A Punk Rock Coffee Break! An Interview with Daggers & Hearts Dave Kendall
This is what we want on the Highstreet!
Daggers and Hearts is a new Punk Rock establishment based in Plymouth selling clothing, accessories, fresh coffee and cold drinks and snacks. All clothing is sourced ethically from independent sources and all food and drinks are sourced from local, independent sources. Fresh coffee is sourced from a provider who is triple certified as not only fair trade and organic but is also part of the rainforest alliance. Everything stocked at the shop is priced based on a responsible, moral basis.
I spoke to Dave Kendall the man behind this awesome idea about how it all came about.
1. Where did the idea for Daggers and Hearts come from?
I remember the thought process well. At the time I was between jobs having been made redundant from a sales job in a mobile phone shop and my girlfriend was scraping together hours as an admin assistant for a small travel company. We were walking to town through the park and we started talking about ‘the dream’! Having our own business and running it is a partnership. It was incredibly exciting and romantic.
The idea of only sourcing independent stemmed from knowing so many people on the D.I.Y scene. We wanted to set up a platform to help, support and grow the independent, D.I.Y culture that Plymouth is so proud of but it was very, very important to us personally to enrich and help it grow without exploiting or corrupting the essence of it.
2. Where did the name come from?
In all honesty, there wasn’t much thought behind it. The feel of the shop is very boutique and the way it is presented from the outside is very similar to an old school tattoo shop. I wanted to use a name that represented a love for tattoo culture and daggers and hearts are very staple, old school designs. It really was that simple. It sounded cool and sounded like a brand that represented an image and scene that I love.
3. Who designed the art work/logo for the store?
I did, on Microsoft Publisher. It couldn’t have been any more basic. Basically, whilst I was supposed to be working at my job at a local Newspaper, I was designing artwork and promotional material, haha!
4. Will you be serving food and if so vegan and veggie options?
Only takeaway, but yeah we are talking to a lady about making vegan options for us.
5. What is the process of setting up the shop, it’s cool to see the development on facebook, are you doing it with a team or mainly on your own?
There is no team to speak of but I am calling a lot of favours. I can’t even begin to stress my gratitude to the people that have donated their skills and time to getting the shop up to scratch as it was in such a fucking state. Damp, no floor, cracked windows, holes in the wall, old and shot electrics, no lighting, no bathroom. I mean, I got a good deal on the lease but my god, the hours have been long. I still have my full time job until we open, plus run a local music and arts zine so as you can imagine, my time is spread pretty thin. I would never have been able to pull it off without the help of friends and peers willing to help out!
6. What made you choose the location?
We chose the location because it is a prime position but slightly off the beaten track. This meant that the rent payable on the lease was a lot cheaper! It’s great because it is in the middle of student land, plus on the main road to anyone that walks into town for work or whatever from a few key living locations for people in mid-twenties to early thirties. It was just a great deal all round and because of the state of the property, it was pretty cheap and the in-out terms were negotiable. We also had things like business rates to consider and due to our location and the fact that it is my first and only business, we qualify for rate relief which is very important. I didn’t even know business rates were a thing until I looked at a property a few yards down the road and the rent was almost doubled by them!
7. Obviously you've got the Lockjaw stock in store what else will you have on offer at Daggers & hearts?
Not much in terms of music. There is an independent record store recently opened in Plymouth run by a couple of really cool guys and the last thing I want to do is take food out of their mouths, you know? I chose to stock Lockjaw as the lanel represents a lot of what we are about. I have only chosen to stock independent as it fits in with our ethous and you hav a lot of cool fucking bands on your rosta, but other than that, we are mainly selling independent clothing labels.
We spent nearly 6 months heavily researching and sourcing the suppliers and carefully screening them for eligibility. It is not always as easy as it sounds to just stock local so we had to be sure that the most important thing to our business plan was the sourcing of only independent and ethically charged suppliers. Not only does this result in the sourcing of cool designs as D.I.Y businesses make clothes for the love of it and not appealing to a mass “alternative” audience (there isn’t a day-glo strip or a hoodie with cat ears attached in sight) , but it means that the designs are credible, authentic and appeal to the market that we are targeting as we ARE the fucking market! For example, we stock a company called R.S.I apparel. The owner, Rob (who studied in Plymouth and is now living in Reading) is an awesome dude and he even came down to meet me before formally agreeing to stock with us. Not only does he produce insanely cool clothing, but the thing that he prides himself on the most is the way he treats the designers/artists. The company pays EVERYONE. Basically, if the company has enough money to print a design then there is enough money to pay an artist for it. They pay the people that help make the designs that float your boat and also pay the artists for any reprints they do. The more you buy, the more money goes to the artist and I think that that strong moral trading policy is incredibly admirable.
