How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Scene Point Blank looks at how musicians split their time, and how their careers influence their music (or how their music provides escape).
In this edition, we chat with Kevin Purcell (guitar/vocals) of Retirement about running Portland bike shop Golden Pliers and how that world intersects with his outlet.
Retirement will release Attention Economy this spring (Iron Lung Records) and will tour along the North American west coast (dates below).
Scene Point Blank: First, what is your job title? Walk us through an "average day," if such a thing exists.
Kevin Purcell: Co-Owner/Lead Mechanic
An average day at Golden Pliers consists of checking folks in for any repair needs, listening to the customer's concerns and assessing their bicycle for the repair at hand, and making suggestions (if needed) for any additional work. I answer emails, order items for our inventory or for custom builds, field questions and concerns from our staff, research new vendors, and do a lot of front-facing customer service stuff like fixing flats or helping someone pick out the right lock or lights for their bike.
Scene Point Blank: You mostly do repair, right? Then sell a few bikes and have an in-house drink counter?
Kevin Purcell: Yes, we mostly do bicycle repair, but we are also known for our custom bike builds and stocking a variety of fun/non-traditional bike shop stuff like knives, slingshots, used records, art prints, etc.
We sell a few complete bikes from Rivendell (when we can get 'em) and a couple of kids’ bikes from Woom. We also sell a small assortment of fun snacks as well, to keep things interesting.
*Prior to the Pandemic we also served beer on tap and did package sales, as well as a coffee bar with breakfast burritos, ice cream sundaes, etc. We put the brakes on that stuff, as running a business like ours during that time was already stressful and we made some calls to nix a lot of that stuff in order to stay sane.
Scene Point Blank: What was the inspiration to open Golden Pliers?
Kevin Purcell: I've been a career bicycle mechanic since the late 1990s and always thought bike shops could be better, that they could cater to more folks who don't care about bike racing, and appeal to those who see the utility and freedom that comes with cycling. And be nice about it. That's basically it. My partner (and co-owner) Becky and I saved up some money, got a loan, quit our jobs and built our shop from the ground up. Seven years later we are still at it. We moved to a new neighborhood about a year ago and that has positively affected our business with a lot more foot traffic, along with more retail businesses to keep us anchored on the block.
Scene Point Blank: I imagine you're a big cyclist yourself. How often does something come in where you have to weigh if you should keep it for personal use or sell it?
Kevin Purcell: I ride bikes mainly for transportation, fun day trips out in the woods, or I'll do some multi-day bikepacking trips in rural areas, so yeah? I guess I just don't see myself in that light? Would you be able to elaborate a bit on the next part of the question here? I'm not sure what you are asking.
Scene Point Blank: How long have you played music? How has that overlapped with your career?
Kevin Purcell: I've been playing music for about 20 years or so: touring, recording and such. Working at bike shops always made it difficult to do much during the summer months, as bike shops are particularly seasonal where I have lived and worked.
I always thought bike shops could be better, that they could cater to more folks who don't care about bike racing, and appeal to those who see the utility and freedom that comes with cycling. And be nice about it.
Scene Point Blank: Did playing in bands influence the types of jobs you've had? How?
Kevin Purcell: I was fortunate to work at a few shops where my employers were somewhat understanding and would allow me to take some time off to tour, as I usually would have another coworker or two that were also musicians, so there was a little bit of history there to work with. The flexibility during the offseason is when I could be the most active with music, which sometimes doesn't pair up with everyone else's plans. Summertime is definitely crunch time.
Scene Point Blank: Does playing in bands help you in any surprising ways around the shop, like helping with people skills or a tolerance for carrying equipment through dark alleys?
Kevin Purcell: I think having a background in the DIY-approach to making music/art helps with managing my business. I think just meeting folks where they are at and not approaching everything as a facet of business is a crucial part of it. Being able to understand that we are all members of a community and we are here to support one another is a key take-away from being a part of that background.
Scene Point Blank: Do the two worlds meet? Does music come up a lot on the job, either as an outlet, interest, or that you're in a band?
Kevin Purcell: We talk about music sometimes and I have this terrible habit of sharing some sort of inane tidbit of information about what we are listening to while we work. I'm that guy, I guess. Since we can sell whatever we want at the shop, I have a crate of reasonably-priced used LPs and some cassette tapes for sale at the shop as they circulate out of my collection.
Scene Point Blank: Have you ever hosted live music at the shop? Would you consider it, or do you prefer a level of separation?
Kevin Purcell: No, not really. Our space just isn't set up for that. But yes, I do like to keep those two worlds separate. For the most part, I don't broadcast it to our customers. Sometimes I'll bump into a customer at a show or there have been times where our customers have ended up at a Retirement gig, but I try my best to make it not awkward.
Scene Point Blank: You have a business partner and four employees. Are they connected to the music scene too?
Kevin Purcell: None of them are, which is totally OK. At one point, Ryan, the drummer for Retirement, did work at Golden Pliers for a few months while between jobs. His main interest is cooking, so we were just a temporary thing until he found the right thing for him. He now has his own business here in Portland, a vegan restaurant called Feral. I've had some of the most delicious and creative meals there. I highly recommend it.
Scene Point Blank: How does running the shop affect the band? Does it influence when you can tour, practice, etc? Does being the jack-of-all-trades also mean you can't leave?
Kevin Purcell: With two of the members of Retirement running our own businesses, it means having limited time to play gigs and tour. We are still able to carve out enough time to practice at least once a week. Everything just needs to be planned ahead of time to get shifts covered and manage repair intake at the shop if I'm gone. Retirement will be going on a short 8-day tour down the West Coast in April, so that took some time to figure out and coordinate for both our respective businesses.
Scene Point Blank: Has it gotten easier after being open for a few years now, or is it simply different?
Kevin Purcell: They say the first year is the hardest, and I'd agree. Really it's just getting used to new challenges as they present themselves and being able to pivot quickly in response to them. Running your own business is always hard -- and the bike industry isn't the most secure -- but we'll keep doing this for as long as we can.
Scene Point Blank: Are any Retirement songs directly or indirectly about experiences at Golden Pliers?
Kevin Purcell: I like to keep the band separate from work as much as possible, and none of our songs reflect my own work life.
Live dates:
4/19 - Seattle- at Black Lodge
4/21-Vancouver BC- at Red Gate
4/22- Olympia- at Le Voyeur
4/23- Chico- at Naked Lounge
4/24 - Oakland- at Eli’s Mile High Club
4/25- Reno- at Holland Project
4/26- Eugene- at Wandering Goat
4/27- Portland- at Ming Lounge
Check out previous entries in the Don’t Quit Your Day Job series.
