Michael Johnson, 22, originally hails from Austin, Texas, and currently studies “Classical Oboe Performance” at the Manhattan School of Music in NYC. He’s finishing up his final semester this spring and will be jumping into a Masters program next fall. His collection sits in the 1,500 range and he considers himself to be an audiophile.

What do you remember about the first piece of vinyl you were either given or purchased yourself?

I’m positive it was Orbs’ Man of Science/Kid Cancer 7”. I went to Equal Vision’s SXSW showcase in 2011 and they gave us a grab bag that included it. I talked to Dan and Adam before the show and they signed it along with the other band members. So, my first record was free, signed, and has a story attached to it, that worked out pretty well, haha.

Was there anyone in particular who introduced you to the world of vinyl?

Not really. My parents had a department store all-in-one stereo with a few records in our basement back when we lived in Michigan, but they got thrown out in the move. I don’t think I ever heard them use it. Most of my early exposure to vinyl came from going to underground punk shows and steadily seeing more and more records and fewer and fewer CDs. Eventually after a few offhand conversations, I figured I should dip my toes in the water. I already enjoyed collecting physical music over just downloading songs, so this was just a way to continue connecting with artists and their work at first.

I began researching on the Internet, first with sites like Vinyl Collective, then with more intense resources such as Audiokarma and Analog Planet. I did a little too much reading into the realm of analog, but because of that I feel like I managed to avoid most of the early mistakes that plague collectors.

What was the music you grew up with, the music your parents or siblings introduced you to?

My parents were not particularly musical people, but my mom had a very limited library of cassettes and I think I wore most of them out. She enjoyed some light classical (greatest hits of Mozart, etc), but she had a love of some classic rock from growing up, particularly The Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin, and those are artists I grew to love as well.

As I grew up I obviously listened to a lot of classical simply because I was playing it. I knew from about middle school that I wanted to be a musician and so I was exposed to a pretty steady stream of music that way. On the opposite end of the spectrum I started listening to a lot of modern rock music at that time. Eventually that taste morphed from embarrassing mall rock to a lot of post-hardcore and other punk influenced sub-styles. Bands like Thursday, Chiodos (since they were right near me), The Fall of Troy, and Jimmy Eat World accompanied me from about age 14 onwards and my tastes just kind of expanded in all directions from there.

You mark some of your prized possessions as being in the screamo genre. Talk about a few of those items and when did your connection to that genre begin?

I started really listening to screamo at the end of high school. I’d always connected with the more emotive/heart on the sleeve kinds of music and I guess I just naturally started listening to some of the older bands from that movement. I remember specifically one of the first screamo bands I listened to was A Day In Black and White. I had never really heard anything sound that beautiful and raw before, I just started clicking on every “related video” I could on YouTube and eventually got hooked. I later found out Austin has a really fantastic screamo scene and going to house and warehouse shows around the city really left me with a sense of community and showed me just how alive the genre still is. (I feel like I have to plug my friends in Austin Blood Alliance now, because they’re really doing wonderful things for punk).

As far as my collection goes, I have a good deal of the older stuff, releases from bands like City of Caterpillar, Hot Cross, Daitro, Raein, Envy, Funeral Diner, etc. I even managed to get the Saetia s/t LP without spending a ridiculous sum of money, as that’s really the only screamo record I know of that goes for big bucks. But there’s so much going on in screamo right now that I’m also struggling to keep up with new releases. Labels like Skeletal Lightning, Texas is Funny, and Flannel Gurl have put out some amazing releases in the past 2 or 3 years. If I had to pick a few records in this part of my collection that are special to me, I’d probably have to include Hot Cross’ Cryonics, the Daitro/Sed Non Satiata split, A Day in Black and White’s My Heroes Have Always Killed Cowboys, The Saddest Landscape’s Lift Your Burdens High, For This Is Where We Cross, and You & I’s The Curtain Falls.

You also dip your toes in the classical genres. Was there something in your youth that forged that connection as well? What are some of your favorite pieces?

Because I have to play all kinds of classical music as an oboist, I’ve learned to appreciate (at least partially) all music in that realm. You really have to in order to play convincingly; I don’t think anyone ever sounded good playing something they really resented (although I think even the best players fall guilty to that every once and a while).

As a collector of classical music, I try to cover the gamut of standard orchestral repertoire, along with the core opera rep. My collection is about 1/3 classical, and I try to have at least one good recording of every important piece I may encounter as a player. Some pieces are so important (usually things containing big oboe solos, or simply pieces that are played the most) that I may have something like 5 different recordings. I know I have around 5 recordings of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade on vinyl and one or two more on CD. The same can be said for Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin or Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony. This is because interpretations from different conductors and orchestras (as well as sound quality in record labels) can be so vastly different and it’s important and fascinating to hear different perspectives on the same source material.

