Final Ethnography Interview with Mark Szafranski (Benjamin Stalder)

Final Ethnography -- Mark Szafranski

Benjamin Stalder: So thank you for agreeing to do this interview. So this is for, uh, my Anthropology of Music class. So basically the premise is you go out in the community, interview someone in the, in the Richmond music scene, try to figure out what they're doing, how they're contributing to the music scene, and obviously Metro Sound and Music is a great example for that.

Mark Szafranski: Right, right. Well, we try.

Benjamin Stalder: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So, uh, if you, if you wouldn't mind sharing, could you tell me a little bit about your educational background and, uh, your musical background and then how this shop kind of came to be?

Mark Szafranski: Um, let's see here. Well, I guess my music really started when I was just a kid and, uh, maybe second, third grade started plunking out some, uh, tunes on the piano. And, you know, I did that for a while and teachers were like, you know what? You really need to -- they told my parents -- you should get this kid some lessons. And then, luckily, I was in a school that had an orchestra and, uh, because of my size, being the biggest of the class, like, well, you get to play the double bass.

Benjamin Stalder: Right.

Mark Szafranski: You get to be the guy cause you can, you know, who's, let's see. You're tall enough, you over there. And so I ended up, uh, doing the double bass and playing that throughout probably five or six years. I made it to the All-County Orchestra out in, uh, Prince William County in northern Virginia. And-- then, I mean, of course I started doing piano as well. And so I was taking piano lessons like most kids, you know, piano lessons. Uh, I had some really great teachers, uh, back in middle school for the, uh, orchestra, bass. And then high school I was in the jazz combo and I sort of worked my way from the bass into playing, uh, piano, Fender Rhodes, you know, that was a cool thing-- back then. And actually, what we had was a Fender Rhodes, um, you know, brand new supplied to the school. And my teacher was cool enough to let me just pretty much, I was the piano player at the school and I just maintained that thing, took it with me occasionally on a few gigs here and there, uh, which I don't know if that was even really allowed, (Benjamin laughs) technically since it was a state-funded, uh, you know, keyboard, but we did our thing and, uh, I still 00:02:00have a Fender Rhodes to this day in that beautiful like, rehearsal space in the building here.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: Um, and then, uh, when I was in high school, I got this small scholarship, uh, Kid Hartley was a, I guess a senior. He, he had passed away in a boating accident and his parents set up a, uh, scholarship for him and uh, for any of the people that would go to school that showed promise in music. And so I won that scholarship. It was a small scholarship and to be used at a school where you're gonna minor in music or, you know, do something with music. And that brought me down to, uh, VCU.

Um, let me think here. So yeah, I came down to Richmond. I wasn't far away. Uh, we were a military family, traveled all over the U.S., lived in California, grew up in Twentynine Palms, Mojave Desert when I was really young. And then we came to Virginia right about that second grade, third grade. And so for the first 00:03:00seven years of life it was on the desert. And then I got brought into Virginia and the rest is kind of history. I've been in Virginia for the last 40 years, if not longer. Um, so I come down -- and then fast forward -- so finally, I got this degree, or I got, um, this scholarship, come down to Richmond. And you know, I used my scholarship and I got in the ja--, the jazz program, VCU, uh, for a time being, but I realized that I just was not gonna be a jazz artist like I thought, you know, I was like, man, this is cool, but I just want to play. And, and my father was pretty much saying, Hey, you know, you really do have that piano thing down. Perhaps you should get-- something more substantial, you know? And that was rather sobering.

But I went ahead and I was like, well, I'll go become a business administration, you know, and I bounced from that into-- legal analysis of all things and pre-law. And I thought I was gonna go on to be an attorney. And it's funny thing 00:04:00is I've been surrounded by attorneys in different bands, judges. I was in a band for years with a judge, you know, just recently. And then, uh, then another band with a, uh, sax player, great saxophonist. And he was an attorney. And, uh, one of my best friends, he's also an attorney, so I'm kind of surrounded by the legal (Mark laughs) department, which is good. I guess if you're gonna own a business for as long as we have been down here. Um, you just never know when you need a good attorney. (Both laugh). Uh, thankfully not very often, but, uh, let's see.