The business also houses a coffee shop. For whatever reason it may be, people have a bit of beef with coffee shops. I don’t know why. I think it may be because of the bad reputation a certain chain has for tax evasion or the fact that it seems to be a bit of a corporate industry. The thing is though, we are all getting a little bit older now and just getting pissed up isn’t at the top of everybody's social agenda. Don’t get me wrong, those that know me will know I am a bit of an animal when it comes to getting on it but I also have responsibilities, friends, family, and a life outside of going out on the smash every day. That’s why we are trying to build a community based social environment that operates during day time trading hours and will not impact on the hard work that the people that run our night life do so well. As I said, We want to support other independent business, not compete with them.
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Everything served in terms of food and drink is independent and local. Daggers & Hearts uses Mr Buns as a supplier for cakes and sandwiches, Portlebay Popcorn (based out of Langage, Plympton) as a packaged snack supplier, and the coffee, the machinery and the other ingredients required to make the hot drinks are bought or leased directly from a company in Buckfastleigh. We wanted to use this particular company as they are the most local supplier to meet our strict ethical requirements. As part of our trading policy, the fresh coffee beans that we are using to make our traditional, espresso based hot drinks are triple certified. That means that not only are they organic as declared by the organic soil association, but they are fair trade and farmed in line with the rainforest alliance.
8. Who are you favorite bands at the moment?
There are so many cool bands around at the moment that it is nearly impossible to choose. I will always have a love for rock and roll hardcore and have done for a few years now. ETID, Fight Paris, The Bronx etc will always have a huge place in my heart. I’m also a big fan of bands like Defeater, Dead Swans, Architects, Let Live, Title Fight, Such Gold, Modern Life Is War etc. and bands like Poison The Well and Norma Jean who I got into when I was late teens early twenties, (now 28 years old) I could listen to for the rest of my life!
9. Do you or have you played in a band yourself?
Haha! Well I play guitar badly but haven’t played in a band for over 10 years. The last band I had was around 2001. We were an Alt-rock band called Downkast! We started playing a few local shows and through this I got into punk rock, metal and hardcore after finding a little venue on the outskirts of town called the Phoenix through playing a couple of gigs there. After a couple of failed attempts of being in a heavier band I decided it was better to stick to behind the scenes work so I got into a sound tech course (which I was kicked out of) and concentrated on promoting a few shows and watching the bands… not being in them.
10. You also do the 'All Seeing Eye zine' how long has this been going and what made you start?
Well I have been writing freelance on and off for around 4-5 years for various publications but it had pretty much gone stale due to working full time. I managed to get a job working for The Local Newspaper and thought ‘great, I can start up again!’ Even though I worked on advertising, they were pretty good when it came to creative input so I was allowed to commission a supplement named Alternative Culture, ha-ha!
Unfortunately, it didn’t take off. It was commercially led which means it was governed by advertising revenue and The Herald prices are way out of the league of many of the D.I.Y and small independent businesses I was appealing to. Also, a lot of the guys I spoke to couldn’t justify spending money on a platform that wasn’t appealing to their immediate target audience. Mainly though, the editorial content in the paper is embarrassing when it comes to appealing to the lifestyle that the people in our scene live.
What’s On is about as close as it gets and unless you’re interested in local rock cover bands then you’re about 20 years too young to read it and have it bare any relevance to your life. Nobody cares about the fact that Stereophonics are playing or Will Young or some shitty band like The Feeling is at the Pavilions (or local mainstream, large capacity venue) and it pissed me off. So, I decided to do something about it and make my own publication. I offered advertising rates with an ethos of large space at LOW rates. I decided to make it non-profit so that only the cost of printing was covered and yeah, people got behind it!
