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.
Record Collectors Europe 