Ahead of the upcoming Ladies Love Vinyl #2 event at A1 Records in Paris on October 5th, we had the opportunity to learn more about Tia Korpe founder of Future Female Sounds and Natania Kosman from A-One Paris!

Tia is the Founder & Creative Director of Ladies Love Vinyl and DJ community Future Female Sounds. She is also a DJ, record collector, and the founder of a booking agency for women and non-binary DJs. She created the Ladies Love Vinyl event to spotlight local female vinyl DJs and to provide a welcoming space for the aforementioned vinyl enthusiasts interested in DJing. Tia is dedicated to transforming record shops into inviting environments for discovering music on vinyl. She’s thrilled to team up with Natania and A1 Records in Paris for this second edition of Ladies Love Vinyl!.

Natania is the founder and manager of A-One Paris, an extension of NYC’s A-1 Record Shop. At 25, she oversees this family-operated venture, which her father established in New York. In June 2023, they opened A-One Paris, creating a transatlantic record exchange that ships containers from NY to Paris. Having lived between both cities for several years as a Franco-American, Natania saw an opportunity to move some warehouse overstock to Paris and establish an exciting new space. With the support of her amazing team, she is also working on opening a versatile event space next door to enhance A1’s community outreach and ensure it serves as more than just a record store.

Ladies Love Vinyl #2 promises an inspiring night of music, connection, and empowerment!

When not at work, Tia usually still works... as a DJ every weekend she is usually carrying around a vinyl bag and playing all over. All remaining time is spent with her six year old daughter, friends and family.

For Natania she's an avid climber and loves cinema! "But mostly, I decided to go back to school this year, and am beginning my Masters at the EHESS in Social Studies of Health. So starting now, I balance time between class and the store."

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

Tia: I have been in the music industry for 20 years now, in the shape of an artist, DJ, manager, booker and event organizer - everything I do is tied to music in one way or the other, so I really don't know what life would look like not working in this industry. What's motivated me to stay in this industry on the other hand, has been to champion and highlight female and gender expansive individuals trying to enter this industry.

Natania: I actually was not expecting to follow in my dad’s footsteps, per se. But during Covid, as I was finishing my Bachelors, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do next. Suddenly, the idea of “expanding” the legendary space my dad had created began to appeal to me. I was more and more intrigued by the world of music (I was working in record-selling coffee shop), and I liked the idea of bringing a piece of NY to Paris. Not to mention, it was a lucrative prospect for my dad in his career. And Jeremie, the manager of the NY store (who is also French) insisted on the potential success of this project. So the three of us were motivated to create this bridge between the musical worlds of these two cities. In a way, it was an easy entry into this industry, but it wasn’t necessarily an obvious one, as up until then I hadn’t envisioned working in the world of vinyl.

What is a day in the life like?

Tia: Currently it's working as a consultant on organizational change, partnerships and branding within the music, culture and lifestyle industry, running my booking agency, working and programming for Coco Hotel and booking vinyl DJs every weekend, spinning myself and organizing Future Female Sounds workshops and events.

Natania: A day in the life is a 10 hour shift at the shop, during which we all oscillate between pricing, sorting, cleaning, and filing records, and obviously welcoming customers. We are still sorting through our first container received last June, and now our second container is imminent, so we are preparing to receive about 100,000 records by making space in the store. Obviously I always have some admin and management mixed up in my days. We also host bi-monthly in-store DJ sets, so those take some time to organize. And now, with our forthcoming space, I’m also working on coordinating and producing events, residencies, etc

In your opinion what has been your favorite / the coolest thing you've worked on?

Tia: The most recent, and one of my most favorite moments was opening for Diana Ross. It was an absolute honor and dream to open for an artist I have listened to and adored most of my life! It was also a joy to work on such a genre-specific live mix.

Natania: The coolest thing is by far the process of receiving the container, and ripping open the first boxes. It’s like a never-ending moment of present-opening during the holidays. But apart from that, working on our events is really rewarding, because they attest to the way a record store can be a space of cross-generational and cross-cultural “transmission”. In particular, our Opening Weekender last September was the first time I really took note of this—we organized 3 days of DJ sets at the store, with artists representing all kinds of musical styles, and people from all walks of life just assembled at the shop, celebrating music together. It was the best way to begin this adventure.

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

Tia: Working several jobs at the same time to be honest, and never having a proper budget to create real sustainable impact. This industry often requires flexibility beyond what's realistic haha

Natania: The hardest part actually has been just accepting that I still have yet so much to learn, and that building a musical culture takes a lifetime of curiosity and embracing discovery (cheesy but true). Personally, it was also uncomfortable to feel that I had a lot to prove as the “heir” of A1, especially as a young woman in a very male dominated space, that is also not always welcoming to younger generations.

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

...you need to be extremely passionate about what you're doing in order not to burn out.

Tia: My advice for anyone, especially women or non-binary people, is to really understand what the music industry looks like when you're in it. It's a really rough industry, so you need to be extremely passionate about what you're doing in order not to burn out.

Natania: For someone who wants to work in a record store specifically, get a foot in the door any way you can (unfortunately it starts with cleaning, filing, sorting records!). Stay constantly curious.

Are you a vinyl collector yourself? What drew you to it? If not, why the vinyl industry?

Tia: Yes, collector and digger for many years, I grew up with vinyl in the house and a few years ago my love for wax deepened even more as I was working as an Account Manager for Discogs, which meant I started going back to record shops much more frequent, and re-discovered the amazing world of vinyl.

Natania: I wouldn’t call myself a collector. Or rather, I suppose you could say I’m beginning my collection now ! It might seem silly, but I mostly see the store as my collection, with this constant flow of records coming and going—and even when I’m sad to see them go, I know they always reappear in some ways.

Since I didn’t grow with my dad having a big record collection (he was around records all the time, and the house was kind of the one space where that didn’t overflow), it took me opening the store myself to kind of reignite the desire to have records of my own. I had some growing up, but few, and often would take them to & from the store in NY as well. Anyone will tell you, it’s kind of a slippery slope when you start collecting. I like the idea of having a tight collection, and when I bring a record home, it’s really because it marks a certain period or happening in my life, and because I know it’s something I will never get sick of listening to.

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.

Tia: I'm excited to see kissa bars inspire more listening and soundbars across Europe, and the pairing of wine, food, vinyl and beautiful sound systems combined!

Natania: I’m generally just excited about the “return” to records (people have been saying that for a good 10 years though). There’s this desire to return to embracing cultural artefacts in their materiality, as well as the transmission of objects from generation to generation, and a kind of archiving cultural memory. The range in age and demographic of the customer base at the store is encouraging. And obviously, the biggest thing I’m excited about is the effort at inclusivity.

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

Natania: Honestly the first that come to mind are my coworkers, namely Louison who has accompanied me since the start of this project. Both him and Laurent (DJ LC) have expanded my music curiosity so much, and it’s been really nourishing and heartwarming to work with them. And to see them both so aware and sensitized to the question of inclusivity, and so adamant about expanding the spotlight as you say, is really important!

Anything else you’d like to add; if not tell us what you're listening to: 

WiV for Tia: We are very excited to announce the second edition of Ladies Love Vinyl taking place in Paris at A1 RECORDS on October 5th. We will be hosting a free vinyl DJ workshop for women and non-binary vinyl diggers, enthusiasts and to those curious to learn how to mix on wax! It is from 3-10 pm we have an amazing lineup of French female vinyl DJs spinning in-store so save the date, drop by, dig some records and grab a glass in our special pop up bar by Agence Soif. Find more here.

Natania: We recently got a collection of really cool and obscure 90s UK indie rock albums, so I’ve been listening to those a lot. But also recently getting into dub, via albums like Inner Spirit by the Disciples, and Natural Wonders of the World in Dub, by Zion Train.