Vince Clarke (Erasure, Depeche Mode) is an investor in new Brooklyn record store

Vince Clarke, co-founder of Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure, has made a lot of records over the last 45 years, and now he’s helping sell records as an investor in a new Brooklyn record store. The shop in question is Sterling Record Store, which will be located at 121 Fifth Ave in Park Slope, and is a dream project of Clarke’s longtime friend Gary Giddens, who owns nearby bar Gowanus Gardens.

“I’m really excited to be involved with Gary’s project, an opportunity to share our passion for music, history, vinyl and the art of audio,” Clarke told Brooklyn Paper. “As an investor, I also get a discount at the store, so it’s a win, win situation.”

Sterling Record is not too far from Clarke’s former Townhouse which he put on the market in 2017 for nearly $6 million — he now lives in a three-story Tribeca loft — and right be the former home of rock club Southpaw which closed in 2012. In addition to stacks o’ wax, the store plans to host live in-store performances as well as DJ sets for Maker Park Radio, which Clarke and Giddens both have shows on.

Giddens hopes to open Sterling Record by May 19, which is the annual Fifth Ave Street Fair. There’s also a GoFundMe to aid in the store’s opening.

You can catch Vince Clarke in Brooklyn before that when he performs his solo album Songs of Silence at National Sawdust on May 4.