Uh, and then, so I went to VCU and I did my four years and it's funny cause I was so into music going up to, you know, getting to that point. And I was in the band, our band won the talent show. We had a rock 'n' roll band called Pure Jam, (Benjamin laughs) and we just thought we were it, you know, and I'm playing that Fender Rhodes, a buddy of mine's, you know, they're all still friends. And they all went off and it was still stuck to music. All these guys were really extraordinary musicians and, uh, One, uh, yeah, the guitar player, he's still in 00:05:00it professionally. The drummer, he still does it professionally. He, uh, does drums for the Washington, uh, the Commanders.

Benjamin Stalder: Okay. Sure.

Mark Szafranski: You know, he's a drummer out there now. He's been doing that for, I guess, over 20 some years. Um, and the bass player, he still plays around. So we all, even though we're kids at 15, here, we are in our fifties now, and we are all still, you know, going at it.

Of course, you know, starting this store was just really an extension of my hobby and when, even when I was young, 13, 12, I was fascinated with guitars. I was fascinated with stringed instruments and even the piano, although it's considered a percussive instrument, it's still lots of strings, and I tuned my own piano. I've had several grand pianos and I love to play, uh, you know, just about anything. But, uh, I've had many, many gigs, probably in the hundreds at this point of different jobs I've played and traveled out of the country and, 00:06:00you know, it's been kind of a fun ride. I certainly didn't do it for the money, I'll tell you that much.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: You know, if somebody thinks you're gonna get in the music store business, especially the independent -- now granted we're the longest running independent music store in town and, uh, you know, you just were gonna, you better have multiple-- streams, either your lessons program, your repair program, there's just all different facets of the industry. We specialize in the vintage and the used guitars. And in this room I've had anybody from, you know, Joe Walsh to uh, Gene Simmons, uh, Richard Gere's actually sat over the corner. This is going over a 30 year span in my memory banks here. But we've had all kinds, you know, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Delbert McClinton, I remember bragging to a band about what great, you know, what a great band I have. I was telling this one guy, one man, "My band's kickin' ass. Okay!" (Mark laughs). "We're really," and I'm like, "What do you do?" He goes, "Well, I've got, I got a band. I said, 00:07:00"That's cool. What's the name of your band?" And that's when he says to me, -- well actually we're, we're getting up to this point -- he told me he was "playing at a shed"-- at an outdoor, you know, an outdoor festival. He's "playing a shed" and that's, you know, the inside phrase is, you know, "playing a shed" out in the middle of nowhere, but, uh, down in Virginia Beach.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: And I was like, "I played down there. I've been a couple gigs around there, too. So where were you playing?" He's like, you know, whatever, "The Virginia Beach Amphitheater" or something like that. And so I'm like, "Wow, that's pretty good, that's pretty good." (Benjamin laughs) And I come back a couple minutes later, I had to go answer the phone. And I said, so, you know, I told my name, the band was Private Stock. I got a banner in here somewhere, Private Stock, you know, "Samba to swing, disco to rock, for all your band needs, call Private Stock!" (Both laugh). So we had that going and I was like, "This is great." And I said, "So you have a band?" He goes, "Yeah I do." I said, "What's the name of your band?" And that's when he says, "Stone Temple Pilots." And I said, "The Stone Temple Pilots? I've heard of you!" And I walked in the back room and I told the guys, uh, it's like, "We've got a Stone Temple Pilot 00:08:00here!" So I walk back out, out, I'm not sure if you know who the Stone Temple Pilots are.

Benjamin Stalder: I don't. No.

Mark Szafranski: But dude, Stone Temple Pilots, back in the '90s and 2000s, they were playing 100,000, 200,000, you know, seat festivals. These guys were it, if you go YouTube Stone Temple Pilots, and I know there's songs on there that you're gonna recog--, oh, I didn't know those guys wrote that song.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: So, anyhow, I had him in here and I said, "So you play with them? And he goes, "No. I started the band." It was Rob DeLeo, he and his brother in that band. And they wrote some great songs. They really did great rock 'n' roll, catchy, um, just really, really good stuff. Um, and of course he had a, uh, a relationship with Scott Weiland. Now Scott died of a, I guess a heroin overdose a few years ago, and he was sort of at that point still caught by-- in, in the, in just the throes of the drug addiction, I guess. And I asked, it was just he and I, this rockstar and myself sitting in here and I said to 00:09:00him, um, "So what's it like being a rockstar?" He's like, "Man, you know, it's great. You know, it was great when I was in my twenties, but now I'm in my forties. I've got a wife in two kids back in Los Angeles." He goes, "We're traveling all over." I said, "That's gotta be tough." And he said, "It is tough." And I then said, "What's your relationship with Scott?", knowing that there's been a little bit of a controversy over the years. And he told me, you know, he told me he was just like, uh, he goes, "It's really hard. It's really hard because we, -- the three of them in the band -- arrive on one bus and the other guy, Scott, arrives on his bus, they run up the stage, they go out, do their songs, come back, and they go in both different directions." And I was like, "God, that's gotta be," he goes, we, he goes, is it--. He did tell me, he said it was, uh--, probably the most strange-- relationship he's ever had with another human.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: There's just such a weird, you know, relationship.

Benjamin Stalder: It's unnatural.

Mark Szafranski: Yeah, that we just get up. We don't really talk about how's it going. I'm sure they may have some little bit of chit chat, I don't know. But he 00:10:00said they just got up, busses parked, they knew what time they gotta be on stage, and then when they're gone, they're gone and they're driving somewhere else just to play through these songs again. So that's some of the, you know, interesting stories of being here for so many years. I mean, it's hard to believe this was an empty room 31 years ago.

Benjamin Stalder: Wow.

Mark Szafranski: And I walked in here, I built this room with my brother and I, uh, and there's an office above it. And, uh, the whole building has just been completely developed into all sorts of things, you know, mostly a lot of apartments. Uh, I used to live upstairs on a mattress, you know.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: When I was here first, I lived upstairs on a mattress, had a black Labrador Retriever. We had no heat. He was my heat. He's like, "Come 'ere, boy," you know? (Both laugh) And my parents, they were worried sick. My dad's a ex-career marine, lieutenant colonel, and, uh, he came down here early on, he was just like, "Listen, man, this place is sketchy. Downtown Richmond is a 00:11:00sketchy place and you better watch your back." And uh, I always did, you know, but we also embraced the community too. Uh, which brings on to things like, you know, we, early on we had food drives and can drives, um, for the Daily Planet. We had "Rock the Planet." But you know, it's a lot of effort and it's-- cause you see the same faces walking by all the time.

Benjamin Stalder: Sure.

Mark Szafranski: The same homeless people. And it's just sort of sad that this-- country and this community, in particular, that we can't-- help these people out. So you know, you are gonna have to embrace whatever you have to embrace to get the community-- behind you. So we'd have, you know, "Five Cans for Five Grand." I did that. You bring me five cans of food, I would throw your name into the hat for a $5,000 store, you know, shopping spree. And that got a lot of people going. And we did a lot of XL 102, we did a lot of FOX 35 commercials and 00:12:00stuff. And so, and then across the street we threw a, you know, outdoor party. You know, you'd have hot dogs and food and that sort of stuff to benefit the Daily Planet. Uh, proceeds would go there. Um, and now we do another event in which we handle, uh, the--, I guess the entertainment mostly, you know, I help coordinate, orchestrate all the entertainment for Broad Appétit, which is the largest food festival in the state of Virginia, and it happens right out front. Uh, we close down five blocks from Belvedere Avenue to Adam Street. And there's probably 100 to maybe 150 food vendors down the center of the block.

Benjamin Stalder: Wow!

Mark Szafranski: And it's a food competition. So there's nothing better than a food competition with craft breweries (Mark laughs) all over the places, um, multiple stages. And I've had over a hundred participants of musicians-- in these, uh, last I guess 13 years. And that was really just a grassroots thing. I 00:13:00mean, they were actually hosting this event one year. I walked down, I was walking my dog, and uh, I was like, "What is going on down here?" You know, it was just a real small, they had a street blocked off. And I was like, "I know exactly what you guys--", I feel if you have live entertainment, you're gonna get a lot more people hanging out, and so let me see if I can put that together for you.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: I'll handle the entertainment, I'll get the musicians. I know everybody and, uh, you guys do your thing with getting, uh, your food licenses and permits and there's over like a 100-- and the reason they know it's the largest food event, food festival, -- it's actually one of the largest, it's over 35,000 or 40,000 people.

Benjamin Stalder: That's incredible.

Mark Szafranski: --show up on one Sunday. And this is the part of town that was like-- this building here had nothing but plywood when I bought it. I was in my late twenties, um, and I was across the street with my first location and I came 00:14:00over here and the building is two four-story structures, about 40,000 square feet. There's two freight elevators, and-- you know, the whole place had a leaky roof. All the plywood was just-- I have a picture. It looks like the biggest haunted house you've ever seen. I stood across the street looking, "Oh man, that place, that's the place," you know. And I had my little location over there on the corner of Jefferson-- and Broad.

