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?

Week 10, 2014: Mats, Sweden

What made you start buying records?
I was around thirteen. I really don’t know why. Perhaps as I have taped music earlier and the best show on Swedish Radio was put to an end. So I could not get any music from that direction anymore.

Do you remember your first purchase?
My first single was Sweet-Ballroom Blitz. The first LP was Les Humphries singers-Mexico. I don’t have any one of them left but perhaps I should try to get them in some form.

How long have you been collecting ?
Since 1973.

What sort of music do you mainly focus on?
Progressive rock and baroque music. I also like classical music, some hard rock, jazz rock (mostly seventies) and modern composers like Philip Glass, Arne Nordheim and Karl-Heinz Stockhausen.

As I get older I seem to be more generous about other music styles. I can listen to mostly everything but I don’t have to buy it.

How do you discover new music?
Internet, magazines, news from friends, spotify ….

Do you play any instruments yourself?
No, but I would like to.

Where do you prefer to buy your records?
In record stores. Since there are not many around any more I buy mostly on the internet. I use Ebay, Amazon, Discogs, Waysidemusic, Laser’s edge, Musea, Syn-phonic, BTF.it, CDjapan and several more. However, I still visit Record Heaven from time to time. It’s not long from Malmö, where I live.

Name three records that are special to you, and tell us the story of how you got hold of them.
Focus – Hamburger Concerto. I heard the track Harem Scarem on radio and thought that it was amazing. Took a while before I understood the whole LP. But it is filled with great music.

Yes – Relayer. Heard bits of this one on radio, too. I thought it sounded strange. So it seemed like a good idea to buy it. Took some time to get into this one but I was only fourteen. Fantastic music. And only three long tracks. I believe it was music like this that got me into classical music 5-10 years later.

King Crimson – Lizard. Heard this one at a friend. Liked the guitar immediately. Bought it as fast as I could.
But there are so many more records that are special to me.

And finally: what do you see in the future of record collecting ?
For me, I continue to buy cd’s. I use spotify quite often. But the music I really like I want to have so I buy it.
It’s rare these days that I buy any vinyl. Happens sometimes. But it seems that this format is getting a small revival. Nice. I think streaming and other services will continue to grow but I hope and believe that there still will be record stores in the future.

Week 5, 2014: Robban, Sweden

What made you start collecting records?
It was the skateboard wave that came in the 90s. I was an ardent skateboarder and with that music and beer came along hand in hand. And in this case it was the skate punk and hardcore music (before the hiphop culture came in and almost poisoned the whole skate culture). After a few years of intensive listening to punk music I was swept up by the whole punk marsh, and my aunts husband Johnny supplied me with lots of records. And it was there that my collecting of records started and it still goes on.

Do you remember your first purchases?
Satanic Surfers – Skate To Hell, Accion Mutante – Fear,
Abstain/Nasum – Religion Is War/The Black Illusions 7” split,
Puke – Ställd Mot En Vägg 2x 7” and a few mixed tapes from Johnny.
A weird mixture but I guess it was thanks to that it gave me a wider perspective at the punk scene.

How long have you been collecting?
I started sometime between  97’ – 98’

What sort of music do you mainly focus on?
Swedish 77’- 82’ punk, Crust, Käng, Anarcho punk and some HC and Oi/Street punk in small doses.

How do you discover new music?
From the web, gig/festivals, friends and other collectors.

Do you play any instruments yourself?
No.

Where do you prefer to buy your records?
Anywhere I can find them, everywhere from record exhibitions to small obscure record shops.

Name three records that are special to you, and tell us the story of how you got hold of them.
Accion Mutante – Fear 7”
It was a gift from Johnny and I fucking loved it! Also I became friend with the singer Rossi AM, he helped me to complete the AM collection and it’s one of my first precious.

Paragraf 119 – Musik Til Ulempe 7”
I think that I got this one in Denmark when Ungdomens Hus still existed and Paragraf 119 played that night in 2001 (I think). Immediately I became addicted to the raw sound, their energy and uncompromising music. Totally one of the most important and best records I have.

Liket Lever – Levande Begravd / Hjärtats Slag 7″
I got an opportunity to get my hands on this incredible record of its time, quite hard to get so I’m very pleased with it.
It’s hard to just drop 3 records but these are the ones that crossed my mind.