11. What advice can you give any budding entrepreneur wanting to support the scene?
PLAN, PLAN AND FUCKING PLAN. You can never plan enough! Plan for every eventuality and plan for alternative outcomes! Be prepared to evolve and grow your ideas and be open to advice and criticisms. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and use as many favours as you can get! Listen to people and their ideas and thoughts but ultimately, be aware of your own identity and product. Observe peoples successes and their mistakes and don’t jump into anything until you are completely ready. Be prepared to take risks but be aware of those risks and have backup plans. Stay at work (if you have a job) as long as you possibly can and do not burn your bridges as you don’t know when you may need to take a step back! Always have the best interests of the scene at heart! People will see through bullshit and you will fall flat on your face before even starting out! I’m not in the best position to give advice as I haven’t opened yet but I would say that those are pretty safe words!
12. Most importantly, Whens the opening date?
Looking at the 29th of April but it all depends on us getting the shop up to scratch I think that we are to schedule at the moment but the main thing I have learned from this is that anything can happen. Fixing one problem can easily uncover another and everything is fucking expensive! Fingers crossed though, the 29th of April!
Thanks loads to Dave for his time, you can follow the progress of Daggers and Hearts on Facebook and Twitter.
facebook.com/daggersandheartsshop
@daggerheartshop
Find Daggers and Hearts @ 1 Alexandra Road, Mutley, Plymouth, England.
And check out The All Seeing Eye Zine
facebook.com/theallseeingeyenews
Peace
Rob LJR
6. What made you choose the location?
We chose the location because it is a prime position but slightly off the beaten track. This meant that the rent payable on the lease was a lot cheaper! It’s great because it is in the middle of student land, plus on the main road to anyone that walks into town for work or whatever from a few key living locations for people in mid-twenties to early thirties. It was just a great deal all round and because of the state of the property, it was pretty cheap and the in-out terms were negotiable. We also had things like business rates to consider and due to our location and the fact that it is my first and only business, we qualify for rate relief which is very important. I didn’t even know business rates were a thing until I looked at a property a few yards down the road and the rent was almost doubled by them!
7. Obviously you've got the Lockjaw stock in store what else will you have on offer at Daggers & hearts?
Not much in terms of music. There is an independent record store recently opened in Plymouth run by a couple of really cool guys and the last thing I want to do is take food out of their mouths, you know? I chose to stock Lockjaw as the lanel represents a lot of what we are about. I have only chosen to stock independent as it fits in with our ethous and you hav a lot of cool fucking bands on your rosta, but other than that, we are mainly selling independent clothing labels.
We spent nearly 6 months heavily researching and sourcing the suppliers and carefully screening them for eligibility. It is not always as easy as it sounds to just stock local so we had to be sure that the most important thing to our business plan was the sourcing of only independent and ethically charged suppliers. Not only does this result in the sourcing of cool designs as D.I.Y businesses make clothes for the love of it and not appealing to a mass “alternative” audience (there isn’t a day-glo strip or a hoodie with cat ears attached in sight) , but it means that the designs are credible, authentic and appeal to the market that we are targeting as we ARE the fucking market! For example, we stock a company called R.S.I apparel. The owner, Rob (who studied in Plymouth and is now living in Reading) is an awesome dude and he even came down to meet me before formally agreeing to stock with us. Not only does he produce insanely cool clothing, but the thing that he prides himself on the most is the way he treats the designers/artists. The company pays EVERYONE. Basically, if the company has enough money to print a design then there is enough money to pay an artist for it. They pay the people that help make the designs that float your boat and also pay the artists for any reprints they do. The more you buy, the more money goes to the artist and I think that that strong moral trading policy is incredibly admirable.
The business also houses a coffee shop. For whatever reason it may be, people have a bit of beef with coffee shops. I don’t know why. I think it may be because of the bad reputation a certain chain has for tax evasion or the fact that it seems to be a bit of a corporate industry. The thing is though, we are all getting a little bit older now and just getting pissed up isn’t at the top of everybody's social agenda. Don’t get me wrong, those that know me will know I am a bit of an animal when it comes to getting on it but I also have responsibilities, friends, family, and a life outside of going out on the smash every day. That’s why we are trying to build a community based social environment that operates during day time trading hours and will not impact on the hard work that the people that run our night life do so well. As I said, We want to support other independent business, not compete with them.
