Relic Music brings musical instrument store back to Red Bank after three-year gap

RED BANK - Ocean Township resident Michael Nicosia loved his sales job working for a school photography company, but his true passions are the strum and sounds of an electric guitar channeled through a powerful amp. 

Nicosia, a longtime musician that has played in Asbury Park and New Brunswick, has just opened Relic Music here at 13 Monmouth St. The boutique music shop sells guitars, including brands such as BiLT, Dunable and Nash, and other instruments, amplifiers, pedals, synthesizers and supplies.

Relic Music brings a instrument shop back to Monmouth Street following the closure of Monmouth Music in 2018. "There's no music store, really, that has this level of selection in Red Bank anymore," said Nicosia, 42. "I do think that if it wasn't for the pandemic, somebody else would have already put a music store here."

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In his youth, Nicosia learned to play guitar. He wrote songs and loved to listen to artists and music, trying to figure out why the instruments sound the way they do and what equipment they're using.

"So much of it comes from their fingers, their hands and the way they play," Nicosia said. "The other piece of it is all the gear that they use, their instruments, their pedal choices, their amplifier choices. Where do they have their knobs set?"

Nicosia's first job after college was at a music store, selling guitars and building on his love for playing in bands and collaborating with his brother. 

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After several months, he left the shop and worked in sales, ending up in a management job at a school photography company in Marlboro. Around 2015, he took a part-time job at a music store, eventually managing the store, and got back into the business.

"I fell back in love with this," he said. 

At the same time, Nicosia said he was inspired by his wife's decision to shift careers from cosmetic chemist to education, eventually becoming a school administrator.

"I realized I was happiest when I was talking about guitars and amps and pedals," Nicosia said. "This is really something that I've always wanted to do since my six months at that first music store job."

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He left the music store in January and he and his wife focused on opening in Red Bank. "We looked at a couple of different options, but ultimately, we love this town," he said.

Nicosia said he wants his shop to be a place where customers can try out amplifiers and speaker cabinets in the store, or can build a custom pedal board, which give the ability for players to use various effects, to discover what they like.

Besides sales, he'll also provide equipment repairs and adjustments. Nicosia also wants to host events such as guitar and pedal demonstrations while make sure that players of all skill levels are welcome.

"I've never had something like this, that's my own, that I built from the ground up, that I had a vision for and that the design came out exactly the way I wanted it," Nicosia said. "To me, it just feels like home."

David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for more than 20 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates.