Each month, we chat to someone with a passion for collecting: vinyl, CDs, DVDs, blu-ray, dust… or any other type of physical media. This month, we meet Anj: a vinyl devotee from Port Adelaide who started collecting records when she was 14. She's got a thing for shiny red bookcases and she once wagged school - with her mum’s blessing - to score a freshly pressed copy of Smashing Pumpkins’ - Adore. (Onya, mum!) Enjoy!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hi, I'm Anj. I teach year 12 art, design and photography. I have two cats and a dachshund and I love art and music.

What do you collect and when did it start?

Records! I began around the age of 14 and never stopped. When I first began listening to music and buying records it began with the early - mid 90's Australian music scene. I would be at a gig almost every weekend. Bands would sell a limited run of a single or EP/LP often with a handmade cover at their gigs and they became a fun thing to buy as a memento. After 20 years of collecting, I can't see myself kicking this habit any time soon.

How would you describe your tastes?

My taste is music is fairly eclectic, it ranges from Patti Smith to Mogwai. I love big guitars and poetic lyricism. It's hard to narrow it down as I can quite easily switch over a Bowie record for Jimmy Eat World or Sigur Ros. It depends on my mood at the time.

What's your most prized item/collection of items?

My limited edition Magic Dirt Young and Full of the Devil LP. It's hand numbered and signed and warms my cockles.

Tell us about your love of music and what it means to you.

My love of music borders on an obsession. When I was a young teen I knew all the words to all the songs on all the albums I could get my hands on. I was (am) a giant music nerd.

My school diary was often confiscated by teachers as I would decorate all the spare spots with photos of bands and song lyrics I loved at the time instead of homework. My school didn't realise that by making me get a new diary, I had a blank canvas and opportunity to declare my music love all over again.

The day the Pumpkins' Adore was released, I skipped school to be at Big Star (a local city record store) when the door opened, just so I didn't have to wait till after school to hear it. My mum even wrote a 'sick note' in my diary so I wouldn't get in trouble (thanks Mum).

Putting on a record is a daily ritual of sorts. I love flicking through my collection and stumbling across an album I haven't heard in awhile. I love undressing a record and hearing the first crackle of the stylus before the music plays.

I love to sit on the floor and look at the artwork and listen. It's calming and fulfilling act, one I can keep all to myself if I choose.

Give us your top 10 albums of all time:

(In no particular order, but I would take these to a desert island with me if it had electricity)

Built To Spill - Perfect From Now On

Death Cab For Cutie - Trasatlanticism

Jimmy Eat World - Clarity

Madonna - You Can Dance 

Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling

Morrissey - Bona Drag

New Order - Substance 

The Cure - Disintegration

The Get Up Kids - Something to Write Home About

Tim Rogers & The Twin Set - What Rhymes with Cars and Girls

How do you store your collection?

In several red shiny bookcases. Records are all placed in plastic sleeves with the spine at the sleeve entrance. Just in case I have a bad moment and something slips, nothing should fall out or encounter a major injury.

What are you coveting? What’s your holy grail? Do you own it yet?

I recently purchased two items on my holy grail list. Yes, there is a list. I managed to find mint original pressing of Beck's Sea Change and The Cure's Wish. They are still in transit but it won't long till the postie delivers them to my door to make me a super happy chappy. I am still after a number of amazing records. The journey of searching for the right version, in mint condition, is a constant source of fun and happiness in itself. Off the top of my head, I am still looking for an original copy of Nine Inch Nails' The Fragile, The Cranberries' Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We, The Smashing Pumpkins' The Aeroplane Flies High box set and Magic Dirt's Signs of Satanic Youth.

Massive thanks to Anj for sharing her collection & stories. (Do you secretly want to be her? Yeah, us too.)

Hey, we're searching for our next Cool Collector. You interested? Email us and let us know! If we feature you on our blog, you’ll get $50 to spend in our store!