9rules blog club continues with a look at the music community, you can read what others have posted here. I’ve interviewed Volkher Hofmann and Richard Dunlop-Walters who are the community leaders for the community.

Introduce yourself please.

Volkher : I’m Volkher Hofmann, music nut and collector. I run livingwithmusic.com on which many of these questions are either answered in detail already (try finding the answers, ha!) or will be answered in the future. I’m also the music community leader at 9rules.

Richard : I’m Richard Dunlop-Walters, an NHS IT monkey from Berkshire and self-confessed music lover.

Ok, music is a pretty wide subject area and do you have one type that you really could say is your ‘type of music’?

Volkher : The definite answer is “No!”. I have a very eclectic musical taste and although for the past years jazz has been my favorite type of music, the past 40+ years have shown me that my taste can change radically without warning. That’s also why I hang on to all my music, in the hope that one day I might like again what I once heard regularly and today consider to be a definite clunker. I also think that there are too many people around who listen to a limited range of music, unwilling to broaden their horizon a bit. I know because when I was young, I was like that. Today I take “trips” through my collection which, for example, take me from J. S. Bach to Ketil Bjoernstad (Norwegian jazz musician and gifted writer), from Judas Priest to Tajima Tadashi (a master of the Shakuhachi flute), from Edvard Grieg to Keith Jarret to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and so on. It’s often a wild ride that only I can follow, but it is or can also be invigorating or just plain fun.

Richard : It varies and, though I know everyone says this, I really do appreciate just about everything. But there are two genres I constantly find myself returning to more than others: electronica and indie. The two alone are probably enough to constitute eclecticism, and that’s just how I like it. I’d probably have to say electronica was “my” type of music above all else though, having been a fan many years longer than I’ve listened to indie music.

Bit of a predictable question, what was the first record you ever brought?

Volkher : The first two LPs I got (presents to go along with my first small stereo when I was around 12 or 13) were the soundtrack to “Mrs. Robinson” with music by Simon & Garfunkel and an early Status Quo (U.K.) compilation which collected great tracks such as “Gerundula” and “Umleitung”, plus earlier material. Before that I simply “stole” records from my dad’s downstairs collection and transported them to my room upstairs. I still have some of those in my possession today, more than 30 years later. I hope my dad isn’t reading along here. ;)

Richard : I honestly can’t remember; I have a terrible memory. If I had to guess, I’d say it was probably Phats and Small’s Turn Around. (Was that really nine years ago? How time flies!)

Are there any skeletons in your music collection closet?

Volkher : I have thousands of CDs and LPs, meaning I also have tons of skeletons. Some sections of my music shelves are a virtual “Night of the Living Dead”. I’ve just started my “Millennium Project” on my site which is a way of forcing myself to listen to each and every single CD I have, skeletons and all. I think it’ll take me years to complete this project, even if I listen to more than one CD each and every day and rate it, write about it, etc.

Richard : Oh yes. Far too many. I used to like ridiculously trashy trance - the kind you’d find on Euphoria compilations - far too much. I also bought Aqua’s album many years ago and, more recently, Thom Yorke’s, despite claiming to hate him.

Desert island time, what 5 tunes would you take with you?

Volkher : I never answer these types of questions. Because I am accustomed to having a huge amount of music at my disposal, I would hate to have all of that limited to a few tunes. Besides, I have so many all-time favorite tunes that you could fill a room with them.

Richard : This is tough. I’ll say:

1. Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit

2. Ratatat - Seventeen Years

3. Nelly Furtado - Crazy (Kooks cover)

4. Lily Allen - LDN

5. Overseer - Horndog

Do you have a favorite musical artist?

Volkher : Nope. At least a hundred or so, if that does it. Call me indecisive, if you like. ;)

Richard : Absolutely not. I’m far too indecisive to pick favourites. You can get a fair idea of who I like the most form my last.fm page though.

Do you play any musical instruments yourself?

Volkher : Yes, I’ve been a drummer for more than 30 years. I even had lessons with Ed Thigpen a few light years ago. Thigpen was the drummer for Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, and he played with John Coltrane and a host of other jazz greats. For those in the know, today I have two Roland TD-10 digital drum kits chained together, standing right next to me. That comes out to be 10 drums, 9 cymbals and anywhere between 50 and several hundred complete drum sets sampled and programmed in pure digital sound. Yeah, I’m completely nuts. I run that kit through a power mixer, throw in the sound from a CD player in digital stereo … and off I go ….

Richard : No and it’s unlikely I ever will. I have absolutely no sense of whatever it is that makes you able to play instruments so I’ll leave it to the professionals. Though I must admit, I have always had a secret fantasy where I’m doing a DJ set to thousands of people, Fatboy Slim on Brighton Beach style.

Do you go think you need to hear music live to fully appreciate it?

Volkher : Yes and no. I do believe that live music is a must for anyone who loves music as much as I do, and I regularly catch as many known and unknown acts as possible, but there’s also a lot of music that simply cannot be reproduced in a live setting or was produced to be heard in its digital or whatever format in a private setting at home. Still, the interaction between musicians is where it’s all at. It’s the process of creating music live and spontaneously in a more or less prearranged setting that is the most fascinating aspect for me. On top of that, although you didn’t ask, I also believe that investing into decent gear will help tremendously when it comes to reproducing great live recordings (and of course studio sessions) at home. I’ve written at length about, for example, the 5 CDs that comprise Shelly Manne’s live set at the Black Hawk (three days in 1959) and how damn good these sound. If you have an audiophile system, the live soundstage reproduced in my living room is simply stunning. Of course it’s not the same as having been there, but it comes pretty close.

Richard : It depends on the artist I think. You’d be surprised at how many just suck live. (Califone being the most recent example.) But in general, I’d advise anyone to go see their favourite bands live if they can. Even if they suck, the live music experience is unbeatable.

Is vinyl dead?

Volkher : Certainly not. It has been relegated to online sites and small stores around the globe, but there’s a great number of people who (rightly so) claim that much of the music cut into vinyl grooves still sounds tons better than any CD release today, remastered or not. What many audiophiles call “The Loudness Wars” – the recording and presenting of music in a compressed, no-noised and eq’d state today – is changing the listening experience for many people. I know lots of people who are simply bowled over when they hear a well-recorded LP on my system. Yes, there are very well-remastered CDs (or even original CDs from the 80s that somewhat ignorant people dropped off at second hand stores in favor of the latter remastered version) that sound excellent, but they are few and far between.

Richard : I’m too young to have ever seen it alive, so as far as I’m concerned, it might as well be.

What can you find in the 9rules music community?

Volkher : Music … and then some. To be quite honest, I think there is not nearly enough music and too limited a member range to really call it a music community, but we’re working on it. We need lots more music sites, written by passionate people who love what they are listening to and have enough nerve and knowledge to also be critical listeners. We also need a much broader scope because many genres aren’t even covered. Classical? No hay. Electronica? Hardly ever. Hard Rock and Heavy Metal? Not really in sight. I hope you get my drift.

Richard : Not a lot at the moment! Participation at the moment is quite disappointing. I’d love to see more music blogs joining and more people interacting in the notes. What you will find, though, are a few fantastic music blogs that I highly recommend reading.

A big thanks to Volkher and Richard for taking part in this interview