Um, so anyhow, fast forward 25 years. Um, I did a big massive renovation upstairs. Thank God I was able to hold on all these years.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

You know, living well below my means and just making sure you're paying the mortgages and stuff and, uh, just taking care of business. Uh, we had rehearsal spaces. That was the first thing I built in this building when I first bought it, was rehearsal spaces. And, uh, we stayed busy with those for probably 15 years.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: Um, that was really a, a good move, I must say. It was a lot of 00:15:00work over--, I couldn't even tell you how many pieces of drywall, uh, I mean it might have been three or four hundred because we had a--

Benjamin Stalder: Wow!

Mark Szafranski: --We double-wall-- made everything soundproof. We had two layers of drywall, a steel-- beam, an air pocket, a hanging, uh, like a, like a, a batt-- an aggregate of material.

Benjamin Stalder: Yeah. A batten.

Mark Szafranski: --And then another piece of air, and then another steel beam, and then two more sheets of drywall. That's how the wall is built.

Benjamin Stalder: All compressed?

Mark Szafranski: Yeah. No, cause it did help, and it wasn't soundproof, but they're sound resistant. So you could have two bands rehearse, and we may get back into that. Since--, we don't do the band rehearsal thing anymore.

Benjamin Stalder: Okay.

Mark Szafranski: Cause we did this massive renovation, which we needed all that space for our back stock-- of gear. But we're looking at running down that road again and either having, uh, more lessons, um--, maybe moving our repair shop downstairs and giving us more retail in the back. So, the business is always, 00:16:00you know, in a metamorphosis, you know?

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: It's always changing-- and it's adapting and that's how you do it, and the music store -- granted though, we've gotten to the point, the way that, you know, now I jokingly say to friends, like the way the music, the independent music store, lasts and survives in this economy today is that they build a mini-city of apartments upstairs, okay, that doesn't hurt. We've got 28 units up there. They're all beautiful. They're all fully occupied. And so now we've become a leasing company, a cleaning company, you know, a music store, you know, and so-- it's, it's a lot to sort of change and to, uh, you know, just adapt. That's what you gotta do. Uh, but there was many years, for 25 years, it was just the independent music guy who's doing, you know, our thing and selling super high end-- uh, this is before the internet really was hitting, you know, we were right there when the internet started as far as, uh, I'm concerned. I 00:17:00mean, prior, '92, '93, we start getting a website and I forget exactly when it all began, but, uh, you know, it took off like gangbusters.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: But we just, you know, I know we've been referred to as a "stalwart," an "anchor store". You know, people use Metro Sound as a reference, you know, when you're describing, where am I going? "Oh, you know where Metro Sound--?" "Oh yeah." "Okay, well two blocks past that--" or, you know, so that's kind of cool. But, um, it's still real--, you know, it's come very competitive business.

Benjamin Stalder: Sure.

Mark Szafranski: You're making pennies on dollars. So, like I said, there's no get rich quick scheme in this business unless you do it in massive volumes, um, and you've got massive amount of money. The way, the way they say you make a million dollars in the music business is that you start with two and then you end up with one! (Both laugh) That's what they say, you know, I've heard that many times and I'm like, "They might be right on that!" So-- anyhow, what other 00:18:00questions do you--

Benjamin Stalder: Yeah, so did, would you picture, you know, when you bought this place in 1990 that you had become, like you said this, this stalwart, the (unintelligible) going into all these other different ventures like the apartments?

Mark Szafranski: I didn't, I didn't, I mean, I just knew I enjoyed doing this, you know?

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: And I might go away for a small vacation, take a break for a week or whatever, take the wife and kids somewhere. But when I come back, I know-- I found the right, uh, niche for my, my life is that when I walk back in here, I'm like, "Oh wow, this is a cool place." Got a Beatles poster, you know, you got a bunch of vintage Gibsons, uh, anywhere from, I don't know, $3,000 - $4,000 up to, you know, $5,000 - $7,000 on that wall.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: So it's just kind of a cool thing, um, and it really is a hobby that got out of control. (Benjamin laughs) It really, it is, it's a hobby, cause I was doing this when I was like 13, wheeling and dealing. I've had--, like, I 00:19:00remember, I remember trading a guitar for a keyboard, and trading that keyboard-- I wish I had like the lineage, you know, as you sometimes see people like trade on, like say Craigslist for instance: I trade this pen for that vacuum cleaner. And the next thing you're driving a, you know--, they've got a yacht because they've done all these trades. So that's kind of what this is. We started with that--, you know, probably five guitars and $5,000 is what began most of this across the street and a vision. And I knew-- that-- I knew what I was interested in and I wasn't seeing it being serviced, you know. What I was interested was the cool old Fenders, Gibson's, Gretsch, you know, the unique instruments, and I just saw the market had a void.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: And I started going around all the stores and buying up their used gear. And then much to their dismay, I was like, "Pow! I'm open with all your used gear I just got done buying!" There were 17 independent stores in Richmond.

