Week 13, 2014: Désirée, Netherlands

Hello Désirée ! Please introduce yourself !
Well, my name is  Désirée Hanssen, I live in The Netherlands and I have a crush on vinyl!

You recently founded Lay Bare Recordings, which has a small but nice catalogue. What did you do before, and what made you take the step into the world of labels?
I run my label besides  my regular job. In my day to day job i help people who are going through a tough time. I show them that even if you have lost your job or if you have a lot of problems, there are still more options to get yourself back on track.  With my label i want to unveil great bands and their records, so that as many people as possible can discover and enjoy their great music. It’s about giving people a chance. With the same attitude in my regular job, I want to give unknown bands a push in the right direction.

The stoner / todays heavy psych scene is on the rise when bigger labels seem to sign these acts as well. How come it took the genre 15 years in the underground to get this break ?
Maybe because the other genres are getting smaller or just because there is not one scene anymore. A lot of music is divided in to sub-genres. To me the whole scene got fragmented.

I read somewhere you’re a big fan of Frank Marino, a guitarist todays collectors are pretty unaware of. Please namedrop us another batch of great 70’s guitarist that surprisingly seem unknown these days.
That’s a tough one to namedrop unknown guitarists. My favs are well known, like Ted Nugent, Eddy Van Halen and The Allman Brothers.

When it comes to collecting, which music do you mainly focus on?
Actually I don’t focus on one particular genre. At the moment i concentrate on harsh noise, industrial rock, dark jazz and doom. Heavy 70s and some good old country are genres that always deliver a smile on my face.

Sorry to be such a jerk, but few females seems to collect vinyl, but you seem to be very dedicated. How come the interest is so big compared to your fellow sisters around the world ??
Haha… Fellow sisters? Well, I don’t think you are aware how many women nowadays attend gigs and collect vinyl. If it comes to collecting i don’t think it has anything to do if you are a man or a woman. Its about passion and interest.

Since you come from Netherlands, I suppose you paid a visit or two to UTRECHT, one of the best record fairs in Europe. Have you got a special record you managed to pick up from there?
I help out the guys from the label Burning World Records. As their stall-ward, i sell their records on fairs or festivals. Since a couple of years i work on the record fair in Utrecht. So yeah, I am familiar with this fair. I found me some nice records of April Wine, Tangerine Dream, Budgie, Humble Pie and some nice jazz records. Dropped my eye on a record of Désirée, a German prog rock band from the 70s, lets see next time if I wanna pay €80,- for it…

Please tell us about the collector scene in Netherlands these days!
I know there are a lot of collectors in The Netherlands and of course all over the world. But I am not really part of a scene or any scene at all. I buy records because i love the music and vinyl. And because i love to attend gigs i buy a lot of vinyl directly from the bands.

How many records do you own today?
Still not enough! LOL!

Please tell us the story about 3 of your all time favourite records that will follow you into your grave….
If I could take a record player into my grave I would definitely take the next records with me:
I AM THE COSMOS from CHRIS BELL, just a perfect little gem!!!
CORONER – no release in particular, to keep banging my head and
IRIS DEMENT – INFAMOUS ANGEL, to shed a tear once in a while.

So, finally, how do you see the future of record collecting ??
Well, first of all, thank you for spreading the word about this wonderful item and having me on your blog! There always have been record collectors and either way its popular to buy vinyl or not, there will always be a crazy bunch of people who keep collecting those shiny pieces of wax. At least I am, for sure!

Week 12, 2014: Peter, Sweden

Hello Peter!  Please introduce yourself, and tell us your musical history!
Hybrid of hippie and hard rocker. Born in Karlskrona, Sweden 1961. For the last 30 years, I have worked, mainly as a photographer, for the Swedish motor magazine publisher Albinsson & Sjöberg, as well as having been the editor of several magazines. My interest in music seriously happened in the early Seventies. At my neighbour, who was a few years older, I got to hear The Beatles and Creedence Clearwater Revival, among other things. I was spellbound! Pretty soon, I was sucked in by hard rock, with bands like Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Nazareth, Slade, Status Quo, and Thin Lizzy. Also progressive music, like Pink Floyd and Genesis! Around ten years later, I started to go back in time somewhat: a lot of Rolling Stones, The Doors, King Crimson, The Moody Blues, and more Creedence and The Beatles. My “decade of music” is definitely 1967-1977.

