cramer the idea of uprooting and beginning anew after successfully weathering and adapting his record shop for 18 years on the Queen West was nerve-wracking -- doubly so considering that it was also his primary residence.
As many have already noticed, local mainstay Neurotica Records, familiar to most crate diggers as a slightly cramped and cluttered, but ever bountiful garden of vinyl, film, magazines and various esoterica, was abruptly and unceremoniously ushered out of their longtime home at the end of 2014.
Fortunately for Cramer, during his frantic search for an appropriate storefront he was tipped off by the owners of Mirvish Village designer boutique Coal Miner's Daughter of their imminent move across Markham street to a bigger shop, and the availability of their cosy basement residence. 
This suited Cramer just fine, owing to the musical hole left in the neighbourhood by Sonic Boom's recent move, and its convenient proximity to longtime friends and comarades-in-physical-media Suspect Video. 
Cramer began his entrepreneurial saga after years of working at former record hubs Sam the Record Man ("It was a crazy experience! I could tell you stories about that place! Bizarre!") and Peter Dunn's Vinyl Museum during the 80's, until deciding to become his own boss in 1989. He opened his first store, Flip City Records, with a partner. 
"We put our own collections in [as stock]", remembers Cramer, "That wasn't easy." When his associate departed, Flip City became Neurotica, thus starting one of Toronto's most enduring institutions of joyful noise.
Neurotica's new home, just up the street from the Victory Cafe, is decidedly brighter, roomier and more welcoming than their previous abode. With a personal love of many genres (including, in my opinion, Toronto's best curated collection of exotica albums), the spiffy new digs again offer an extensive selection of new and used vinyl, as well as DVD's, CD's and various collectible nick-nacks (look no further for that trove of vintage Playboy magazines you've been planning for a tasteful coffeetable arrangement). 
When Cramer is not busy spinning an assortment of musical oddities and holding court from behind the counter, he is also busy at work with his own musical/soundtracking project Drysdale. Writing and playing both instrumental and vocally-centric music, Cramer was previously involved in the score of Alan Zweig's 2000 documentary Vinyl, aptly focusing on the subject of obsessive record collectors. 
"[Zweig] actually worked in my store," laughs Cramer. "I went downstairs to the studio to work on the soundtrack, and he would be upstairs subbing for me in the store, to give me enough time." Neurotica will soon be offering their own Neuro Sound and Vision recording studio services, as well as in-house mastering and analog-to-digital transferring.
Although Cramer happily reports a steady amount of street traffic already, he is understandably optimistic about the store's prospects as the weather softens, and with it will come the familiar mountains of dollar bin records that so visibly defined the cave-like entrance to Neurotica's former Queen Street location. After being in the business of selling records for over 25 years, Cramer is excited about a new chapter for Neurotica, but also proud of its overall achievement. "I haven't had to work for anyone else", says Cramer. "That's the ultimate goal."
Photos by Matt Forsythe