Interview: Pierre Markotanyos, Aux 33 Tours and Return to Analog Records

Aux 33 Tours is one of Montreal’s most beloved record shops, located on Mount Royal Street, a strip alive with record shops and vinyl hunters.

Pierre Markotanyos has been collecting records for 30 years and opened Aux 33 Tours 18 years ago. The shop offers one of the largest vinyl selections in town, with thousands of records in-store and even more housed in a nearby warehouse just a 15-minute walk away. They also stock sound systems, DJ equipment, cassettes, box sets, CDs and a full range of care products that you can trust.

What's a favorite in your personal collection?

I collect Gary Numan records. I've always been a Gary Numan fan since 1979.

What does Aux 33 Tours mean in French?

Aux 33 Tours roughly translates to 33 RPM in French. It's not a travel agency, as people think. We received some calls from people who thought we were a travel agency. Also, the word "tours" in French can mean "magic trick," and sometimes people call asking if we sell magic wands, hats, rabbits that you can pull out of hats, and other magic-trick stuff.

How did you end up working in vinyl?

I got my start in records by working at record shows in Europe. I used to buy and sell, move stuff from continent to continent. When I was 21, I opened up a comic book and sports card shop that I had for six years. After that, I worked for Bell Canada and got fed up with it. My dream was to open up a record store. I was buying record collections from people in the late 90s - early 2000s, when people were getting rid of their records. In 2005 - 2006, when I found out that I had about 300,000 records in storage from buying collections, it was time to look for a spot to open the shop.

What shifts have you noticed in the Quebec music scene since your early days in it?

Quebec has a very diverse music scene, a little better than Toronto, I think. Montreal is one of those places in Canada that is home to families who have immigrated from elsewhere. I'm the son of a Hungarian immigrant who came here in 57. Most of my friends were all either Greek or Hungarian, Eastern European, France or UK. There was a lot of culture assimilated when they came in, and they embraced whatever music there was in North America.

There was a lot of jazz that came out of New York City, from Americans who moved to Montreal and Quebec. There were many more English speakers in Quebec in the 60s and 70s than there are now. Quebecers are now mostly fully bilingual. I still prefer English music, even though I do listen to a lot of French music. English Rock and Jazz are still what predominantly sell in record stores.

What’s your approach to managing and replenishing stock at the store?

We have about 50,000 records on the floor at all times: 45% new, 55% used. That's always been our strength at Aux 33 Tours because I accumulated a lot of used records even before opening. We purchase large collections all the time. As the owner, I'm the one on the road from Monday to Friday, buying record collections in people's houses and doing massive evaluations of anywhere from 11,000 to 20,000 records. We go through a lot of records each week, so we always replenish. Also, we work with all the major labels, resellers, and distributors worldwide, so if we have 20,000 new records in the store, it's because we're buying from different countries and distributors.

Now, I think it's getting harder and harder to find used records. There are a lot more people digging and a lot more people in the business trying to sell on eBay. It's not the 90s and 2000s, when you were buying records everywhere for a dollar. Now, if you open a shop and don't have used inventory, you're just like HMV or Sunrise Records. Part of the fun of digging in record shops is digging in used records. You need to stock up on used goods. If you don't have any Dolly Parton in stock, you're not going to survive.

Why did you start the record label? 

I opened the label in 2015. In the process of digitizing our catalogue, we identified a few rare titles from the 60s and 70s that would come in once a year and had demand for them. I went out and tried to buy the rights to the albums and found a couple of people who wanted to give us the rights to press their albums. That’s how Return To Analog began.

We started with RTA001 in 2015, and now we're at RTA170. Most were pressed at Precision Record Pressing, especially in the last 10 years. Starting the label was meant to promote Quebec music and to be a Quebec-based reissue label for rare material from the 60s and 70s that could be exported to other French-speaking countries. So, French-Canadian, Garage Rock, Psych, Prog, Pop, any titles with low press runs that are only available in Quebec. I signed some current artists and extended it to Anglo-Canadian titles. Three or four years ago, Return to Analog International to include American and African titles.

We try to source more obscure titles that have smaller demand but still enough, strong enough to press a few hundred copies or 500 copies. Some titles are slow sellers, and others are great sellers. We're not doing it for the money, but more for the passion and building a catalogue of really interesting titles. I supervised every title we did, so I know the quality and that they're well done.

What’s the most rewarding part about owning a record shop?

The best thing about owning a record shop is buying collections at people's houses because you meet tons of people. I don't have any problem talking with people and having conversations. I sometimes spend hours at people's houses chatting and finding the history behind their collection. People often tell me about their deceased, what they listened to, who they used to be and what equipment they had. For the label, it's seeing people buy the record you put out at the cash register and genuine interest in the music you helped bring together.

Check out aux33tours.com and returntoanalogrecords.com for more info.

Header photo by Aux 33 Tours.