Meet Parker Hernandez, a Houston based multidisciplinary artist, art teacher and co-owner of Gneiss Sounds. Gneiss opened in June of 2023, and is co-owned by Parker and her partner. A month after opening the shop, they started a record label under the name Rite Field Records. Parker is a self proclaimed audiophile, and a long time record collector with a passion for music and her community having created flyers, lithographs, and other artwork for several bands and venues across Texas. 

When not behind the counter at Gneiss, Parker is a full time art teacher for a charter school.  She also enjoys playing music and creating art. "I love to cook on my free time and really enjoy trying new wines/restaurants."

How did you get into your industry / What motivated you?

I have always loved music. I have been in and out of bands since my early 20s and collected vinyl since then. My partner and I have always had this dream of owning a record store and so we started off by doing pop ups at our favorite coffee spot. Xela Coffee Roasters gave us a jumping off point and then we decided to open a brick and mortar.

What is a day in the life like?

I usually wake up around 6:30 AM and get ready for school. My partner works from home and has his office in the back of our record store. After I get off of work around 4- I head to our record store during the week and weekends we are both up there together.

Favorite sale / relationship made from behind the counter?

I think my favorite relationship I’ve made is a couple that comes in with their teen daughter. I think dad has been a collector for a while and now his daughter started collecting. They come from pretty far away and they are always so nice and polite. Also our loyal customer Jon has been great and I love picking his brain about music.

In your opinion what has been the coolest thing to come through your shop / thing you had to keep / almost couldn't put out for sale?

We had some Sunny Day Real Estate tapes that were limited. Those were really hard to sell.

What has been / is the most difficult part of your job?

I think the hardest part (since this is a two person business) has been making sure our inventory matches with what we have. Also sometimes receiving orders that have records that are warped is pretty frustrating. But we recently purchased a machine that fixes warps!

What has been the craziest experience that has happened at the shop?

We have recently had an influx unhoused people passing through because our shop is off of the metro rail. So, a few weeks ago I saw a man beating up on some lady. I had to call the cops. It totally wasn’t cool.

What advice do you have for someone wanting to get into pursuing what you're doing?  

You never know until you try. Start off small, like me, doing pop ups and see how it goes. Also try carrying stuff other records might not have.

What types of things are happening in your industry / with vinyl that you’re excited or worried about? i.e. innovation, or trends you’re seeing.

I’m seeing other record stores selling cheaper record players that have a possibly of scratching their records. I try to educate my younger customers about how to care for their records and record players/needles.

Are you a vinyl collector yourself? What drew you to it?

I totally am! My collection is huge now. I guess what drew me in the most was the nostalgia. Also I came into some 7-inches when I was younger and was so curious about how it worked.

Who has been influential to you and your growth as a professional in this industry?

I would say the whole Xela Coffee family because without them we wouldn’t have had a chance to try our pop ups. Also, Union Station who were our partners in the pops ups. If you are looking for awesome vintage close hit them up! And then DOPEHTX who is now opening a restaurant in Dallas.

Anything else you’d like to add, if not tell us who you're listening to right now: 

Yes! My partner and I recently started a record label named Rite Field Records. We just signed our first band, Shallowater and we are working on signing a few more. So stay tuned!