“Bristol has a very particular slant on things”
Community sits at the heart of Friendly Records. Since opening in 2016, the shop has grown from founder Tom Friend’s personal obsession into one of Bristol’s most loved music spaces. It started simply: he had too many records at home and not enough room – but the result has become something much bigger, with Scott Hendy joining Friendly Records in 2023 the shop and label gained another experienced music veteran having worked in Bristol’s Purple Penguin record shop, DJ’d internationally and released records as Boca 45 and been one half of Bristol band Malachai.
Friend’s background in music also runs deep. He worked in the art department at Heavenly Recordings, and then as an A&R man at DB Records, 679 Recordings and Island Records, helping shape careers for acts like Electric Soft Parade, The Polyphonic Spree and Ben Kweller. He’s managed bands, taught students, and opened an art gallery with Geoff Barrow. But the record shop idea was always there, quietly waiting.
Born in Somerset, as a teenager Tom would travel to Bristol to visit record shops – places that felt exciting, intimidating, and full of possibility. Pre-internet, they were everything: discovery, community, culture. It’s that feeling he’s tried to recreate. Friendly isn’t about gatekeeping. It’s about walking in, feeling welcome, and finding something new, whether you know what you’re looking for or not.
Bristol still shapes everything they do. The shop leans into its local scene, with support from artists helping spread the word. It’s not just a shop anymore. It’s a hub. A place where things happen.
And that matters, because running a physical record shop in 2026 isn’t exactly the obvious business success story. Online is easier. Cheaper. But it misses the point. Records are physical – you’re meant to hold them, talk about them, bump into people while flipping through the racks. That’s what independent shops offer. Not just products, but connection. The same goes for indie labels and spaces more broadly: small, yes, but culturally vital.
That community mindset doesn’t stop at the shop door. In 2022, as war broke out in Ukraine, Friend and his team asked, ‘what can we do?’. That question led to a huge fundraising effort for War Child, raising over £250,000. It kicked off with a major Bristol show featuring artists including IDLES and Portishead, and grew into a series of special 7” vinyl releases from the likes of PJ Harvey and Sleaford Mods. Music, turned into action.
And this long-standing commitment to supporting War Child is at the heart of their 10-year anniversary block party. Featuring an eclectic line-up of artists including DJ Krust, IDLES, DJ Format, Andy & Nancy Smith and Claude Cooper, it’s also a fundraising effort. With proceeds from the IDLES charity merch sale, Geoff Barrow’s special raffle and exclusive event merchandise going to War Child.
Bringing together music, community and charity in the heart of Bristol, UNCLE and BUILD HOLLYWOOD have partnered with Friendly Records, gifting flyposting and billboard space to bring their story and the event to the streets of the city.
Friendly Records started as a shop. It’s now something wider. In this interview, Tom Friend talks about how it all came together, and why spaces like this still matter.
features
05.26 Friendly Records at 10; on Bristol, community and being the spot where music meets action
HOW DID YOUR EARLY EXPERIENCES IN BRISTOL’S MUSIC SCENE SHAPE YOU? WHAT MADE THAT SCENE SO SPECIAL?
Bristol has always had an amazing music scene and was obviously a big part of wanting to open a record shop here. I’d seen all my first gigs in Bristol going back almost 40 years now and have been lucky enough to work with (and become friends with) some of the brilliant bands and artists in the city, I met my friend Scott Hendy (who over the last few years has been half of Friendly Records with me) when I signed his band Malachai to Island Records where I was doing A&R at the time.
WHAT WAS YOUR VISION FOR FRIENDLY RECORDS WHEN IT FIRST OPENED, AND HOW HAS THAT EVOLVED OVER THE LAST DECADE?
The idea was to try and emulate some of my favourite record shops from around the world which included a few of the first I’d ever ventured in to as a teenager in Bristol – Revolver and Tonys especially, and then a multitude of others – Groove Merchant in San Francisco, the first Rough Trade shop in Notting Hill, Honest Jons etc… The most important thing was I wanted the shop to be part of the community and to be more than just a shop that sold records, so putting on events, working with local charities etc.
