It’s All In The Groove
With Gonz, co-owner of Papa Disquo Records, Enmore Road.
I walked into Papa Discquo Records on Enmore Road with a very specific mission: track down the near-mythical Danzig 1 on vinyl. The kind of record that rarely surfaces, and when it does, usually comes with a story. What I found instead was Gonz, part-owner, self-described “record nerd” and occasional dancefloor maintainer, and a shop that exists less as a retail space and more as a living archive of music culture.
Papa Discquo isn’t trying to be everything to everyone. In fact, Gonz is pretty clear about that. This is a secondhand digger’s spot. A place for people who don’t quite know what they’re looking for, but know they’ll find something. It rewards time, curiosity, and a willingness to get lost. Listening stations hum quietly in the background, crates stretch in every direction, and the day slips away without much resistance.
“If you want a title, a specific title, we’re not the shop. But if you want to come in looking for country and leave with reggae or something that you don’t know, then we are definitely the shop for you,”
The origin story feels fitting. The shop wasn’t part of some grand plan, but a consequence of winning a massive record collection that needed a home. Storage became a problem, then a solution, and suddenly there was a storefront. What could have been chaos settled into something intentional. A space built around the ritual of digging.
Gonz speaks about records the way people talk about memory. Collections grow, shrink, evolve. Nothing is permanent, not even the most treasured pieces.
“My favourite record is the one I haven’t bought yet.”
There’s also something deeply local about the place. Mondays bring in DJs, hospitality workers, and international visitors, all orbiting the same shared language of music. It’s not polished, and it’s not trying to be. That’s the point.
As for Enmore Road itself, Gonz lands on a single word after some thought: quagmire. Not in a negative sense, but in the way it pulls you in and refuses to let go. You come for one thing and stay far longer than planned.
Which brings us back to Danzig 1. After a long chat, some photos, and a bit of filming, I casually mentioned that this was the loose premise I’d walked in with. Gonz didn’t miss a beat.
“You should have said,” he laughed, “it’s on my kitchen table at home.”
Of course it is.
Papa Disquo Records
109 Enmore Rd, Newtown NSW 2042
@papadisquo.records
papadisquo.com.au