I also have certain areas that I enjoy especially as a listener. Personally, I’m a big fan of early 20th century French music such as Ravel, Poulenc and Milhaud. I also enjoy really powerful and grandiose symphonic music such as Shostakovich and Mahler, as well as some of the more radical mid 20th century music such as Messiaen and Stockhausen. If I had to pick a favorite piece of music, I would tentatively say Shostakovich’s 8th Symphony. Every time I hear that monster of a piece (the first movement alone is 25 minutes) I get chills. I have an British EMI pressing of London playing it with Andre Previn conducting and it’s hands down one of my favorite records in my collection,

As far as collecting records themselves, that’s even more fascinating to me, because classical music really is the home turf of audiophile recording. Most of the best sounding records in my collection are classical, because in the heyday of high fidelity, that was the music taken seriously by both the engineers and the consumers. From about 1958-1964, some of the best sounding classical recordings in history were made. The best of these came from RCA under the moniker Living Stereo and from Mercury Records under their own moniker Living Presence. Those are two labels that every audiophile lives by and they can get quite pricey under the right conditions. Not only is the sound on these breathtakingly realistic, but the performances are often definitive. Other labels also put out great music too, I love both the sound and performances of London/Decca records. Columbia has some truly definitive performances such as with Leonard Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic, or George Szell with Cleveland, and Deutsche Grammophon carried most of the great European orchestras, but the sound on those just can’t compete with the above labels.

The best part is; most of these golden age recordings are being reissued by boutique labels such as Analogue Productions (for RCA) and Speakers Corner (for Mercury and Decca). In many cases (especially in the case of the Analogue Productions’ RCA series), the reissues are actually way better than the originals. This is because first, the technology for cutting high quality analog pressings is just better now than it was back then, but also because the boutique labels can cater to their market and cut “hot” records that don’t compromise bass and dynamics. Back in the day the major labels would cut their records so that they could be played on the cheapest piece-of-garbage turntables made. If a record skipped on a Fisher Price turntable, they’d re-cut it with reduced bass/dynamics until it didn’t. Fortunately, that’s no longer the case and most audiophile reissues don’t use any compression whatsoever. See, the future of Analog is brighter than it seems!

And talk about your “anarchy-punk bands” tribute that benefitted a Native American tribe’s resistance movement. Don’t think I’ve ever heard of or seen that one?

I stumbled across this 2×7” punk compilation in a Half Price Books, not soon after I started collecting, titled In The Spirit of Total Resistance. It’s not a rare or valuable record by any means, but the interesting factor on it is quite high. It’s a compilation by a bunch of leftist punk bands put out in 1992 as a benefit and awareness record for the Mohawk Nation of Kanesatake, located within Quebec. The biggest bands to appear on it are Los Crudos and Man Is The Bastard, one or two of the other bands on it are Spanish language bands or connected to the indigenous resistance movement in some way. The music is good of course, but the coolest part is the politics.

The Nation of Kanestake was involved in a huge standoff with the Canadian government at that time, who planned to turn a large chunk of their ancestral lands into a luxury golf course. The Mohawk people didn’t take too kindly to this. They actually set up armed resistance and there was a military standoff which resulted in one death. It’s known today as the Oka Crisis and it’s actually a pretty inspiring event when you read into it, which you can totally do with this comp, because it comes with a 64 page booklet on indigenous revolt in North America.

In your submission, you talk about having a multitude of setups, spread across Austin, Texas, and your dorm setup in NYC. Talk about your gear and what your best pure setup is. Get nerdy on us please.

Well, the big setup that I’ve put far too much time and money into (I’m actually still paying it off as I write this) is at my parent’s house in Austin. It consists of, starting with the source; a Dynavector 10×5 cartridge on a VPI Scout 1.1. I also use a Marantz CD6005 for CDs. From the turntable I run a VPI phono cable to a McIntosh C712 preamplifier, then to a McIntosh MC7150 amplifier via Morrow Audio interconnects. My speakers are probably the highest performer in the system, they’re a pair of Dynaudio Focus 34os hooked up via Blue Jean’s Belden speaker cables. I also have a Woo Audio WA6 tube headphone amp running out of my McIntosh preamp. The main headphones I use on that are a pair of Sennheiser HD600’s, but I also have some AKG K612’s and Audio Technica ATH-M50s that get use from time to time. I also have a very early model VPI 16.5 record cleaning machine that I use religiously. I seriously don’t know what I would do without it.

The core of the system is pretty much exactly where I want it, as it is I never dreamed I’d own a stereo this good. The only upgrades I plan to make in the future is maybe this summer being able to afford some cables more in line with the quality of the other components. I was thinking about some Nordost Purple Flare for speaker cables and interconnects. The biggest improvement will come when I eventually can move the setup to a place of my own, as the speaker placement right now is not optimal, and being able to place them father away from walls and corners will greatly increase sound quality.