Also to be a place where everyone felt welcome, not an intimidating place which some record shops can be. The shop has evolved into what I’d hoped it would become with an increasing involvement in raising money for charity and hopefully becoming a well-loved part of Bristol’s music scene, especially in south Bristol where we are still the only record shop.
YOU’VE DESCRIBED THE SHOP AS MORE THAN RETAIL – WHAT DOES THE COMMUNITY MEAN TO YOU?
The community aspect is a huge part of what we do, we are proud to have been on North Street in South Bristol for ten years and I think (hope?!) the local community feel same way!
Bristol has always had an amazing music scene and was obviously a big part of wanting to open a record shop here. I’d seen all my first gigs in Bristol going back almost 40 years now and have been lucky enough to work with (and become friends with) some of the brilliant bands and artists in the city, I met my friend Scott Hendy (who over the last few years has been half of Friendly Records with me) when I signed his band Malachai to Island Records where I was doing A&R at the time.
WHAT WAS YOUR VISION FOR FRIENDLY RECORDS WHEN IT FIRST OPENED, AND HOW HAS THAT EVOLVED OVER THE LAST DECADE?
The idea was to try and emulate some of my favourite record shops from around the world which included a few of the first I’d ever ventured in to as a teenager in Bristol – Revolver and Tonys especially, and then a multitude of others – Groove Merchant in San Francisco, the first Rough Trade shop in Notting Hill, Honest Jons etc… The most important thing was I wanted the shop to be part of the community and to be more than just a shop that sold records, so putting on events, working with local charities etc.
Also to be a place where everyone felt welcome, not an intimidating place which some record shops can be. The shop has evolved into what I’d hoped it would become with an increasing involvement in raising money for charity and hopefully becoming a well-loved part of Bristol’s music scene, especially in south Bristol where we are still the only record shop.
YOU’VE DESCRIBED THE SHOP AS MORE THAN RETAIL – WHAT DOES THE COMMUNITY MEAN TO YOU?
The community aspect is a huge part of what we do, we are proud to have been on North Street in South Bristol for ten years and I think (hope?!) the local community feel same way!
IN THE LAST 10 YEARS, WHAT KINDS OF CONNECTIONS OR MOMENTS HAVE YOU SEEN HAPPEN IN THE SHOP THAT MAKE IT FEEL SPECIAL?
Too many to mention really and my old brain finds it hard to remember particular things, but we frequently have people bumping into old friends they haven’t seen for years or people chatting to strangers about records they both like. We’ve also been lucky enough to have several artists in the shop when we’ve done signings for the War Child records we’ve released so fans have been able to meet the artists and have a chat in a really relaxed way – Joe from IDLES, Jason from Sleaford Mods, Beak> etc…
WHAT’S CHANGED IN THE CITY OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS – IS BRISTOL IS STILL A UNIQUE PLACE FOR MUSIC AND INDEPENDENT CULTURE?
I think it still is, there’s still new bands and artists coming through, new club nights being started etc. I still think Bristol has a very particular slant on things and always tries to do things in a certain way, it’s tricky to explain what that is and other cities definitely have the same thing, I think it’s built on wanting to be different and not needing validation from elsewhere, and we are lucky that we have rich musical and artistic history to continue to build on.
WHAT DO PEOPLE GAIN FROM VISITING A PHYSICAL RECORD SHOP THAT THEY CAN’T GET ONLINE?
Dealing with actual humans! Advice on music they might like based on conversation, being able to see and hear the actual records that you’re buying…
HOW DO YOU SEE FRIENDLY RECORDS EVOLVING IN THE FUTURE?
The plan is to keep on doing what we are doing and trying to get better at it… more charity stuff (including War Child), growing our record label, so more releases through that.
Too many to mention really and my old brain finds it hard to remember particular things, but we frequently have people bumping into old friends they haven’t seen for years or people chatting to strangers about records they both like. We’ve also been lucky enough to have several artists in the shop when we’ve done signings for the War Child records we’ve released so fans have been able to meet the artists and have a chat in a really relaxed way – Joe from IDLES, Jason from Sleaford Mods, Beak> etc…
WHAT’S CHANGED IN THE CITY OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS – IS BRISTOL IS STILL A UNIQUE PLACE FOR MUSIC AND INDEPENDENT CULTURE?