There's no better online promo code for your first trip than ours. Sign up with Uber using our official promo code and get a discount on your first ride.Uber Coupons for April 2017! Use our latest Uber Coupons and get Rs. 50 Off on your First 3 Uber Rides
Everything served in terms of food and drink is independent and local. Daggers & Hearts uses Mr Buns as a supplier for cakes and sandwiches, Portlebay Popcorn (based out of Langage, Plympton) as a packaged snack supplier, and the coffee, the machinery and the other ingredients required to make the hot drinks are bought or leased directly from a company in Buckfastleigh. We wanted to use this particular company as they are the most local supplier to meet our strict ethical requirements. As part of our trading policy, the fresh coffee beans that we are using to make our traditional, espresso based hot drinks are triple certified. That means that not only are they organic as declared by the organic soil association, but they are fair trade and farmed in line with the rainforest alliance.
8. Who are you favorite bands at the moment?
There are so many cool bands around at the moment that it is nearly impossible to choose. I will always have a love for rock and roll hardcore and have done for a few years now. ETID, Fight Paris, The Bronx etc will always have a huge place in my heart. I’m also a big fan of bands like Defeater, Dead Swans, Architects, Let Live, Title Fight, Such Gold, Modern Life Is War etc. and bands like Poison The Well and Norma Jean who I got into when I was late teens early twenties, (now 28 years old) I could listen to for the rest of my life!
9. Do you or have you played in a band yourself?
Haha! Well I play guitar badly but haven’t played in a band for over 10 years. The last band I had was around 2001. We were an Alt-rock band called Downkast! We started playing a few local shows and through this I got into punk rock, metal and hardcore after finding a little venue on the outskirts of town called the Phoenix through playing a couple of gigs there. After a couple of failed attempts of being in a heavier band I decided it was better to stick to behind the scenes work so I got into a sound tech course (which I was kicked out of) and concentrated on promoting a few shows and watching the bands… not being in them.
10. You also do the 'All Seeing Eye zine' how long has this been going and what made you start?
Well I have been writing freelance on and off for around 4-5 years for various publications but it had pretty much gone stale due to working full time. I managed to get a job working for The Local Newspaper and thought ‘great, I can start up again!’ Even though I worked on advertising, they were pretty good when it came to creative input so I was allowed to commission a supplement named Alternative Culture, ha-ha!
Unfortunately, it didn’t take off. It was commercially led which means it was governed by advertising revenue and The Herald prices are way out of the league of many of the D.I.Y and small independent businesses I was appealing to. Also, a lot of the guys I spoke to couldn’t justify spending money on a platform that wasn’t appealing to their immediate target audience. Mainly though, the editorial content in the paper is embarrassing when it comes to appealing to the lifestyle that the people in our scene live.
What’s On is about as close as it gets and unless you’re interested in local rock cover bands then you’re about 20 years too young to read it and have it bare any relevance to your life. Nobody cares about the fact that Stereophonics are playing or Will Young or some shitty band like The Feeling is at the Pavilions (or local mainstream, large capacity venue) and it pissed me off. So, I decided to do something about it and make my own publication. I offered advertising rates with an ethos of large space at LOW rates. I decided to make it non-profit so that only the cost of printing was covered and yeah, people got behind it!
11. What advice can you give any budding entrepreneur wanting to support the scene?
PLAN, PLAN AND FUCKING PLAN. You can never plan enough! Plan for every eventuality and plan for alternative outcomes! Be prepared to evolve and grow your ideas and be open to advice and criticisms. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and use as many favours as you can get! Listen to people and their ideas and thoughts but ultimately, be aware of your own identity and product. Observe peoples successes and their mistakes and don’t jump into anything until you are completely ready. Be prepared to take risks but be aware of those risks and have backup plans. Stay at work (if you have a job) as long as you possibly can and do not burn your bridges as you don’t know when you may need to take a step back! Always have the best interests of the scene at heart! People will see through bullshit and you will fall flat on your face before even starting out! I’m not in the best position to give advice as I haven’t opened yet but I would say that those are pretty safe words!
12. Most importantly, Whens the opening date?
Looking at the 29th of April but it all depends on us getting the shop up to scratch I think that we are to schedule at the moment but the main thing I have learned from this is that anything can happen. Fixing one problem can easily uncover another and everything is fucking expensive! Fingers crossed though, the 29th of April!
Thanks loads to Dave for his time, you can follow the progress of Daggers and Hearts on Facebook and Twitter.
facebook.com/daggersandheartsshop
@daggerheartshop
Find Daggers and Hearts @ 1 Alexandra Road, Mutley, Plymouth, England.
And check out The All Seeing Eye Zine
facebook.com/theallseeingeyenews
Peace
Rob LJR