Meet our August Cool Collector, Matt. A voiceover actor with a passion for prog, CDs and vinyl are among his great loves. Wanna know what's in his top ten? Better keep reading.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a freelance voiceover artist and work from my home studio providing voiceovers for commercials, online training videos, on-hold messaging etc. I love what I do, every day is something different. I’m also the lead vocalist in Echoes of Pink Floyd – Australia’s premier Pink Floyd tribute show. I’ve always really loved music. As a kid it was mainly the radio and TV shows like Music Express but at the age of 12, I began to discover heavy metal and prog rock and that really stayed with me from then on. I spent my 20’s living and working for record labels in both the UK and Germany, working very closely with bands in the prog scene, which was perfect for me!

What do you collect and when did it start?

I collect both CDs and vinyl. I started as a little kid. I always had a record player and a small collection of top 40 stuff. I’m a born collector. When I hit my teens I started collecting vinyl and later CDs. When I lived overseas it got a bit out of hand and has become my vice! Unfortunately I traded in a lot of my vinyl in my early 20s but have since built up a healthy vinyl collection once more.

How would you describe your tastes?

I’d like to think my tastes are quite broad but my passion is for prog rock and metal really. I love all the classic bands of those genres. I also love discovering obscure old and new bands. I have a soft spot for singer/songwriter stuff and I really like a bit of jazz, some electronic, ambient stuff and just plain weird stuff too. I’m pretty open-minded but I’m not a fan of hip hop, rap, dance music and that sort of thing.

What's your most prized item or possession?

I have a pretty impressive IQ (English prog band) collection. It’s not complete but it’s getting there. I’m quite proud of that. One of the rarest items in that collection is a 7” single the band gave away for free at a show they did in the 80’s at the Marquee in London. Only 500 were pressed. I won’t tell you what I paid for it.

I’m also pretty proud of a Rush album I have signed by all three members.

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

Music has always been a great companion. Someone said it can make you remember or make you forget and both are equally powerful. Nothing beats getting lost in a really great album with headphones on. It’s one of my favourite things to do.

Give us your top 10 albums of all time:

Very hard to only pick ten but here goes…in no particular order….

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway – Genesis (1974)

Power Windows – Rush (1985)

Close to the Edge – Yes (1972)

Abbey Road – The Beatles (1969)

Gone to Earth – David Sylvian (1985)

Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd (1975)

Moving Pictures – Rush (1981)

Can’t Buy a Thrill – Steely Dan (1972)

The Wake – IQ (1985)

Images & Words – Dream Theater (1992)

With honourable mentions…

In Absentia – Porcupine Tree (2003)

Damnation – Opeth (2003)

Hounds of Love – Kate Bush (1985)

Give us a cool fact or some trivia that we don't already know:

I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of my heroes; one interaction didn’t go so well though… I once upset legendary guitarist Robert Fripp (King Crimson). I went to see him in London at one of his Soundscape solo performances in the 90s. I was pretty pleased to score a front row seat. After a couple of hours, I took out my camera to take a snap (I wasn’t aware of Fripp’s reputation at the time). I tried to disable the flash but clearly wasn’t successful. As the flash went off, he stopped playing! He looked me in the eye and all he said was “Why?”. I sat there stunned and he asked me again, “Why?”. I offered up an apology and he just shook his head, put down his guitar and walked off stage! It was my most embarrassing moment ever. After what seemed an eternity and enduring abuse from the audience, I spotted Fripp talking to a security guard and figured if I wanted to keep my camera, I had better make a move. So I had to stand up in front of a few hundred people and casually walk out of the venue! Once the venue door closed behind me, I bolted!

How do you store your collection?

Because my collection is rather large, it’s very difficult to store in a way that’s accessible so I had custom shelving built to house it all. I always wanted to have a music library!

What are you coveting? What’s your holy grail? 

I’d love to have the first Rush album and 7” single on the original Moon records label but they’re pretty hard to come by and when they do crop up, they’re ridiculously expensive. I’d also love to get the first self-released cassette by IQ.

Anything else you'd like to tell us?

I used to work at the Muses many years ago! In between trips overseas, I ended up working at the Elizabeth branch for a few months. It was great fun. I really enjoyed my time working there.

Matt, it's been a pleasure. Thanks for being this month's Cool Collector!

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.