This interview appears in ALARM #40. Subscribe here to get your copy!
LA-based crate-digger Logan Melissa is a minority within a minority — a female among diehard vinyl collectors. An MF Doom and Madlib super-fan, she chronicles her impressive hip-hop, soul, jazz, and funk finds at HeightFiveSeven.com while showing off a personal style that includes two-piece bikinis and sundresses.
What advantages and disadvantages do you have as a crate-digging lady?
My breasts get in the way of me reaching forward. I have weak arms, and carrying a big stack weighs me down. Otherwise, there are no real disadvantages — it’s great! Plus…look, mom: I’m in a magazine!
Do you ever try to match your outfits to the records you’re covering?
Ha, no. Sometimes I’ll try to make my clothes thematically similar like the “Oxnard Stars” shirt I wore when I took photos for a post about Vanilla Fudge. (Oxnard, California, is the hometown of Madlib, who sampled Vanilla Fudge for a Lootpack record.)
What are your digging habits?
Cyber-digging is for the soulless, so I keep it strictly real world. I’m not so much into obscurity as I am into finding a really great deal on something. Ninety-nine-cent bins are where I hang out. You don’t need to spend a lot to amass a super-tight collection.
What are the five most coveted records in your collection?
The records I value the most have a life-experience component that makes them meaningful. I value my parents’ original Beach Boys and Parliament records, and a copy of this bluegrass album Old and in the Way. I have an original pressing of [Eazy-E’s] Eazy-Duz-It. But my rarest record is probably Rasputin’s Stash.