How big is your record collection ??
Time of writing its up in 666 records (CD/Vinyl) and it still grows…

And finally: what do you see in the future of record collecting?
It more or less looks like shit! There are lots of people sitting on good records and take a shit load of overcharge form them! And then we have shitify (spotify) as “the young” are up to. There are not so many who care about collecting / buying music for real, which is a damn shame. Hope it turns around. Stay punk as fuck and fuck the system! Cheers /Robban

Week 3, 2014: Åke, Sweden

What made you start collecting records? And do you remember your first purchase ?
I’ve always been a music freak. When i was a kid i started drumming on chairs with my home made drumsticks. And i can’t say why, no one else in my family was, or is, into music like i am.
My first albums was “The Spotnicks in Stockholm” and “Cliff” the first album from Mr. Richard. “Surfin’ USA” was the first single.
So that’s my roots.

In the late 70’s when i toured a lot in Denmark, me and singer Roger Holegård of Wasa Express discovered that Denmark was a record collectors heaven. They were a couple of years behind Sweden considering rarities and such. And did we grab the chance to hoard ?! Oh yes, In every little town the first question was “Is there anyone selling Second hand records in this town ?” And there usually was. In Copenhagen we even made one shop open up just for us on a Sunday. We must have bought hundreds of records in that shop. Stuff like the uncensored “Kick out the jams” by MC 5.

One day Roger had to go to the local hospital in Copenhagen and I didn’t tag along. When he came back, of course he had passed a second hand store, and pulled out his treasures, “Pretty Things”, “Downliners Sect” and so on. I was a bit miffed at that one..

What sort of music do you mainly focus on?
60’s Garage, pop and psychedelia will always come first. The Seeds, The Electric Prunes, The Trashmen, The Rivieras, Dave Clark Five, i like that stuff ! But a Blue Note or CTI album are also nice. And when that first ELP album came it was a revelation. And “Fragile” by Yes. Very nice.

How do you discover new music?
I read lots of music papers, Mojo, Uncut, Record Collector, Shindig, Classic Rock. And sometimes you hear something like you’ve never heard before. It’s not often these days but i’d say Behemoth has a style of it’s own. I’m also a big fan of Infernos drumming.
Discoveries in the past when you got that YES that’s something new i’ve never heard before would be : Ramones, Pantera, Mahavishnu Orchestra,Beatles, Grandmaster Flash, Black Sabbath,

You’re also a highly acclaimed drummer in Sweden, member of fusion combo WASA EXPRESS. Please tell us the story !
Yeah, drumming my life away ! that’s me. I’m very lucky to be able not only to survive for 40 years as a musician, but also to be able to play what i like to play. A big advantage there is that i like MUSIC, And if it’s Pop, Rockabilly, Fusion, Jazz, rock, prog or whatever.
Doesn’t matter as long as it’s well done. And you can also see that in my record collection that has everything from schlager to freeform jazz in it.

To some, Eddie Meduza to Bernt Rosengren might seem like a big step, I know. And I’ve played with both and enjoyed it.

You also performed with a wide range of other Swedish musicians during the years. How do you think the scene have changed from the 70’s to today ?
There was a LOT more opportunities to play during the 70’s. There was “Musikforum”, Clubs, Folkets Park and a band like Wasa Express could actually tour for weeks , gigging every day. Or is that just a wishful memory ? Sitting on a pink cloud. I don’t know for sure. When I think back there wasn’t that many places to play in Stockholm even then.
Being a musician is always a struggle and it has more to do if you’re lucky at the moment being on a successful tour or in a band that’s hot at the moment.

Any special crazy memories from the performance days ?
Well, playing in a band with Eddie Meduza or Thorsten Flinck will always give stories. Some not fit to print, but on the clean side: Playing Roskilde Festival, Sweden Rock Festival, gigging in Beijing, visiting Electric Ladyland studios , All the tours we did in Denmark and Germany with Wasa Express, Being number one in the charts with “Ooa Hela Natten”, Doing a drumsolo at Ullevi in front of 30.000 people.

Those are nice memories, but not that crazy. I’ve never been into crazy stuff. For me it’s the music that matters. I don’t even drink alcohol. never done drugs and stick to one woman at a time. Sorry.

How is the market for records in Stockholm  these days ? Many record stores left ?
I guess you know the answer to that one. So we’d better support “Pet Sounds” “Runtrunt” and the rest that’s left. There’s quite a few second hand stores though. Some almost as old as the street they’re at. Let’s hope they survive even longer.

