Nick (Sleep Kit) about his record collection

Can you remember the first record you ever bought?

No, I can't. When I first started buying records, I mostly bought 7"s of bands I already knew and liked, because they were accessible financially.  I could walk out of a record store, or away from a distro, being very satisfied because I bought multiple records. People kept telling me it was a rather silly thing to do, because it would result in me having to flip records all the time. Back then I couldn't be bothered, but at some point I came to a crossroads and chose the luxurious, jetset 12" lifestyle.

The first record I ever owned was a Slipknot picture 7" my uncle bought me for christmas when I was 13 or so. I recently looked up on Discogs if it was worth anything, but the outcome was rather disappointing.

- What, in your opinion, makes a vinyl record so special?

Honestly, I don't know. Writing down some romantisized story on how it makes me feel tingly inside would feel dishonest. My best theory is that I buy vinyl because of my subcultural socialization. Don't get me wrong: I do feel very pleased whenever I take records out of their sleeves and play them, etc., but there's not a particularly good reason for me to pick vinyl over cd's; I just do.

What I find fascinating about vinyl records, though, is that they are such tangible, logical objects in the sense that one can see the grooves. I can't make sense out of cd's at all; they're total abstracts to me. Vinyl records are very banal, decent objects in modern times. That's special alright.

- Do you also collect cd's or do you focus only on vinyl?

When cd's I like are cheap I'll buy them, too, but that does not happen too often. The last cd's I bought were like a side dish of a Discogs order. The thing is that for some reason I don't have a cd player in my room, so I only listen to cd's in cars. This means that the cd's I buy automatically have to contain good car music. As vinyl records can't be played in cars and I spend a lot of time at home, my focus is on vinyl.

- In recent years vinyl records have become more expensive. What is your opinion on this trend?

For me it obviously has disadvantages as I don't have much money, which means buying records becomes more and more inaccessible to me. I love how a lot of smaller labels try to keep everything as cheap as possible, but a lot of stuff I'm really interested in comes out on semi-big labels, which leaves me holding really bad cards in the rain at night in underwear and a cold wind is blowing. However, I do understand that times are rough for record labels, and they just have to charge more money in order to keep it going.

What's nice is that records I like are often out of press, but cheap on the internet. I can't complain.

- Do you order your records at mailorders, or do you buy them directly from bands at shows?

I hardly buy stuff from mailorders. Sometimes I'll buy records from bands directly, but I mostly get everything from stores, Discogs, or sometimes distros.

- Do you have any rarities in your collection?

Yes, I own four Chung Kings. Other than that, not really.

- What are your favorite records of 2013?

I don't keep lists of that stuff, so it's hard to tell. Here's a list of my top ten records I purchased in 2013:

10 Young Marble Giants - Live At The Hurrah live lp

9 Velocity Girl - Copacetic lp

8 Blonde Redhead - Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons lp

7 The Breeders - Pod lp

6 Born Against - Nine Patriotic Hymns For Children lp

5 Liz Phair - Juvenilia 2x7"

4 Psychic TV - Dreams Less Sweet lp

3 The Replacements - I'll Be You 7"

2 Codeine - What About The Lonely? live lp

1 Blake Babies - Sunburn lp 

- How many cd's and vinyl records do you own?

Most of my cd's are at my parents place, so there's no way to count them right now. I did a quick count of my vinyl, and I have about 400 objects. An amount at which real collectors will laugh, but regarding my financial situation I'd say it's not too bad.

- What records are you looking forward to in 2014?

The new Sleep Kit record and the debut record of my new band that we will hopefully record this winter. Can't wait to record.

- Secret tip of 2014?

My favorite record of 2014 so far is the latest Cloud Nothings lp called 'Here And Nowhere Else'. It's really, really good.