If you wander down Stoke Road, past the cafés and the colourful independents, you’ll eventually stumble upon a little hub of music, laughter, and the unmistakable crackle of a record needle dropping. That’s A Slice of Vinyl, the forever home of Emma and Kieron Howes, a couple who’ve been together since they were 16 and have somehow managed to turn teenage dreams, pots-and-pans drumming, and a shared love of music into one of Gosport’s most beloved indie shops.

They’ve been married since 2010, have two brilliantly musical kids, Ally, 15, and Reuben, 13, and they’ve built a business that feels less like a shop and more like a community living room.

From Blondie on Top of the Pops to Stoke Road

Kieron’s love affair with music started early.

“When I was seven and Blondie came on Top of the Pops, I was so inspired that I started playing drums on pots and pans,” says Kieran, laughing. “Music and records have always been part of my life without me even realising it.”

Growing up in a house full of UB40 and 90s classics, aged 12, he graduated from playing kitchen percussion and invested in real drums. Office jobs came and went, he says, but nothing stuck or excited him.

Emma’s musical roots are just as nostalgic.

“My nan had music on 24/7 which really ignited my love of music from an early age,” she says. “We’d dance around the room, and the music created such fond memories that as an adult I really cherish now. When I later met Kieron, aged 16, we soon started putting on gigs. ‘Red Teddie Promotions ‘we called our business,” she laughs at the memory. “We were booking college bands and selling tickets, and it was great fun, sadly life took over, but the love of music never left.”

The market stall that became a movement

A Slice of Vinyl didn’t begin with a shopfront. It began with a stubbornly optimistic market stall on that Kieran ran on Gosport High Street.

“It was dry… well, mostly,” he jokes. “I worked in all weathers, even if there was storm, I’d be there. At first, I was working the stall once a month, then that became every two weeks, then every week. It was so popular that I realised there was something in it.”

From a makeshift stall to a tiny shop above Katie’s Vinyl Bar & Kitchen, then onto a bigger space by Gosport’s bus station, the shop moved around to accommodate its growth. “We kept outgrowing our spaces so finally settled on a good-sized shop that served our needs on Stoke Road,” says Emma.

“We’ve never had loans or credit cards,” Kieron says. “It’s always been slow and steady. Very organic. There have been no meetings with the bank or big strategies outlined to grow the business – we are just very simply two people who are passionate about music and the community.”

A shop built on heart (and coffee that they mostly give away)

Walk into A Slice of Vinyl and you’ll find more than records. You’ll find people who stay for a chat, families discovering music together, and the occasional customer who doesn’t even own a record player.

“The biggest thing is being able to create a place that feels safe, inclusive, and warm,” says Emma. “People can sit, chat, be themselves. And we get to work as a family so it fits our life perfectly.”

“We sell coffee,” adds Kieron, “but we mostly give it away. If someone’s having a bad day or we are in a conversation with someone, we will naturally offer them a drink, as you would any friend. Because that’s what a record shop should be about though – community.”

Their kids are part of the magic too, they tell me.

“Ruben is obsessed with Deep Purple and plays guitar constantly,” says Emma fondly. “Ali picks up a guitar and plays anything. Sometimes I just watch them and think, ‘this is the life! We really are living our dream.'”

Emma’s love for her hometown is fierce.

“I love Gosport and I will live here forever,” she says. “I hate it when people talk negatively about it. There is so much here, so to the people that continue to say negative things about it. They just need to open their eyes as Gosport is changing rapidly. There are so many new creatives businesses opening, and there is so much community spirit, so past connotations barely exist anymore.”

“And our shop reflects the community aspect of our community. It’s a place where a metalhead might walk out with Taylor Swift album because someone in the shop recommended it. Where strangers bond over a shared love of jazz or punk or pop. Everyone is respectful of each other with no judgement.”

“Historically,” Emma says. “Record shops could feel a bit… moulded. We wanted the opposite. Every music taste is welcome, and the best part for us is watching people connect.”

When I ask about the future, the conversation drifts to streaming, which is a topic that doesn’t faze them. “Streaming doesn’t worry us,” Kieron says. “You can’t pass down your iTunes account to your kids. A record collection is emotional. It’s inheritance. It’s someone’s life.”

Emma sees that every time they buy a collection from someone to sell on in the shop.

“We find all sorts tucked inside record sleeves,” Emma says. “Love notes, little messages… it’s a slice of someone’s life. It’s fascinating what people keep hidden in their collections. If we find something, we always ask the owner if they want it back. If they don’t, we keep the special ones in a box because it feels wrong to throw them away.” She pauses, laughs, and then says: “Although we do have to bin the spicy Polaroids we sometimes stumble across.”

A community of every genre and generation

Their customer base is gloriously eclectic.

“We get everyone,” says Kieron. “Young people, 50-year-old metalheads, families. Our taste in music reflects that. In the shop we’ll play the Spice Girls one minute and switch to rock the next.”

As well as selling records the shop hosts signings and the odd performance. “We have hosted signings with Glen Matlock from the Sex Pistols, Cast, Starsailor, and more. We have also supported local bands like Crystal Tides, who sold out the shop completely.

I ask how the shop coped in lockdown.

“We did online music quizzes every week to keep the community alive and catch up with our regulars, which was nice. On one occasion 1,500 people joined a quiz,” Kieron giggles. “We also delivered mystery vinyl bags to people’s houses. Small acts but it kept us connected.”

Why shopping local matters

“If you want small shops to stay, you have to support them,” says Emma. “Buy your milk from the newsagent, your bin bags from the market. The smallest change matters.”

“You have to nurture the businesses you have,” adds Kieron.

I ask about the future. They don’t have a five-year plan. They don’t need one.

“Hopefully we’ll still be here,” laughs Emma.

And when they’re not working?

“We’re boring,” Emma laughs.

“We love the beach – our dream would be to have a shop opposite the beach.”

Kieran says that some of their happiest moments are the simplest ones. “Spending time with the kids, whether we’re on the beach or in the shop, that’s our happy place,” he says. He then laughs and adds, “I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s true.”

For a couple who claim to be “boring,” Emma and Kieron have built one of the most vibrant little hubs in Gosport. Whether they’re on the beach with their kids or chatting to customers in their shop over a cup of coffee, their love for this town, and its people, runs deep. As long as the needle keeps dropping, A Slice of Vinyl will keep spinning its own kind of magic.