Where do you prefer to buy your records?
Since I have ALMOST all the records I need. And more. (would be nice with that Rivieras album “Campus Party” or an original “The Deep” though..) Alright, I confess ! I can’t stop , even though i always say ” Oh , i was a fanatical record collector once, but I’m not THAT fanatical anymore” . The bug just won’t go away 🙂

Sometimes i roam the streets of Stockholm on my way to “Skivbörsen” , but you can’t find those elusive rarities in a shop anymore.
It has to be Ebay (my last purchase there was an Antoine album I’d been looking for a long time)

Name three records that are special to you, and tell us the story of how you got hold of them.
That would be albums from the 60’s ,that also means i bought them when they were released.
“Pet Sounds” is the greatest pop album that has ever been recorded. Bought it on vacation with my grandma in Gotland in 1966.Now it’s been said, let’s argue !
I also have a soft spot for “Spirit of 67” from Paul Revere & The Raiders and “Psychedelic Psoul” from The Freak Scene.

As a kid i was living way out in the sticks and my records came by post from “Svenska Skivklubben” When i got a note that they had arrived at the post office it was grab my bike and off i’d go to pick ’em up. I guess it took me about an hour of bicycling to get there and back every time. But to unpack that package was bliss ! See, i had the collector bug already.

And finally: What do you see in the future of record collecting?
It will probably be as it’s always been. The records nobody wants today is the collectors gold tomorrow.

 

Week 2, 2014: Jan, Sweden

What made you start collecting records?
What made me a record collector? Well, I´ve been interested in hard rock since I was 11 years old. Boys like to collect things. If I heard a really good record, I found out if the band had made more records. Then I bought those other records and that was when the collecting really begun. I must say that I mainly collect albums. I only collect singles by a few bands.

Do you remember your first purchase?
My first purchase was Sweet Fanny Adams by the Sweet, and later I bought all their singles.

What music do you mainly focus on?
I mainly focus on metal and hard rock. From classic hard rock like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple to the Thrash/Heavy/Death/Doom-bands of today. I can´t live with owning ten albums of a really good band if they´ve made twelve albums. I must have the other two. That can be really hard if the records (LP or CD) are out of print and the group in question isn´t a major worldwide band. 🙂 But that is also what´s so fun with being a record collector. Sometimes (very often actually) the chase is better than the catch! 😉
 
How do you discover new music?
I discover new music by reading music magazines, the internet and by visiting great web record stores like RECORD HEAVEN. Also through friends.
 
I remember writing with Boden band MANINNYA BLADE in the 80’s. Are those guys still around ??
Maninnya Blade? Those guys are really good friends of mine. I´m a bass player since the age of 15 and I have played in many bands. I was a roadie for Maninnya Blade in the 80´s and I played the bass for them on a reunion festival-tour in 2002. I also recorded three new songs with the guys in 2007. I actually had the privelige to write the music for one of those songs. Those three songs can be found on the internet under the title “Tools of Destruction”. It was Nick and Jerry on the guitars, Leif on lead vocals from the old line-up, and me on bass and a new drummer. I´ve also been a member of Slowgate together with Nick for nine years, and we recorded a couple of albums. Nowadays I play the bass in thrashers Predatory and we are working on our first album!

You seem to like the 80’s metal scene. Do you see any difference in the old bands compared to the new coming ? Many bands are taking their influences from the 80’s, and in my opinion, many do it very good as well !
Many of the bands of today are so influenced by the bands of the 80´s like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Accept… The NWOBHM was so important. The thrash scene comes from Metallica and the whole Bay Area Scene. The new bands take a little piece of influence from every era in metal.
 
Where do you prefer to buy your records?
I mostly buy my records from internet record stores. I also buy a lot when I´m visiting hard rock festivals.

And finally: what do you see in the future of record collecting?
I think that in the future, there will be less people collecting records. The fifteen year-old kids of today generally doesn’t buy records at all. But I think there will be a lot of record collectors anyway, but not as many as it used to be.

Week 50, 2013: Tobbe, Sweden

What made you start collecting records?
Love of music, I suppose! I collected stamps, coins, hockey idol photos and similar when I was a little kid but by then
it was all about quantity, so those collections usually faded as fast as they grew. When I started to buy CD’s, I caught myself wanting to own it as much as listen to it. The four or five CD’s I had on the shelf in my room was a great pride and I could stand and look at them, feeling pretty proud as I (probably) had the best CD collection among my class mates.