There’s some various other gear in the house. I helped my mom assemble a stereo of her own for the living room that consists of some restored vintage gear; a Pioneer PL-530 turntable, SX-980 receiver, and some Boston Acoustics A200 speakers. I also have a Pro-Ject Carbon (my first turntable purchase), a Sansui AU-D9 integrated amp, and some Boston Acoustics A60 speakers in a room there that I practice in. I mostly use that for quickly referencing, or sometimes even playing along with, recordings in my practice.

At school I live in a dorm room roughly the size of a large-ish broom closet so I have much more modest gear up there. I run a Technics SL-1300 table, to a vintage Marantz 1040 integrated amp that I mostly just use as a headphone amp with my AKG’s, but I do have some little ADS L300’s for when I want to blast The Blood Brothers and piss off my neighbors. I also run digital audio through that setup via a Schiit Modi DAC, as keeping more than a dozen or so records up there is just impractical.

Best sounding record you’ve ever put on the turntable. Go!

Well, for classical I’d have to say it would be the recent Analogue Productions/RCA Living Stereo reissue of Pines of Rome/Fountains of Rome with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony, but really every record I own in that small series is absolutely astounding.

In rock I would say my 45rpm reissue of The Doors’ Strange Days (also by Analogue Productions) is my best sounding. I always play When the Music’s Over off that album for people who come over and have never heard high fidelity before. It sounds like live music, which is crazy for an almost 50 year-old psychedelic rock recording.

What are some of your white whales that you’re still on the search for?

Well there’s not much music I haven’t been able to find thanks to the internet, but I told myself a long time ago I was never going to pay outrageous amounts for a record just because it was rare.

There’s a few things that I’ve been searching for that I haven’t been able to track down at reasonable prices. I listen to a bit of Japanese rock and those records are often very tough to get a hold of, especially the post 1984 stuff when the CD really took over there, and what few records were made were pressed in very limited numbers. I have yet to see a clean copy of X Japan’s Blue Blood for under $200 or so, not to mention bands in that kind of music have rabid fans that will buy everything from a certain artist regardless of if they use it or not. I’m sure that record is sitting untouched on the walls of bedrooms across Japan.

I’m also always on the lookout for the Classic Records (that’s the name of the label) pressings of the Led Zeppelin catalog. I have a few of them, but I’m missing Houses of the Holy and that’s my favorite Zeppelin record. The new reissues that just came out were a huge disappointment as far as sonics go, partly from Jimmy Page’s decision to use digital instead of the analog tapes. That’s driven up the cost of these pressings to more than I’m willing to pay. I’m sure eventually I’ll find one for a reasonable price, I’d rather wait and keep and eye out than pay $150 for a record that was going for 50 not too long ago.

What will be on the radar come April 18th when Record Store Day kinda takes over the local shops?

I’m still on the fence about whether I want to do RSD this year. If I do participate I’ll probably be on the lookout for that special edition of Deja Entendu, the reissue of Kind of Like Spitting’s Nothing Makes Sense Without It, Mclusky’s Mcluskyism, and perhaps The Zombies’ posthumous album R.I.P.

Where do you do the majority of your vinyl shopping?

A large chunk of my record collection has been purchased at live shows. It’s always the cheapest that way and you know the money is going right to the artist. The only downside is you have to be on the lookout for warping. I also go to record stores in both of the cities that I call home, buy right from artists or labels online, sometimes for the audiophile records I’ll use Soundstage Direct or Acoustic Sounds, and occasionally I’ll use ebay for used classical.

What’s your favorite brick + mortar stores that you’ve come across throughout the years?

Academy Records (the one on 18th street) here in NYC is pretty hard to beat for classical. The classical section of most record stores is usually junk, but here it’s their focus. It’s actually insane some of the stuff they get. Generation Records is a great store here for currently in-press rock/punk/metal as well.

Back in Austin, End of an Ear is my go-to, I always find weird or cool stuff there that I wasn’t expecting to, and their staff are super cool. There’s also the well-known Waterloo Records, which has a huge selection of in-print rock, and they actually carry some of the boutique audiophile rock records that most of the smaller stores never order.

From our last collector of the month, Tom Reiss, “I’ve heard of many different sorting systems. Genre, chronologically, A-Z…etc. How do you organize your records?”

As much as I’d like to be an eccentric, alphabetically works pretty well for me. Within A-Z, I’ll sort the albums I have by an artist chronologically. I also keep my collection divided into three big groups: Rock/Pop, Classical, and Jazz. In my classical shelf I sort by composer, not by performer unless the album has too many different composers on it.

If you could throw a question into the COTM pool, what would you ask our next month’s winner?

What can vinyl enthusiasts do to both spread the gospel of the format, and also ensure its safe expansion to more and more listeners?

A big thanks to Mike for participating! You can apply to be our Collector Of The Month, below.

Tags: Collector Of The Month