Psychic Hotline, the Durham-based record label founded by Nick Sanborn and Amelia Meath of Sylvan Esso with longtime manager Martin Anderson, has planted its flag in downtown Durham with a retail pop-up called Psychic Hotline Mailroom.
The Mailroom, located at 316 Holland Street, sits at the end of the cobblestone alleyway next to the Durham Hotel. Psychic Hotline keeps an office on the second floor as the label headquarters, and an actual mailroom on the first floor for shipping out online orders. But since 2022, the label has periodically opened up a small room at the front of the building for in-person shopping— a way to connect with fans and showcase the label. The Mailroom pop-up first made its debut three years ago for “The Greatest Show on Dirt,” a three-day music series at the Durham Athletic Park (DAP) hosted and headlined by Sylvan Esso.
Will Hackney, head of production at Psychic Hotline, is one of three employees who take shifts running the pop-up, alongsideAnderson and direct sales coordinator Devon Tuttle. Most of the folks at Psychic Hotline have a history of working in record stores.
“We like that social interaction, sharing music directly, and getting to chat about things that we like,” Hackney says.
Hackney and Anderson both grew up in Chapel Hill, where Anderson used to hold down Sundays from noon to 8 p.m. at CD Alley on Franklin Street. He says that he still “loves the ritual” of overseeing the record shop and connecting with fellow music lovers.
Starting this spring, the Mailroom has regular, limited hours on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. While you can’t get a palm reading, you can expect to find a selection of new record releases and merchandise from Psychic Hotline’s eclectic roster of artists and collaborators.
“It’s not outfitted like a real storefront, but we’ve been making little tweaks every few months to make it nice to be in there,” Hackney says. “When you’re doing your Saturday errands, you can come by and check out some records, or take part in some of the focused events that we’re doing with different artists and local businesses.”
In addition to selling records, you might catch DJs spinning records of their own during special events at the Mailroom, which has played host to album releases, merch drops, and, once, a “pancake party.” Hackney says the space is a “blank canvas” that allows the label to share the Mailroom with other creatives, both inside and outside the music industry, and provide opportunities to unite fan bases.
Reyna Tropical, a Mexican-American band that performed at Good Moon Festival in 2024, released their debut album, Malegria, on Psychic Hotline last year. To commemorate the release, the label worked with Reyna Tropical and Little Waves Coffee, the owners of Cocoa Cinnamon, to create a custom coffee blend, which was sold in limited quantities at a pop-up event at the Mailroom.
Earlier this month, the label also partnered with the team behind the NO VISA dance party series to release a collaborative clothing collection at the Mailroom, handing over turntable reigns to local DJs Mickey Slicks and Alec Lomami. NO VISA and Psychic Hotline previously worked together on an afterparty during the label’s 2022 mini-festival at DAP, and Nick Sanborn, under his Made of Oak moniker, has performed for NO VISA events since the series started in 2019.
The next collaboration on the horizon is a custom skate deck with Manifest Skate Shop and musician/illustrator Nathaniel Russell.
“That’s a big goal for the space is just to have an excuse or a reason to work with other cool local businesses,” Hackney says. “This is a way to make those connections and collaborate, especially with people that don’t have a record for us to put out, you know, in that classic direct record label way. People that we’re fans of in town—we’re making up these excuses to do stuff with them.”
Psychic Hotline doesn’t have an official “roster,” but the list of contributing artists does include mainstays like Sylvan Esso, The Dead Tongues, and Phil Cook. Since its founding in 2018, the label has produced records for over 50 artists in total. Albums are released project to project, and the artists have no obligation to continue working with the label, though many do come back.
“We’ve always wanted the label to exist as a porous, sort of connector of broader arts communities, and not just being locked into one medium or roster,” Anderson says.
“We’ve always wanted the label to exist as a porous, sort of connector of broader arts communities, and not just being locked into one medium or roster.”
In a world of streaming services, the Mailroom offers a physical pace for people to discover and engage with music and the artists they care about without having to filter through ads or doomscroll social media in search of new music.
By hosting local events for record releases and artist spotlights, even for artists like Reyna Tropical who aren’t based in the Triangle, and creating collaboration opportunities with other businesses, the label aims to deepen the connection between the music and the community surrounding it.
“All of the extra stuff is just interesting ways to bring people into the music,” Hackney says. “Obviously, there’s a lot of music out there, and it comes across everybody’s streaming services. Some of the other avenues are just a way to let people know what the artists are about and what they’re into in an attempt to get them to hear this music that we really care about and provide richness to the world of the music.”
No one can predict the future, not even a company named Psychic Hotline. But Anderson, the label’s founder, is certain the Mailroom will continue to evolve.
Good Moon, the label’s hometown music festival that debuted last year, won’t be back until 2026. Anderson says the plan has always been a biennial event. During the off-year, fans can anticipate a series of concerts this fall, under the “Good Moon” umbrella, and more events as the label looks at more opportunities to collaborate with other creatives and like-minded businesses to “expand the spirit of what we’re doing in the Mailroom.”
Commercial real estate prices have risen dramatically in downtown Durham, making it more challenging to sustain the DIY art spaces of yesteryear like The Mothership, The Carrack, and Durty Durham Studio.
“That stuff has to be present downtown,” Anderson says. “A lot of people come through here and say, ‘I just moved here from New York, I just moved here from San Francisco.’ Alright, cool. Go spend those dollars at PS37 and at Missy Lane’s and the Pinhook and these spaces that are really moving things forward.”
Now that Psychic Hotline has found a home at 316 Holland Street, due in part to a strong relationship with restaurateur Michael Lee who purchased the building a few years ago, Anderson says that the goal is to open the door for others as a way to give back to the Durham community that has supported the label from the beginning.
“That’s a big part of the Durham spirit,” Anderson says. “Every time one person here cracks into something or gets something, it’s like, ‘how do I share it?’ And that’s the coolest.”
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