Do you remember your first purchase?
My very first purchase (I think) must have been the Jenó Jandó CD recordings of Ludwig Van Beethoven’s piano sonatas.
I believe I bought this when I was about 9 years old, and it’s probably the one record from my childhood that I still carry around. Even though only 15 % of the album is playable due to scratches.. Still good album!

How long have you been collecting?
I bought a lot of CD’s in my early teens, or maybe even earlier…
I have bought records on a continuous basis since mid/late 2011, the most I own today is probably from then to now.

What sort of music do you mainly focus on?
That’s a pretty hard question – it depends on what state I am in. When I was a kid (or younger, at least) it would start out with classical music, then my father would show me his – heavily damaged -70’s colletion which mostly consisted of Black Sabbath, B.T.O and E.L.O. From there I went to some heavy metal, then some grunge, then skate punk, then indie pop & singer/songwriter music…
Right now I am focusing on punk & hardcore, mostly early 80’s stuff but also early & mid 90’s. Besides that I’m also into prog, psych, stoner, jazz, some space rock and folk music.

How do you discover new music?
Well, a few years ago a new world of music opened due to some new friendships, which allowed me to hear tunes I never even knew existed. And it was some sweet tunes as well! So back then my newest findings was mostly recommendations – and it still is, partially.
I’m also a pretty big fan of Discogs! I like to see an item I want from a seller, and go into the store and check out his whole stock. I would (and will) then spend hours making the order… I would check out the sleeves, look for music from interesting times, cool band names, interesting stories about the band etc. I made some really great findings that way, so it’s a nice way for me to find some music.
It might be pretty different for me as, I grew up in www times, but it’s still nice to do some detective work when discovering music; the Internet is a jungle…

Do you play any instruments yourself?
I play the piano and have done so since I was about six or seven years old, mostly classical and jazz. I did a DIY record and had some gigs when I was into being a singer/songwriter, but I have probably crossed too many genres over the years to acknowledge that record… I also like to think that I’m a decent guitarist, but I doubt it, as I am as impatient as a five year old kid when it comes to learning.. At least these days!

Where do you prefer to buy your records?
Preferably from web shops in Sweden, but also a lot from Discogs. When possible, directly from the bands. I bought a lot of jazz from Tradera (Swedish division of eBay) for a while but I got tired of being on my watch the last hour of an auction.
Whenever you go to bigger towns, it’s always nice to hit the pub and then head for the still existing record shops..

Name three records that are special to you, and tell us the story of how you got hold of them.
Well, November this year I was at Utrecht, Netherlands for the record fair.
The first stall I want to was heavily oriented in Italian music, so I went for the prog section and found Museo Rosenbach’s “Zarathustra” almost immediately. I was happier than a kid on Christmas Eve! As I got home I discovered it was not the 2009 Sony re-issue that I first thought it was. It claimed to be a Japanese re-issue from the Seven Seas label. There was only one known pressing on Zarathustra from Seven Seas (1981) and that should have been a gatefold… I still don’t know the origin of my pressing – the search continues!

Another nice one is half a year ago, when my cousin gave me a tip about his friend selling his record collection. So me and a friend went there and I found some DK and Butthole Surfers. Then my friend picked up Septic Death’s “Now That I Have The Attention…” and told me; “Hey, you went past this one!” I told my friend that the music “seems chaotic” and he said: “This is beyond chaos.” So I brought it home and listened to it, and I thought “This is Dante’s Inferno on wax. And it sounds like shit!” After a while a listened to it more frequently and nowadays, a week barely goes by without me listening to it. In the car of course, which probably makes me a irrational driver.

The last one is Carol Of Harvest‘s self-titled album from 1978. This is the first record I bought just because of the sleeve (and of course the fact that Guerssen has got a sweet catalogue!) So I listened to it a friday night on my own and was blown away by the dreamy melodies. I was also heavily impressed by singer Beate Krause, as she was only 16 years old when recording that album. The depth of her voice could have been sung by a 40 year old woman with the experience and insight of someone in their seventies..So that album kept me and the old gin bottle company for lots of fridays – something I still look forward to!

 

How many records do you own?
Right now I own about a thousand records, mostly LP’s but CD’s and 45’s included.
I believe around 700 of these are from the latest two and a half years, and the rest are from my spectacular adolescent years..

And finally: what do you see in the future of record collecting?
Well, the latest years there have been a lot of really nice re-issues, especially of the early 70’s progressive and psychedelic scene. There should be a clear demand for those, as they are sold out before you can get hold of them…! So I doubt the general fighting spirit of record collectors will disappear. And as long as there is a demand, someone will always be the supplier.. At least I hope so!

Week 49, 2013: John, Sweden

What made you start collecting records?
Well… Before that, I used to collect beer cans with different motives, and other things you collect as a child. I think it was mainly because my father had many records that I got into music so heavily at a very early age. The sleeves was fantastic, and the music was good. Nazareth, Steppenwolf, Slade, Sweet, Uriah Heep. At the age of around 9, I collected bottles that you got money from, from the loca l  winos, stealing the bottles from their hands before they were finished, or closely. Spent the money on records, could be 1 a week or so. As time went by, the more money you got, and in school, I could maybe buy 2-3 albums a month. That is the very early start. The more money you got, the more you purchased.

Do you remember your first purchase?
Yes, I remember the sleeve, but not the band. It was some kind of soul band from USA I think. Would really like to know the name. But I do remember other early records I bought in the late 70’s, like THIN LIZZY, PINK FLOYD and JUDAS PRIEST. The sleeves was very important, as I never heard the bands, but the musicians looked cool & dangerous to a youngster like me.
How long have you been collecting ?
Well, depends on what you consider collecting. I started in 1978 to buy records. I did spend most my money on records from that day. My most insane periode was probably in the early to mid 90’s, when I bought around 3 records a day. These days, I still get records every week, but it is getting harder to locate what you need, and miss in the collection…

What sort of music do you mainly focus on?
These days it is pretty much classic rock music, and bands inspired from the classic rock movement. In my record collection there are pretty much 3 different styles, 1-Punk & hardcore from the golden age, 2-Classic heavy metal style, and some thrash / speed metal as well, and the 3^rd category is progressive, psychedelic and melancholic folk music. From punk, I have most items I want, metal – yes, still buy what I am missing, and in the 3^rd category, it is a lot of re-pressings. I rather buy a re-issue that sounds good, than spending a lot of money on bad condition albums, just because they are rare. I’m mostly in it for the music, and not for the value of the records. But some are not re-pressed, and then, head for an original…

How do you discover new music?
I try and follow internet sites. There are a lot of them. One thing that I really like is to click on collectors record collections on sites like Discogs if they have a similar collection like mine. I give YouTube a good try, but never be able to find someone that delivers good music there, and no time to search for a new song every 4^th minute. So internet is my main source, but no internet magazines or so, just plain collector sites.

Do you play any instruments yourself?
Well, had a time in my life where I thought I could play the 4 string bass, and did some recordings, some tours, some records, but in the end, time was running out, and had no time for it anymore. I can imagine myself in 5-7 years sitting playing bluesy stuff on the local pub against a handful of beers.

Where do you prefer to buy your records?
Internet. I live far from a record store. The internet, you can locate everything, or mostly. It is mostly about what you are willing to pay for a record. I like Discogs, but also check out record sellers private stock, as there are mostly much more listed there, compared to their Discogs stock. I very rarely goes into the auction, as I am pretty tired of those who puts their bids in 3 seconds before it ends. Used to be heavily into eBay, but that site I have abandoned since long now.

Name three records that are special to you, and tell us the story of how you got hold of them.
Well…this is the hardest, but it will probably be THIN LIZZY – “Black Rose”, just because it was the second album I ever bought, and listened to this 1000 times. It is one of the few ones I will be buried with. Secondly, maybe the live album of MOTORHEAD “No sleep till Hammersmith”, as I was totally blown away when listening to this the first time. I could not believe anything could be that hard & intense, and it lead me into a completely new world of aggression in music. Third one…..hmmm…..maybe the 2066 AND THEN – “Reflections of the future” as it got me into a whole new world of progressive & psychedelic in the early 90’s.

 

And finally: what do you see in the future of record collecting ?
Well, it will continue, but most records will be thrown away as they are pretty unsellable. There will always be a demand I suppose, and some records will skyrocket. It is getting pretty tough when one of my favourite bands, SAINT VITUS, releases a tour only M-LP, and you gotta pay 100 USD for it, when it’s brand new. In some way, I wish there would be larger editions of the records that are pressed these days, but also, understand the problems in todays record industry. On the other hand, how many records in the 80’s were made in 500 editions ?? Bummer…So I get it now, and not in 1 year – saves you a lot of bucks !