About Me: I have been collecting records for over 15 years and before starting my IG account a little over a year ago, I had no clue how many records I had. I started the account to start documenting what records I had and to show what the packaging, artwork, etc. looked like. It’s been a fun journey so far to see everything in one place.
Fun facts: my father had a stint in the 1970’s where he was trying to make it as a fledgling musician, and even connected with Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and B.T.O. working as one of his roadies for a while.
My favourite thing as a kid was to play Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall on full volume as I did my weekend chores around the home.
While I have a passion for music, my day job is as an Architect working in Healthcare design and construction.
Favorite genres: While I enjoy and love a wide and eclectic group of genres, my favourites are Soul/R&B and Hip-hop, with Soul Music from the 1970’s being my absolute favourite! I could live off that exclusively and be absolutely happy.
Favorite musicians: If anyone is familiar with my account, it should come as no surprise that my favourite artist is Erykah Badu, who also made my all time favourite album, New Amerykah Part One. She has always known how to be creative and push boundaries with her albums. That said, I have so many favourites that it’s almost too hard to count. Love Donny Hathaway, D’Angelo, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Eddie Kendricks, MF DOOM, J Dilla, Madlib, SA-RA Creative Partners, Amaarae, and so many more!
Q&A:
When did you start collecting vinyl records and what inspired your journey?
While I’m an elder millennial and grew up with music being primarily a physical medium, I started to really get into vinyl records specifically as a teenager when I began to pillage and explore my father’s extensive record collection. He had a many albums from the 1960’s & 1970’s that really made me appreciate and connect to the music of that era– something that persists to this day. I loved how the album art was often detailed and connected to the music, and I loved reading the liner notes and credits to see who worked on the albums.
However, I didn’t start collecting vinyl in earnest until my mid twenties when I was gifted Stevie Wonder’s Innervision and Donny Hathaway’s self titled LP for my birthday. That prompted me to get a turntable and slowly I started adding to the collection. Probably my favourite time collecting was when I was living in Montreal. Montreal has a ton of fantastic record stores, and that was back when a new LP would only cost you between $10-$20!
What’s an album you consider flawless from start to finish with no skips?
It’s a bit of an obvious choice, though I cannot imagine making any changes to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly would be a more modern album that is there for me as well. I always find lists so hard to make as there are so many fantastic albums out there, but I would probably add Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions and Madvillany as flawless albums as well.
Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah, Pt. 1 (4th World War) made a big impact on me when it was released and is one that I return to frequently. Even though the album is almost 20 years old, for me as a fan of Soul Music, this album serves as a roadmap that brings the energy of my favourite 70’s soul albums, and brings that into the modern era. It’s forward thinking and sonically challenging.
With over 1,000 LPs in your collection, how do you organize and store your records both aesthetically and efficiently?
This is an area I could definitely use improvement in. I have this shelving system from IKEA that I use but I have run out of space and have been shoving my records into any available space I have at the moment. Probably need to pair down or get a bigger house at this point lol. My organization system is also somewhat of an intuitive thing to me. Overall, I generally organize by genre and artist. I like to group albums from a similar time period together and also put them together with other artists they’re associated with or have collaborated with. For example, my Flying Lotus LPs are grouped with other electronic beat artists as well as next to Thundercat; Marvin Gaye next to Stevie Wonder; Funkadelic next to Bootsy Collins; or MF DOOM, Madlib, and Dilla all grouped together. It’s just how my mind works I guess, but also helps me find albums quickly.
Where is your favorite place to crate dig?
Montreal is my favourite city to hit up record stores in, however there are some great record stores in Winnipeg (where I live) as well. Into The Music, Frenchies Records, Duly Records, and Winnipeg Record & Tape are a few that I love. If I’m shopping online it’s usually to find that one LP that I can’t find in store, or to spoil myself and get a special release.
What’s your favorite album art of all time?
That’s such a hard one to answer, there are so many good ones to choose from. I love when the album art connects to the music inside, or evokes an emotion, and even better when there are details you only notice when you stare at it for a long time. I would say some of my favourites would be Madvillany (love the emotion that photo evokes), Innnervisions (I feel like the album art connects well to the music), New Amerykah, Pt. 1 (love all the details in her Afro), and recently I’ve been obsessed with Leon Thomas’ HEEL album art.
Have you ever discovered one of your favorite producers or musicians through reading album liner notes or credits?
I could go on forever about this album, but New Amerykah Pt. 1 was an album that I discovered many fantastic artists and producers through, like Madlib, SA-RA, Thundercat, and Georgia Anne Muldrow. That in turn led me down a musical rabbit hole introducing me to others like J Dilla, MF DOOM, Stones Throw Records, Flying Lotus, and many more.
Are there any albums you own in multiple pressings or editions?
I used to be strict and only ever have one pressing of an album, but I have since broken that rule. I have multiple pressings of D’Angelo’s Voodoo, MF DOOM’s MmFood, Charli XCX’s Brat, Madvillainy, Alfredo 2, MIA’s Kala, Gza’s Liquid Swords, k-os’ Joyful Rebellion, and To Pimp a Butterfly. It’s usually because I can’t decide what pressing I like the most, alternate artwork, or there’s a deluxe or anniversary edition.
Is there a grail you’re still trying to track down?
lol there’s always a new one that I start to obsess over. Right now I am trying to get a copy of The Alchemist & Freddie Gibbs’ Alfredo without breaking the bank. Kicking myself for sleeping on that one when it was first dropped.
What’s your current vinyl record setup?
I am not fancy with my setup as I’m using all old equipment, much of what I inherited from my father or grandparents. I have a 1980’s Panasonic Technics turntable that runs through an old Sony Preamp, and finally projected through old 1970’s Yamaha speakers. All old analog equipment, but I love it!
Any advice for fellow record collectors?
Collecting has changed a lot over the years, mostly with the availability of what’s pressed on vinyl these days and the huge price point increase that has come with that. On the plus side, artists that were hard to find on vinyl are a lot more accessible now. I definitely see that with many of the hip-hop albums that were hard to find. Used to be that only the indie artists would bother pressing their music on vinyl, and now everyone does. That said, while I know there’s a lot of fun colour variants released, I feel like many collectors nowadays sleep on the older used records. My advice would be not to overlook the older records and artists! There’s a ton of great artists and albums out there waiting to be rediscovered by a new generation, and it’s a great way to grow your collection without breaking the bank as well.
***Thanks for tuning in to our vinyl talk with super collector and architect, James from Winnepeg, Canada! Check out his ever-growing collection on IG, @myrecord.collection and DM @soultaurean if you’d like to be featured next!