Benjamin Stalder: Really?

Mark Szafranski: 17 of us, and I think we're down to-- less than five, maybe four, you know, and really true like, uh, combo stores like this, hardly any, you know. There's a, there's a Guitar Center in Sam Ash, corporate. And they do--, we kind of do that in a smaller version. You know, we do a, uh, uh, you know, we do the guitars, keyboards, lights, amps, but much more, you know, in, in a 4,000 square foot versus a 40,000 square foot space.

Benjamin Stalder: Right.

Mark Szafranski: But there was a time in which I knew the numbers at some competitors here in town, and I know per square foot we were doing, if you--, comparatively speaking, what we're generating was near double what they were generating there, if you had to have apples to apples, you know, every per square foot, how much is it making? We were doing pretty well in competing, in competing with them, and I think a lot of people wanna stick with your 00:21:00local--provider, you know? We know our customers by their first name, you know, you get to sort of check out-- and you build relationships, and that's really what it all is, is building relationships with people-- and having them being comfortable-- with doing business with you.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: And if things screw up, you try to take, you know, the very best care of surviv--, you know, of like rectifying any, uh, situation that may happen. And the whole key too is just starting from the beginning, um--, making sure that you're getting, they're getting what they want and you're not just selling 'em something to sell 'em something. You know, from beginning guitars, keyboards, I mean, keyboards nowadays have come such a long way--

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: --from when I was starting. I was driving up to Northern Virginia. I remember my dad going with me and we bought this keyboard just, you know, for $880. I remember this, which was a lot of money in about 197-- '77, somewhere around there. No, '78, '79, probably, 13, 14. And uh, luckily I talked 00:22:00my dad into that, I cannot believe I did that-- I talked him into spending $880 bucks and I, uh, got on payment plans with him.

Benjamin Stalder: There you go.

Mark Szafranski: You know, and, uh, yeah. So-- he helped me learn about, you know, credit, and I don't think he charged me any interest, (Benjamin laughs) I mean technically he could have, should have, you know. So these are the same sort of things I'm instilling upon my children too, talking about interest and money and how's it all work and you know. And they're slowly getting it. I mean, I don't remember my, my father talking about that sort of stuff when I was 6, when I was 10. I have a six year old and a ten year old. And, uh, I don't know what I would've been had I known more about interest, cause I know I made some decisions early on that probably weren't, you know, the greatest, you know, like buying a brand new pickup truck, you know, back in 1989. $263.55 for five years, 00:23:00nonstop. And then every now and then they send you a thing about, "Hey, Mr. Szafranski, for $25, (Benjamin laughs) for $25, you can skip your next payment. Just pay us 25 bucks." Course, you know, for the layman, you look at that and you say, "Wow, hell, 25 bucks." You know, you're living paycheck to paycheck, that's a good deal. But little do you realize that you now just have paid extra interest and you've got an extra month you're gonna be paying on, you know, so those are the kind of things that-- that helped me, that helped me. And would you believe after all these years of handling, you know, tons, millions of dollars coming and going, I've never bought a new car since?

Benjamin Stalder: Mm, wow.

Mark Szafranski: (Mark laughs) Dude. I put money where-- I put money into things, you know, investment grade guitars, apartments, you know, things that are cool, that sort of stuff. We had a recording studio upstairs for years and that was another really neat thing. We had this beautiful recording studio. We had to let rehearsal spaces, so like I said, it's transition. Now that studio on 00:24:00this side is, you know, five luxury apartments, another one, nine on that floor. And there's three floors, plus there's one the loading dock where we used to hang out with the bands, bringing all the gear in. Um, that's now another apartment. So-- it's really allowed us to kind of, uh, expand some.

Benjamin Stalder: Right.

Mark Szafranski: But it's still hard because-- you want, you want this place to be always, you know, generating and, and, and creating and-- cause it really is, my vision is to continue. That's what it, that's what interests me, you know, is finding, uh, vintage gear, fixing guitars. I've got one on the bench right now. I broke the headstock off. It was already broken when it came in and, uh, had to take it all the way off to really get it glued and it wasn't very--, it was like a $30, um, that I found at a pawn shop, but I wanted to give it a new life. And I've got the buffing machine and so I haven't looked at that. I did glue it up last, um, I guess last week. So it should be good to go now. But sometimes the 00:25:00headstocks will break off and we'll fix 'em, you know, where you can't even tell they've been fixed.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: You know, spray 'em. Um, so that's kind of how it all started. In fact, I was across the street-- playing an accordion, taking a break, wearing a smock. I remember I had my smock on, okay. (Mark laughs) And uh, I looked across and I saw it saying "For Sale By Owner," and then the next sign was "Owner Financing". And I was like, I was playing this accord--, I'm watching it, taking a break, wishing I had a customer. I was like, "Well, hell, I better get over here, see what it's all about." (Mark imitates the squeaking door opening) And the door opened up and I was like, "My God, this place!" It was just a big empty room times 10--empty rooms.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: And I remember my parents coming down here, my mom and I getting on the elevator with my dad and she just starts laughing (Benjamin laughs) like, "What in the hell are you doin'?" I said, "I'm-- this is gonna be 00:26:00great! This is gonna be great." Of course, this is with the plywood and water coming down the pipes and going into the basement. People are in the base--, like, "Where's this water coming from?" "Oh, from like a hundred feet up. (Mark laughs) That's where that water's coming from." And so I put a new roof on the place. Uh, one time -- and that's, that's survived for years. And then we just did a full-- in 2017 from top to bottom, you know, all new wiring, plumbing, electrical, uh--, you name it, you know, elevators. We got rid of the two elevators we had, we put one elevator in. Um, so all granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, and people are like, you know, "Is it really noisy if you live down and above a music store?" It's like this, (indicating the quiet room), (Mark laughs) you know, it's not that noisy. You know, we've had--, I've had people call, "Wow, if we're gonna, if I rent there, will I hear a lot of like--", or the musicians, "It must be the greatest party--"

Benjamin Stalder: Yeah! (Benjamin laughs)

Mark Szafranski: I'm like, "Not that either." It's just pretty much by the book. Just a nice, clean--, super clean operation upstairs. I mean, really just, well, you know, well taken care of. We have one full-time person that's all they do is maintain the upstairs and full-time here from the shop, and then a couple repair guys, and I just kind of float in between this and several other projects, you know?

Benjamin Stalder: Wow.

Mark Szafranski: Yeah.

Benjamin Stalder: That-- there must have been so many, you know, it must have been a rollercoaster ride for you, so many bumps in the road, but look, look at all thi--. This is great.

Mark Szafranski: Mm-hmm.

Benjamin Stalder: What would you say that your best decis--, uh, best business decision was in--?

Mark Szafranski: I think buying these buildings--,

Benjamin Stalder: Just the start of buying them?

Mark Szafranski: --Getting the buildings, and just really ponying up, you know, my, uh, yeah, I was across the street actually paying a higher rent than what these buildings were gonna cost me to mortgage, you know, not only this one, the one next door. So yeah, it was pretty--, pretty crazy when I think about that.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: Because I was over there around $1000 or $1100, and here it was $807.36.

Benjamin Stalder: Wow.

Mark Szafranski: Owner financing, that sign, you know, he gave me a nine year balloon. And uh, yeah, we were able to, you know, that's not a sizeable--, even then, I mean. And now downtown, these buildings are just, you know, we get--, everything's getting renovated. There's very few--, there are no real deals anymore, you know, but there's still some stuff out there.

But, uh, was there any ups and downs? Absolutely. And there were some times when I stressed, you know, about, you know, the bills and then credit lines you know. I hated to borrow. I mean, if you know it's okay to borrow it, if you're gonna make enough profit in a quick enough fashion to be able to service that note as well as pay your people and put some money in your pocket if you can.

Benjamin Stalder: Sure.

Mark Szafranski: And, uh, this is, was like running a marathon. I tell people was like running--, we had up to seven employees and you know, sure, we had sales of a million plus in a year in this small little place, but--, I mean, it just, yeah--, it was just crazy that all this effort, but there's still, at the end of the day, it's hard. Now, what is this class about?

