**Phil Dalton and Aaron Borg at the Bad Habit store where music, vintage toys, skateboarding and vinyl records collide.**

By Janine Hill

MATES Phil Dalton and Aaron Borg share a bad habit: collecting stuff.

For Phil, that means vintage toys, skateboards and movies while Aaron’s stuff is music, namely records.

They share their afflictions with the rest of the community through Bad Habit record and collectables store, which recently relocated from Blackall Terrace to the Old Ambulance Station in Howard Street.

At Blackall Terrace, Phil and Aaron organised live music gigs in conjunction with neighbouring café, The Village Pickle. They continue to organise live music at The Old Ambo, a key multi-media venue within the Nambour entertainment precinct.

“There’s a certain synergy there,” Phil said.

The men do not pitch a particular music style. A punk outfit and gospel singer are booked to play on the same card soon.

Phil said the place was developing as a niche for metal bands who often could not get a go on the coastal strip.

“English band Rat Cage played here and said it was the best show they’d ever done.”

“I just think Nambour crowds are pretty enthusiastic. That type of music doesn’t really get supported on the coast.”

Upcoming shows at the Blackbox Theatre in The Old Ambo include BoomBoom Kid from Argentina with locals Fat Dog and the Tits, Sissy Boy and Aborto de Christo, with Aaron on drums on July 6. On July 8, Kitchens Floor, Guppy and Refedex take the stage in a Basket of Hammers show headlined by Diaspora the Explorer.

From July 16 to August 5, the Ground Zero exhibition at The Old Ambo will showcase a range of artists and aerosol art demonstrations, and there will be hip hop MCs, beatboxers and an album launch.

An OUTBREAK show featuring Depuration, Odius, Death Plague and Sunshine Coast outfit Flesh Torrent is scheduled for the Blackbox on September 9.

Phil and Aaron manage to open Bad Habit seven days a week while organising shows.

The mates moved in the same scene and teamed up for a couple of events before going into business together.

Phil has been collecting vintage toys since his 20s, when Japanese anime toys caught his eye while he was recovering from a skateboarding injury.

“Then I got into the hole about how they are made and sculpting and the techniques used. The good quality toys are sculptures and the artistic work in them is amazing,” he said.

His interest has expanded to vintage toys, such as Star Wars collectables, horror toys and horror movies. The movies and skateboarding are to be shared with the public through the store in future.

Chief of records Aaron, who ran a successful record store at Ipswich, has about 5000 vinyls in stock.

The records are put out for sale in the store before being posted for sale online.

“We like to give locals a chance first. It’s just about being part of the community,” Phil said.