Home Grown: ‘My collection is a place to find joy and escape through music’

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 photos of your collection and set-up along with a few words about it to [email protected]

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Name: Justin Hawkins

Location: Brooklyn, NY

# of records (approx.): 2,000 and slowly expanding

How long have you been collecting for?

I bought my first record at 8 years old under the guidance of my dad, a double LP from MGM, 24 of Hank Williams’ Greatest Hits. That was in 1977. I still have it with my name scrawled on the front.

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

My set-up, a vintage Magnavox stereo console. Several years ago, I moved into a new home and the 94-year old woman who was moving out asked if I wanted her big, beautiful console that she bought in 1959. It was in great shape and still had the owner’s manual and certificate of warranty inside! With a bit of a tune up and a new needle, I switched it on. After a 10 second warm-up, a low hum rose from the speakers and I was ready to spin.

I have a small vintage, bakelite RCA player for 45s in another room. I love the retro look and sound of the console, but I’m sure it’s not the best I could do for my records. Someday I’ll upgrade to a more modern set-up, but I really love old electronics.

What record(s) are you most proud of?

I stash my essential albums in an old Triad carrying case that holds about 40 LPs, to be grabbed on the way out the door if the apartment catches fire. This was inspired by the BBC documentary, John Peel’s Record Box. Inside mine I’ve got the Clash, Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy, Morrissey, The Who, Jimmy Cliff, and that first Hank Williams record.

But I love my collection as a whole; the rarities, the well-worn favourites, and even the duds. When I was a teen funds were limited and over half my music was taped from friends’ collections. These days I spend my time hunting for those LPs I loved, but never owned, filling in the gaps.

What does your record collection mean to you?

It’s a visual and audible path to my memories – a place to find joy and escape through music. Every day I spend a bit of time with my records, looking through the sleeves, trying to better organise them and figure out what may be missing from my wish list.

There’s also the stack of recently purchased LPss on the floor (usually around 50) that have yet to be played. They can’t take their place on the shelves until I have played them front to back.