Home Grown: “My collection is a catalogue of memories, stories, friendships and experiences”

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 photo and a few words about your collection to [email protected]

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Name: Daniel T.

Location: Los Angeles

Instagram: @cosmicdan

# of records (approx.): 2,500

How long have you been collecting for? I started buying around 2001, but I’ve been collecting seriously for about 12 years.

What part of your set-up are you most proud of? My Thorens TD 165 turntable. For far too long I was buying cheap/used turntables that would always malfunction in some way after a few months. After many years of collecting, I finally decided that I needed to get serious. I’ll never forget going into the depths of what can best be described as Buffalo Bill’s apartment from Silence of the Lambs in order to get it. Praise Craigslist!

What record(s) are you most proud of? After some serious thought, I decided to choose three that would come with me on a desert island, and one recent $1 bin find that I’m still buzzing from. Desert Island: Television’s Marquee Moon, Jorge Ben’s A Tábua De Esmeralda, and Brian Eno’s Ambient 1: Music For Airports. Recent $1 bin find: La Compagnie Creole’s ‘A.I.E. (The L.L. Club Mix)’ 12”.

What does your record collection mean to you?

I’ve never kept a journal or a diary, but I’d say that my collection functions as a back catalogue of memories, stories, friendships and experiences. Just about every record I’ve decided to hold on to has some important context attached to it.

When I was younger I used to think music should be judged solely on it’s sonic quality and the creativity that went into it. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realised that it’s heartless and boring to apply such stringent rationale to music appreciation. As a working DJ, it would be foolish of me to disregard the role context plays in music. So I guess today my collection is like a storage unit of emotionally complex, contextual baggage… in a good way!