Do you remember your first purchase?
Absolutely! For money I had received as a birthday present when turning 12 in 1973, I bought “Made In Japan” by Deep Purple. I had recently heard the riff of “Smoke On the Water” at a friend’s place. The double album was pure dynamite, and marked the start of an intense interest in music that has grown over the years.

When meeting you, in person, I get the impression that you have been into the music for a long long time, and was a part of the 70’s and 80’s scene.  How do you think the music progressed from the time you began to discover music to today’s style?
Every generation has its music. For most people, it’s easier to go back in time, than go forward. I don’t know what’s today’s style in a mainstream context. I NEVER listen to the radio or streamed music.

I know you’re also a vital part of one the best Swedish music magazines, Rock’n’Roll Magazine, please let us know how it came the magazine was born,
and how it have progressed from the start!
The publishing house had a magazine called “Nostalgia Special”, consisting of issues with different themes. The publisher asked me if I wanted to make a special issue. “Sure, and it will be about rock’n’roll”, I said. That’s how the fist issue came about in 2011. The following issue was about buses and trams… However, the response to the rock’n’roll issue was so good that we pretty soon established Rock’n’Roll Magazine, which is a bi-monthly, focusing on rock music from the Fifities through the Seventies. Our readership increases with each issue.

I see a thin common thread between Rock’n’Roll Magazine, and other magazines like Record Collector and Mojo, which mostly writes about 60’s and 70’s music. How hard is it to introduce new bands to the regular readers?
I like Record Collector and Mojo. I, however, wanted a magazine in Swedish that also writes from a Swedish point of view, including Swedish acts.

Most people want to read about bands and artists they are already familiar with. But there are also a lot of people who are open to hearing music they haven’t previously heard of. Speaking for myself, I have discovered several bands that I didn’t know much about since we launched the magazine.

Myself, I like the wide range of articles that you presents, from guitar builders, to jukebox collectors, old rock legends, record collectors, record reviews, which I do not see many other magazines have. What kind of articles do you get the most nice feedback on?
We have invented our own series called “The Record Bin”. We let well-known artists and musicians, like for example Ian Gillan, Slash, or Alice Cooper go through a pile of LP’s with other artists that we know that they are related to in one way or another, and have them tell anecdotes they have never told before. A lot of fun, and very appreciated by our readers!

What sort of music do you mainly focus on, in your own collection ? When did you start to collect, and how big is it these days?
I focus more on artists and bands I like, than musical styles. For example, I have all official LP releases by Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Camel, ZZ Top, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, and Frank Zappa.

I started buying records in the early Seventies. But the actual collecting started in the early 90’s, when I was obsessed with having complete LP collections by my favourite acts. It is when you get obsessed, and start filling the gaps, that you are considered a collector! I have an estimated 3000 albums by very few different acts.

I bet you’re one of those difficult Frank Zappa collectors … How come this genius didn’t reach out to more people than he did ?? Either you love, or hate him…(I am one of the admirers too…)
Frank Zappa is like olives, hard liquor and Motörhead. The first time you come in contact with any of these, it’s horrible. But, if you force yourself to keep exposing yourself to any of them, it gradually becomes extremely rewarding and, in many cases, addictive …

Regarding Frank Zappa, a lot of people may have listened to an album that didn’t suit them, and then formed an opinion … Zappa made albums that were very different from each other …
I have everything Zappa released until the time of his passing, and a few more… My favourite is “Hot Rats”.

How do you discover new music?
This is often liked to an artist or band I already like. For example, after having listened to Frank Zappa for decades, this led to all of Captain Beefheart’s albums, and Jean-Luc Pontý.

Please let us know more about the Swedish vinyl collecting situation. Many people who collect? And what kind of people do you get the impression who still keeps opening their wallets for that particular vinyl?
I don’t have any figures regarding the number of collectors in Sweden. It’s hard to make an estimation. A lot of them are probably anonymous. Regarding buying “holy grails”, it is collectors at the age of 50+, or 60+ who are willing to pay large amounts for Vertigo albums with the swirled label, or 10,000 Swedish kronor or more for a mint condition Jimi Hendrix release on the Track label.

Where do you prefer to buy your records?
In record stores. Nothing beats looking up record stores with a good selection while travelling.

Name three records that are special to you, and will be buried with you.
Made in Japan – Deep Purple.
Are You Experienced – Jimi Hendrix.
Weld – Neil Young.

And finally: what do you see in the future of record collecting?
I see young people who are interested in music and want to get away from the computers, and see the artistic values of album covers. Collecting is a rewarding hobby in itself. It’s impossible to collect digital music – it would be like collecting air, wouldn’t it?