Benjamin Stalder: So this is the, Anth--, this is Anthropology of Music. It's trying to figure out how a store or how a person or how, uh, a band exists in a community--

Mark Szafranski: Mm-hmm.

Benjamin Stalder: Uh, how they're contributing to a community, how the community has benefited from them being here.

Mark Szafranski: Right.

Benjamin Stalder: And it sounds like, you know, this is a perfect example, and I've done a little background research that in the '90s that downtown, like you said, wasn't the best area. And it sounds like you kind of saw that opportunity--

Mark Szafranski: Right.

Benjamin Stalder: --to make a difference in the community.

Mark Szafranski: Right. Well, I think that, uh, I was just always very 00:30:00interested in the, uh, music and the musicians. I played different instruments. I consider myself pretty well-skilled at a lot of stuff, um, as far as the piano and guitar goes, uh, mandolin to some extent, upright bass, of course. Um, and then of course, you know, the business thing. I'm lucky that I had somewhat of a business acumen to be able to--, you know, do what I do and parlay it into a, uh, you know, a way of life.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: Um, yeah, but also being able--, willing to work too. I mean, I, I never gave up. I just never gave up. Um, that's the key too, because it's so hard. Here it is at 31 years, um, this little idea is still here and we could be here for another 31 years if we choose, you know. Uh, I'm trying to figure out, you know, I've got these kids and maybe get them trained up. I've got one 00:31:00potential musician.

Benjamin Stalder: There you go!

Mark Szafranski: I'm not pushing her, but if she wants to sing while I'm playing the piano, more power to her. Um, you know, she's got a ukulele. Now the other one, the 10 year old, you know, he plays the violin, but he just does it in open. And so we have these very avant-garde jazz sessions (Benjamin laughs) because E-A-D-G, so he's G-D-A-E, you know, playing it, open it, and it sou--, and I'm playing all the chords between the fir--, you know, those four strings.

Benjamin Stalder: Right.

Mark Szafranski: You know, the violin is the opposite of the first four on it, so E-A-D-G. So it's G-D-A-E. Yeah. And so, uh, if you sit there and play it-- and it just sounds great. And then, and to me it was just the moment we did that when he was probably like eight, you know, eight and a half starts like--, I brought home a violin, you know, just left it in there, that's--, and they're looking at it and checking it out. And uh, that was probably one of the best moments of my life, believe it or not, just when my kid in this little room with 00:32:00me playing the piano and he jumps on that violin. I mean, it was just like inspiring. I was like, oh, this is why I had a kid. That's right.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm. (Benjamin laughs)

Mark Szafranski: That's the reason between all the diapers and doing this and running around and all that. And now he's at a point where he can jam with me. You know, he jams some. Now the other one, the little girl, she is probably gonna be the one that jams and sings and she's very outgoing and you know, gymnastics, gymnastics and whatnot is definitely in her future. But I think that she could potentially be the, the musician to carry the torch.

Benjamin Stalder: There you go. There you go.

Mark Szafranski: That's what I'm hoping for, you know, so anyhow, that's, uh, you know, that's kind of the, you know, that's kind of what I have to say here.

Benjamin Stalder: Yeah, absolutely. One more question about COVID.

Mark Szafranski: Okay.

Benjamin Stalder: What, what interaction did you have with customers during that time? How was your business affected, uh, by that?

Mark Szafranski: Well, we definitely, we shut down for a while there. Um, we tried our best to keep things going, but it was just getting sort of slow. Um, 00:33:00online-- sales were really getting busy though.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: Um, and at one point we're lucky we filled back up, but I mean, we had sold through every guitar, so it really kind of, in a way, it's amazing that we almost sold through all of our inventory, which is great for the bank, you know, the bank accounts, but it's hard if you're trying to run a business selling guitars and you don't have any products. So we-- had to deal with that some, and it was just a very-- iffy-- part. You know, we're all masked up, all the customers were wearing masks and stuff.

Benjamin Stalder: Sure.

Mark Szafranski: Um, it did hurt us, you know, we felt it into the pocketbook early on--

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: --but then it's sort of a wave of like, I want to learn how to play this, or I want--, I'm stuck at home. Why don't I learn how to, you know, play guitar? Okay. Well, it's a great idea. So luckily we, um, we managed to survive it, you know, and I, you know, we're fortunate. We're fortunate cause a 00:34:00lot of businesses didn't.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

Mark Szafranski: It was, a lot of the restaurants around here just gave up. They couldn't do it. I'm, I don't know how he would do it, you know, so, yeah, COVID was tough.

