I Hate Records in SF’s Lower Haight a new community space for DIY punk 

There’s a hefty dose of irony behind I Hate Records, the name of a store in San Francisco’s Lower Haight. But its owners are sincere in their mission to give DIY punk its own space.  

“Punk, as a subculture, is underserved in a lot of places,” says I Hate Records co-owner Cody Azumi. “We thought it was important to have punk in the city and promote it because it’s a way for people to have a lot of freedom of expression.” 

Azumi and co-owner Pretty Sims, both in their 20s, opened I Hate Records in June. Now celebrating six months in business, they are just as intent on having the store, a nonprofit venture, be a beacon for the punk community as when they conceptualized it. 

When Sims and Azumi met several years ago, they were attending the same punk shows, planning shows for their own bands, False Flag and Surprise Privilege, and spending time in Thrillhouse Records in Bernal Heights. 

“We were talking a lot about how there’s not a whole lot of places for the punk scene in San Francisco,” says Sims. “It’s really hard to get a spot to have the community have shows, hang out, sell local music and stuff like that.” 

Their solution: open their own record store. They found their space on Haight Street, a former laundromat, in April. Sims calls it “perfect for everything we wanted to do.” 

“We still have a sign that says, ‘We’ll wash your laundry.’ We kept that up,” Azumi adds. 

Their collection of vinyl includes bands such as the Germs, Black Flag, X, Gulch, Bikini Kill and other punk music staples.  

In the store, visitors also can find albums featuring lesser-known bands, including those featured on “Bloodstains Across California,” a compilation of songs from 20 Golden State punk acts which Sims has been playing on repeat. 

“I really like those punk comps, and I also like finding old punk stuff that I have never heard of before and throwing it in the punk section so that people can branch out their taste,” she says. “Even though there’s the ‘main bands’ for punk, you can go deeper and figure out what else you like.” 

I Hate Records’ shelves and bins are full of albums from Bay Area bands, including SPY (one of Azumi’s favorites) and those on their co-run DIY punk label, FYJFY Records. 

“There’s a lot of great local bands here,” says Azumi. “We think it’s cool to keep the local community alive and have some people be able to come and support it.” 

Cassette tapes, CDs, band T-shirts, vintage clothing, studs/spikes, patches, stickers, posters and local zines also are on sale.  

“We try to carry a little bit of everything,” he says. 

Azumi and Sims also are open to selling local artists’ work, on consignment or commission.  

“It’d be great to try and help more artists — [to] support them financially through promoting them here,” Azumi says. “I think it’s important that the arts and culture aspects in the city don’t get displaced.” 

Above all, I Hate Records invites people to freely express themselves, on store walls, during open mic nights or at full-out punk shows, as an alternative to outdoor impromptu concerts in parks, restaurants, on BART, or beneath the freeway.  

“People generally want to express themselves in a little more [of an] extreme manner—where they can yell and can be really loud,” Azumi explains. “And now they can come here.” 

Most recently, the store hosted Typewriter from San Luis Obispo on Nov. 1. Azumi and Sims plan to do more in the future, while being mindful of neighbors. 

“It seems like people here in the Lower Haight are very chill about noise, as long as we’re respectful about it—so not going until, like, six in the morning,” says Sims. 

I Hate Records, 413 Haight St., San Francisco, is open from noon to 6 p.m. daily.