I think it still is, there’s still new bands and artists coming through, new club nights being started etc. I still think Bristol has a very particular slant on things and always tries to do things in a certain way, it’s tricky to explain what that is and other cities definitely have the same thing, I think it’s built on wanting to be different and not needing validation from elsewhere, and we are lucky that we have rich musical and artistic history to continue to build on.
WHAT DO PEOPLE GAIN FROM VISITING A PHYSICAL RECORD SHOP THAT THEY CAN’T GET ONLINE?
Dealing with actual humans! Advice on music they might like based on conversation, being able to see and hear the actual records that you’re buying…
HOW DO YOU SEE FRIENDLY RECORDS EVOLVING IN THE FUTURE?
The plan is to keep on doing what we are doing and trying to get better at it… more charity stuff (including War Child), growing our record label, so more releases through that.
WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU REALISED YOU WANTED FRIENDLY RECORDS TO GET INVOLVED WITH WAR CHILD? WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT TO PARTNER WITH THEM?
It was very much triggered by what was happening in Ukraine at the time, a complete frustration with what was happening and not really knowing how we could help. A friend of mine – Helen McGee – who was then working at O2 Bristol had mentioned trying to put on a show to try and raise awareness and money and so we started to discuss that, I then got my friend Geoff Barrow (Portishead/Beak>/Invada) involved, we then got Conal Dodds and the Crosstown team involved and it snowballed in to a show in Bristol where we were lucky enough to have Portishead, IDLES and others play. The situation in Ukraine still exists of course and then we had what’s happening in Palestine (and continues to), so we continued to do more live events and released records that have now raised over £250k for War Child.
YOU’VE RAISED A HUGE AMOUNT – DID YOU EXPECT IT TO GROW INTO SOMETHING THIS BIG?
There wasn’t any kind of plan really, apart from trying to raise as much money and awareness as possible – and hopefully give people really special nights to remember.
HOW HAS THE BRISTOL MUSIC COMMUNITY COME TOGETHER AROUND THE PROJECT?
The support has been incredible; we are incredibly lucky to have such lovely people who have stepped up every time we’ve done an event, or had ideas to put out records. It’s not just the artists that have given their time and support either: venues, promoters, staff, lighting crew etc. have all been on board whenever we’ve needed them.
WHAT DOES THE PARTNERSHIP WITH UNCLE X BUILD HOLLYWOOD MEAN TO INDIE SPACES LIKE FRIENDLY RECORDS?
Hugely important! We couldn’t afford to have billboards all over the city without UNCLE x BUILDHOLLYWOOD’s help, it makes it so much more REAL and tangible if people can see things on a large scale…
It was very much triggered by what was happening in Ukraine at the time, a complete frustration with what was happening and not really knowing how we could help. A friend of mine – Helen McGee – who was then working at O2 Bristol had mentioned trying to put on a show to try and raise awareness and money and so we started to discuss that, I then got my friend Geoff Barrow (Portishead/Beak>/Invada) involved, we then got Conal Dodds and the Crosstown team involved and it snowballed in to a show in Bristol where we were lucky enough to have Portishead, IDLES and others play. The situation in Ukraine still exists of course and then we had what’s happening in Palestine (and continues to), so we continued to do more live events and released records that have now raised over £250k for War Child.
YOU’VE RAISED A HUGE AMOUNT – DID YOU EXPECT IT TO GROW INTO SOMETHING THIS BIG?
There wasn’t any kind of plan really, apart from trying to raise as much money and awareness as possible – and hopefully give people really special nights to remember.
HOW HAS THE BRISTOL MUSIC COMMUNITY COME TOGETHER AROUND THE PROJECT?
The support has been incredible; we are incredibly lucky to have such lovely people who have stepped up every time we’ve done an event, or had ideas to put out records. It’s not just the artists that have given their time and support either: venues, promoters, staff, lighting crew etc. have all been on board whenever we’ve needed them.
WHAT DOES THE PARTNERSHIP WITH UNCLE X BUILD HOLLYWOOD MEAN TO INDIE SPACES LIKE FRIENDLY RECORDS?
Hugely important! We couldn’t afford to have billboards all over the city without UNCLE x BUILDHOLLYWOOD’s help, it makes it so much more REAL and tangible if people can see things on a large scale…