Benjamin Stalder: Yeah.

Mark Szafranski: You know, but it's just starting to feel almost normal.

Benjamin Stalder: Yeah, we're, we're thankful for that.

Mark Szafranski: I was playing with a bunch of bands right before COVID and now I don't really play with anybody. I'm just sort of at the house. Um, I'm looking to just work on some more original music in the studio. I feel like I've got a great album in me if I can just find the time to get there and start putting it down and putting it down. I come up with great little hooks in my head, um--, songs, and I jump on the piano and I just need to, you know, kind of get back to, you know, pressing the record button and saving these ideas.

Benjamin Stalder: Sure.

Mark Szafranski: You know, but when you've got a wife, two kids, several businesses, (Both laugh) apartment buildings, I mean, there's a lot going on, you know, and I handle a lot of that. You know, as you saw when you came in, it's like, we gotta get this, that, you know, you sort of saw the back, uh, you 00:35:00know, sort of the-- underlying-- movement of, of this business as, cause I wanna make sure that we've got stuff that's taken care of.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: Um, and yeah, you know, so anyhow, all in all, I can't complain, I guess.

Benjamin Stalder: Well, that's awesome. That's awesome.

Mark Szafranski: (Mark laughs) You know, I wish everybody could do what they love for a living. Cause anyone, you know, they always say it's not like working. And it really, I don't know, it depends on how well you wanna run it, but it's just, you still stay motivated and you're still interested, you know?

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: And I guess that's what keeps me going.

Benjamin Stalder: That's awesome.

Mark Szafranski: I'm really still motivated and interested and I enjoy, you know, meeting musicians. I enjoy playing, you know, performing's always been a big part of my life, so, you know, I like to keep that up.

Benjamin Stalder: Absolutely, absolutely. Anything else that you think I should know about this business, uh, to finalize, uh, the report that I'll be doing?

Mark Szafranski: Um--, I mean, we have, uh, received an awa--, you know, awards 00:36:00from different magazines, the different manufacturers for selling product. Uh, The Spirit of Art and Technology from Mesa/Boogie. We had -- Style magazine did a, uh, you know, we were one of the, I forget how, you know, but the local, the local heroes of music stores, back in the day. Um, we've had, uh, yeah, you know, a couple good write-ups here and there. Uh, and we're probably gonna get back out on doing more commercials, so you'll hear us on, um, different stations around town, uh, cause we've not done that in a while. It's all been voicema--, you know, you know, word of mouth.

Benjamin Stalder: Mm-hmm.

Mark Szafranski: You know, I was going to say it's all been voicemail. (Both laugh) It's all been voicemail, we've been leaving messages, just everywhere we've leaving them, but no one ever calls back! (Benjamin laughs) I know. Um, anyhow. Yeah.

Benjamin Stalder: Well, great. Well, thank you so much for, uh, for sitting down 00:37:00with me. This was really helpful.

Mark Szafranski: My pleasure. Is this U of R?

Benjamin Stalder: This is U of R, yes.

Mark Szafranski: I know. And I played the U of R Stadium. I played there.

Benjamin Stalder: There you go.

Mark Szafranski: Not the stadium, but outside, rock 'n' roll for the football game--

Benjamin Stalder: Great. Yeah.

Mark Szafranski: --with, -- I'll give a plug for the Bart Chucker Band.

Benjamin Stalder: Ok, ok!

Mark Szafranski: Bart is the judge, great guy. And uh, he kept me gainfully employed on piano for, I don't know how, 13 years, you know? That place is great. And whenever we played, it was like a New Year's Eve party.

Benjamin Stalder: Oh really? That's cool.

Mark Szafranski: One night a month we would play. And that place was hopping, you know? (Benjamin laughs) And then we'd come and do the fall--, I played probably, I don't know, probably six or eight fall seasons over there in the parking lot. Right to the right when you're coming down to the stadium.

Benjamin Stalder: Sure.

Mark Szafranski: Right hand side.

Benjamin Stalder: Right by the frats?

Mark Szafranski: Plenty of beer, plenty of music. Yeah, a lot of fun. So yeah. That's a great campus.

Benjamin Stalder: Yeah, it's a fun time for sure.

Mark Szafranski: It really is. Yeah. You know, so anyhow. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Benjamin Stalder: Great. All right! Thank you!