On sonic speakeasies, listening cafés, and vinyl bars in Montreal

Sound, silence, and experience: Listening in on conversations with the audiophiles driving Montreal's sonic spaces.

Ivy Lerner-Frank

October 31, 2023- Read time: 5 min

A look inside VinoDisco, bar in Montreal's Red Light District. | Photograph: Bruno Aïello-Destombes

In the beginning, there’s the sound. And then there’s the beautiful object itself.

“A record is just more tactile,” says DJ Jojo Flores, owner of Little Burgundy’s Café Gotsoul that houses 15,000 records and counting in the café’s basement.

Flores, a renowned DJ with international name recognition, has been collecting since his teenage years, when he would go with his dad, a mobile DJ, to buy records across the city.

“When you put on an album, you’re listening to the story of the artist, as opposed to listening to just one chapter. And each album has its own character,” says Flores.

That’s the feeling shared by some of the city’s most dedicated vinyl-lovers. Their self-proclaimed obsessions have led them to collecting discs, turntables, amps, and speakers — and because they want to spread the love, they’ve opened up cafés, listening rooms, and bars all over town.

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