As the needle scratches to find its groove, a slight static noise fills Streetlight Records, a music store in Willow Glen, before the needle falls into place and the music starts to play. Long rows of shelves cross the room, filled with different types of electronics from records to DVDs to Gameboy games. Wearing a t-shirt of her favorite 80s band Depeche Mode, Lilia Gonzales (12) casually flips through stacks of records, looking for a certain one that is missing from her collection. She picks up a Thompson Twins album and reads the back before putting it back in, continuing her search.

“I’m kind of an unusual person,” she said. “First of all, there’s all those stuff about what I like to do in my free time, which is not something first of all most girls like to do and second of all, most people my age like to do. Usually the other people in the hobby [of records and stereo] currently are 50 year old men; it’s kind of funny.”

Although best known on campus for her accomplishments in running and soccer, Lilia’s interest in records sparked around two years ago and has become an part of her character. Trying to grow
her collection of records and stereo equipment, she has been hunting around eBay lately for something to add to her setup at home. To get some suggestions on what is good, she often visits forum like her personal favorite, Reddit, which can keep her up at night.

“I’m going to be honest; I do that too much and I kind of stay up late,” she said. “I just like looking at old, vintage equipment, electric stuff—it’s really cool because it’s not something something I grew up with. It’s not something most people grew up with.”

While her hobby is unusual, she has found others who also appreciate it in the same way she does. Her friend Catherine Wang (12) often sees Lilia bringing records to school and now thinks of it as normal.

“There’s a record player in Mr. Martinez’s room and she plays it during Graphic Art,” Catherine said. “I’m surprised she like old songs though. Usually, people listen to more pop songs, but it’s cool. She has acquired high taste in my eyes.”

Of her records, her favorite songs are from an 80’s band Depeche Mode because of their unique style of music.

“It’s kind of electronic, which I’ve always liked and it’s also the sort of music where you’ve never heard anyone else do it,” she said. “[I discovered them] through my mom; she used to always play their songs in the car.”

To her mother, Lilia’s hobby is a kind of throwback to her own childhood, and she supports Lilia to grow her collection.

“I’m glad she gets so much enjoyment out of it,” her mother, Melinda Gonzales, who is also the Director of Development said. “She became interested more in the actual, tangible aspect of music, like having a record, having the stereo equipment—and the sound is different, so she started to appreciate that. The funny thing is that a lot of the records she buys used, I had when I was younger.”

On one of Lilia’s shopping excursions, she was faced with some unexpected circumstances that surprised her.

“There’s one time where there’s an estate sale going on on my street,” she said. “I was going to go really early like right when it started, but… there are people waiting around, [and] they were all middle aged men with thick beards and I’m like “I don’t know about this…” So I went back home and didn’t come out to visit the sale until later.”

Knowing that records and equipment can be expensive, she got a job over the summer at Peet’s Coffee to save up money.

“Now, I actually have money to fill some of my hobby,” she said. “I have a pattern in which I save up for a month and then, I kind of splurge on some things that I’m looking at. This month is my splurging month, both fortunately and unfortunately.”