Home Grown: “If someone values a record more, I give it to them”

Because every record collection has a story.

Home Grown is our series profiling you lot and your excellent record collections. Taking our cue from the brilliant submissions to the #VFRecordCollections thread on Instagram, we want to share a little of your hard-earned love for vinyl with the world.

Each week, we’ll be profiling a different collector from around the world and finding out what makes them tick. Want in? Send us a pic of your collection and a few words about your collection to [email protected].

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Name: Abe Khamis

Location: Sydney, Australia

Size of collection (approx.): c.2,000.

How long have you been collecting for?

I purchased my first record, U2’s Pride EP in 1984. I’ve never regarded myself as a record collector; it’s how I’ve always consumed music.

What part of your set-up are you most proud of?

My “built-in-the-’80s” Proton amplifier. I am a real sucker for vintage audio gear – especially anything with analogue meters. It has taken a lot of effort and resources to restore this amplifier to ‘as new’ condition. I was lucky enough to find a former Soviet Military Engineer in the outskirts of Sydney prepared to diagnose and repair this unit without a workshop manual. What impressed me most was his tenacity in sourcing ‘deleted’ components from around the world. As an example, the blown UV globes where shipped to Austin, Texas. There, an ingenious US Air force Engineer went to the extreme length of rebuilding the globes using LED’s in lieu of a filament. I’m simply delighted that an American and Russian can work together to light up this amp to its former glory!

Which record(s) are you most proud of?

That is like choosing a favourite child! I am proud of different parts of my collection for different reasons. If I had to pick one, it would be the Australian pressing of The Cure’s Boys Don’t Cry LP. Technically speaking, this LP is no longer part of my collection. It is one of many records I have given away over the years to people who I only know through social media. I believe that if a record is going to be more valued in someone else’s collection, then it is theirs. The recipient of The Cure record lives in California and made the effort to take me crate digging when I was last through Los Angeles. He turned out to be an awesome guy who I now regard as a dear friend.

What does your record collection mean to you?

My record collection is the longest relationship I have held. It represents countless ‘point in time’ snapshots of my life and relationships. In recent years, my collection has connected me to ‘my tribe’ globally through social media. I have met many fellow collectors around the world, and when we meet, there is an immediate sense of long lasting friendship and mutual understanding. The shared love of music is universal. My collection has proven it disregards distance, culture, race and religion.