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‘Sound It Out’ Record Store Documentary Hits Theaters in UK

Written by Tyler Hakes. Published: Friday, August 26, 2011.

'Sound It Out' Record Store Documentary Hits Theaters in UK The independent record store documentary gets a theatrical release.

This week, the people behind the documentary “Sound It Out” announced that their film based on the day-to-day happenings of an independent record store is scheduled for a theatrical release in select theaters.

The film is named after the record store that it follows — the last surviving record shop in Teesside, UK.

Sound It Out, the store, remains in business, continuing to latch onto the obscure musical selection that has been the fundamental attraction to define local record shops over the decades. “Downloading has killed off a lot of shops,” Tom Butchard, owner of the shop told NME in an interview. “Over the years people have told me to sell chart stuff, but if I’d started I would have closed by now.”

The documentary also maintains a home-grown feel, having been launched by filmmaker Jeanie Finlay as a humble project, it eventually gained enough momentum and support to raise the funds for film festival entries entirely through a pool of fan funding. It first appeared at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, TX earlier this year.

“High Fidelity with a Northern accent,” the film is dubbed as, referencing the 2000 film, “High Fidelity”, which followed Rob Gordon (John Cusack) as a struggling independent record store owner. “Sound It Out” has earned the honor as the, “official film of Record Store Day 2011″ — an unofficial holiday dedicated to shopping at locally- and independently-owned record stores to show support for the rapidly-diminishing franchises.

The film is currently being shown at select theaters across the UK. For more information about the documentary, visit the official site.

Watch the trailer for “Sound It Out” below.