For the Record is a conversation series where we speak with all manner of music heads — DJs, music journos, indie label captains, record shop owners, listening bar kingpins, et al — about their stories + the music that makes them.

Ben Steidel is a DJ, musician, and co-owner of Brooklyn Record Exchange. Originally from San Francisco, he spent nearly 10 years working at Amoeba Music before relocating to Brooklyn with his band Lemonade. He opened his first store Co-op 87 Records in Greenpoint in 2011, which was re-named Brooklyn Record Exchange upon opening their Bushwick location in 2019. He's a passionate record collector and music head spanning a wide variety of genres and has been a resident DJ at The Lot Radio since 2016.

Crate Coalition Manifesto: [bit.ly/46HKDCL](http://bit.ly/46HKDCL)

MUSIC MENTIONS

**Early days/Influences (:43)**

Amoeba

Hardcore

Top 40

Lemonade (his band)

Dance music

Jefferson Starship

Tears for Fears

Michael Jackson

Weird Al

Nirvana

Grunge

Pearl Jam

**Working at Amoeba (5:20)**

Free Jazz

Merzbow

African Music

Academy

Sonic Youth

The Killers

Def Jux

Cannibal Ox

El-P

**Moving to New York (11:30)**

Salsoul

West End Records

Strictly Rhythm

Nervous Records

House

Disco

Prelude Records

**Starting his own record shop (14:30)**

Mexican Summer

Co-op 87

Brooklyn Record Exchange

**Has streaming affected cratedigging for you? (17:30)**

Spotify

Bandcamp

**Three artists of note you’ve heard for the first time this year (21:30)**

Jess Williamson

Tiro!

Lo-fi house

SPF 50

**Most underappreciated artist from your favorite decade (24:00)**

80s

New Musik

(ELO)

Synth pop

**Notable music community (25:30)**

Record store scene in New York

**Desert island discs (28:25)**

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

McCoy Tyner - Extensions

Bjork - Homogenic

(Helmet)