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 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.