Idle Hands Records

Idle Hands has long been one of Bristol’s most treasured record shops, thanks to founder Chris Farrell’s deep roots in the city’s music scene. After years spent behind the counters of Rooted, Replay and Imperial, Chris opened the first Idle Hands in 2011 on Stokes Croft – part record shop, part living room, always welcoming, always playing something interesting. It became a hub for DJs, producers and diggers, specialising in new 12-inches that reflected Bristol’s musical DNA: house, techno, dubstep, grime, reggae and all the hard-to-define bits in between.

When the shop was forced to close in 2022 under the combined weight of Covid, Brexit and rising costs, it felt like a gut punch to the scene. Chris kept things going from a storage unit, but the city missed the shop’s energy.

In November 2024, Idle Hands returned to a new space on Lower Park Row, a stone’s throw from the Christmas Steps and marking a fresh chapter and a proper home once again. Chris calls it “a lucky break,” and the excitement around its reopening proves the love is mutual. It’s more than a shop. It’s Bristol, on vinyl.