Mattias “Indy” Pettersson Pt II
In the previous post, Hinsides talked to Indy about different cultural identities and how to master personal assets that also can be a burden. This time we focus on the art of collecting and find out how this multifaceted man relates to this activity.
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All photos by Mattias Pettersson
In addition to your exploration of such widely differing interests as hip-hop culture and Rosehip Soup, you have also made yourself known as a collector of big proportions. What do you collect and why?
Haha, Rosehip Soup! That delicious dish, that golden nectar, will forever be a part of my DNA, because I drank so much of that shit back in the day. Nowadays, I can honestly say I only collect books and some graffiti related stuff. Maybe art as well. But I’ve stopped collecting records. Here’s why: When I arrived in Japan for the first time in 2014, my budget was almost ruined after three days, because when it comes to records, they have everything! And I mean it. If you look hard enough, you’ll find it, almost always in great condition, and often fairly cheap. There are shops dedicated to noise music only. In another store there’ll be floors and floors of jazz records. Next store: Endless rows of psychedelic vinyl. I’ve visited stores that only sell albums by The Beatles. I’ve heard about one that only stocks thousands of various copies of The Beatles “White Album”, but I’m not too sure about that one. As you can tell, I went crazy in this crazy country. I highly recommend you listen to The Vinyl Guide Podcast episode 41, which is a Record Road Trip to Japan. You’ll be amazed the way they handle records over there.
http://www.thevinylguide.com/episodes/ep041-record-roadtrip-to-japan-tokyo-kyoto-osaka-hiroshima-1
After my third trip to Japan, I kind of lost the excitement that I got from digging, because everything was to be found. In the end I couldn’t afford it all, and I had no place to stash it. So, being in such an amazing country I decided to skip records altogether and enjoy what else the country had to offer. Good choice, because I fell in love with Japan even more every day from that point on, and when I got home I had no urge to go digging for records at all. I guess my energy was put elsewhere, in getting to know the real soul of Japan, or something like that. So yeah, I’ve stopped _collecting_ records. I still buy albums, but not that many. In 2020 I think I bought 20 albums. I’ve got a couple of books, films and records in my want list that I always keep an eye out for, but I never see them.
I collect stuff because it brings me joy, like any other hobby. And it feels good supporting someone who’s made an effort, to hold what they’ve created in my hands, to be able to check it whenever I want to. I prefer physical copies before digital. Just imagine the cover artwork of Hinsides Magazine reduced to a thumbnail. That’s blasphemy! I’m pretty sure people who’ve never studied the cover art of Maiden’s “Powerslave” know about the intricate details to be found. The “Indiana Jones was here” graffiti is probably best known, but there’s more. I discovered Lovecraft thanks to studying the “Live After Death” cover art. All that is lost when you use Spotify exclusively. But with that in mind I love digital as well and I stream about 60% of the music and movies, because it’s convenient. But there’s no real heart and soul to be found in those digital realms. With physical copies you get so much more.
I also like sharing stuff from my collection on Instagram, hoping it will bring some discussion, or that somebody will be inspired.
“Just some damn fine books” - A sneak peak into the private library of Mr Indy.
Any thoughts about what this possessive behavior stands for on a personal psychological level?
Probably stupidity, uncertainty, and a need to be seen and – nowadays with social media and everything – a need to show off, somehow. A way to combat boredom. I pretty much grew up in the library, and have always been surrounded by books (my mother has close to 6 000 titles). It also took me many years before I could buy a stereo. I remember listening to cassettes copied from friends for so many years. I think I got one original tape for Christmas, and one more on my birthday. That’s it. And when I finally got money to buy a CD player, I bought only that and had to wait another year until I could buy a receiver and two speakers. What I mean is I didn’t have much stuff when I grew up. It’s compensation time now, I guess.
And on the matter of hoarding in general? Opinions and learnings that you would like to share? What should the inexperienced collector be aware of before getting into this seemingly harmless hobby?
Hm, I associate hoarding with messy apartments, filth, chaos and disorder. My place is not like that. It’s compact, but clean. Everything is in order. I work at the library, you know.
I think there may be different phases when transforming from a regular record buyer to a collector. The collecting phase might start when you go digging at least once a week and score a couple of albums each time. And then you start buying the same record that you’ve already got, but in a different pressing or with a different cover. When you start buying the same record in more than three different versions, or when you buy 30+ albums each month, I think it’s bound to spiral out of control and you risk becoming an addict! A friend of mine has 245 albums by Darkthrone, another friend has bought 45+ albums already in January 2021. They are both in deep shit, haha! But it’s their hobby and they enjoy it, and that’s all that matters.
Which item in your collections are you most ashamed of? Feel free to motivate your answer properly, and when we´re still at it, can you also tell us what kind of artifact that you are the most proud to own?
I actually answered that question in the booklet for the Kungens Män 5LP box set, so I’ll just be a bore and copy that. I’m not really embarrassed by anything in my collection, but with a gun to my head I’d say an album called Hip-Hop Tribute to Iron Maiden. It’s so bad it’s not even on YouTube! I might have to upload it and destroy the whole world wide web.
Besides being proud of the stuff I’ve personally been involved in, I feel really good about some art, like that of Timo Ketola (rest in peace!), Yuuki Saitou (@saitoyukibone on Instagram) and Pike @pike_nsa. Also books with personal dedications from author Nikanor Teratologen mean a lot, because he changed my life when I did an interview with him in my fanzine Ny Moral.
Framed Art Print by T. Ketola.
It would also be interesting to know which object in your possession that you consider to be the weirdest, and which one is the most valuable? Have you ever considered selling some of your valuables?
If you mean valuable moneywise, the other day I saw “Den förälskade djävulen” by Jacques Cazotte for 6 000 SEK, but that’s not the real market value, just some antiquarian prick trying to scam decent book folks. When I had the Yellow Goat by Bathory, I guess it was valuable. It was an unplayed true original with insert etc, and I think copies in G+ condition without insert sell for like 25 000 SEK now, which is bananas. I’ve got a skateboard deck carved by an artist called Cryptik (@_cryptik_ on Instagram), I think it’s worth quite a lot. I believe some of my punk seven inches are selling for crazy amounts of money, because middle-aged punks and soul collectors are the real assholes, haha! In that regard I might like digital releases better, because pretty much anyone can at least enjoy the music for free nowadays. You can listen to the Yellow Goat on YouTube, and most people wouldn’t hear the difference.
Carved skateboard by Cryptic
I rarely sell stuff, but a couple of years ago I realised I had too many albums that I never listened to, so I decided to skim through my collection and keep the really good stuff. I sold seven crates of vinyl and five towers of compact discs to a record store in Stockholm, and I’ve never looked back. It felt really good. Feng shui!
As for the weirdest object, I’ve got some books from Japan that are quite sick. One is about 300 pages of different toilets throughout Japan. That might sound boring, but you probably know about their hi-tech toilets, right? Well, they’ve got more than that. There are some really crazy toilets out there! Another book is just fully dressed women licking at door knobs. Another one is salary men posing next to jumping girls. It’s all very strange, and they sell these books in quite regular stores.
You`ve just read the second part of a lengthier interview that will be published in the next issue of Hinsides Magazine. The first issue can be ordered here: