CD Junkies: Collector Chris Skebo
At 360°Sound, we’re all about covering music from all angles. The latest session in our popular CD Junkies series features one of our most eclectic collectors to date. Chris Skebo, a 41-year old composer and multi-instrumentalist from Sterling Heights, Michigan, is a free jazz enthusiast, but his CD collection contains at least a bit of seemingly every genre.
“Music is my life,” the self-described musical texturalist declared during our 35-minute conversation via Zoom (check out our YouTube channel, @360degreesound, for the complete interview). Skebo has been collecting CDs since he was 11 years old, and he still has every CD he’s ever bought. He sheepishly disclosed that that includes his very first two purchases back in 1994, Boyz II Men’s II and Bryan Adams’s So Far So Good.
Skebo’s collection now totals over 7,000 discs. “They’re in several places in the house,” he confided. “The number really stopped mattering when the square footage started mattering.” As fellow CD Junkies, we can relate.
Chris is not only a Junkie, he’s also set to become the newest member of the 360°Sound writers team. Look for his byline and his insightful and eclectic takes coming very soon.
Editor’s Note: This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. Scroll to the bottom for the complete video interview. You’re definitely going to want to check this one out!
360°Sound: What do you love about the CD format?
Chris Skebo: When I was younger, I had some records, which I inherited from my dad and from some of my aunts and uncles. But I started transcribing music in my early teens, and it was a lot easier to try to transcribe a jazz solo on a CD than it was picking up a needle and trying to move it back to the exact moment. So one of the things I loved always about the CD was the ability to replay very, very quickly. Now, streaming obviously affords that exact same advantage, but there’s that tangible idea of actually pressing a physical button on a CD player and having a connection to it that is very important to me.
I think everybody streams these days; I would say maybe I take in 20% of my music via streaming. CD is still the largest way I take in music. If I’m cleaning the house, a CD goes on, as opposed to a record. A record would be my preferred listening experience, but the CD is the most that I do.
How often are you buying CDs and from where?
I probably buy CDs at least once a week. There’s a nice little chain called 2nd & Charles, they get used CDs. I find some gems there every now and then. My favorite record store in the area is Street Corner Music in Oak Park, Michigan. Love that place. I get most of my favorite stuff from there. I still run to the Salvation Army, and I’ll dig through the racks every now and then and find some great stuff for 50 cents. I found a Mary Halvorson CD at Salvation Army the other day. I was like, ‘What is this doing here? Okay, it’s mine.’
I very rarely purchase anything new these days, unless it’s a box set or it’s something by somebody that I really, really want. The Frank Zappa stuff, I buy those brand new because I want them. Unfortunately, I use the big corporation that everybody else does, though I’m buying primarily used now. It’s really great as a consumer. You can’t beat the prices, so many good ones for $1.
What CDs have been getting a lot of spins lately?
The Frank Zappa Waka/Wazoo box set has been getting some very heavy rotation. It’s five discs presented very well. It’s the sessions, rehearsals, outtakes, and alternate mixes of the Waka/Jawaka album and The Grand Wazoo album, which is one of my absolute favorite Zappa albums, a very jazz-influenced Zappa album. It’s really cool hearing all of the basic tracks, the instrumental version of “Uncle Remus,” early versions of “Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus” without the overdubs. Just really cool discs.
Horace Silver’s The United States of Mind. This one’s on Blue Note from their Connoisseurs series, back in 2004. This is actually a really hard CD to find, and the music on here is just fantastic. Randy Brecker is on this one. But what’s really great is the vocals by Andy Bey, just, wow, lights out. Really cool album.
Peter Brötzmann Octet’s Complete Machine Gun Sessions from 1968. If you are having a party and you want people to leave, this is the CD you put on. “Machine Gun” tells you everything you need to know about what’s going on here with tenor saxophones, bass clarinets, pianos, drums, and bass. It’s heavy, and it’s grating, and it’s beautiful.
What’s one of your most prized discs?
I have an 11-year-old son, and he is the coolest kid on the planet because he puts up with all of my free jazz, and he likes to play along with me and improvise. His name is Ayler, named after Albert Ayler. Albert Ayler’s Love Cry from 1968 is one of my absolute favorite albums of all time. I was 15 or 16 when I heard this album for the first time, and it opened my mind to something entirely new. The CD, as opposed to the records, has a lot of outtakes and alternate takes, so it’s an entirely different listening experience than the vinyl. It’s such a great record.
How do you feel about the future of the CD?
I don’t think they will ever go away. Obviously, as long as there are people like us who are still buying them and there are stores that are willing to stock them. But if we talk about trends and how everything is cyclical, ‘90s hairstyles and clothes are in, so the CDs got to be right there, right? It’s so ingrained in the ‘90s culture. You’re seeing CD players being a little more readily available.
I think there’s going to be a fascination with the youth about them. They’re going to find a box of their parents’ CDs in the basement. ‘Oh, what is this?’ And they’re probably going to want to be curious and listen to it. And I think as people’s vinyl collections get bigger, and they realize the weight of moving the collection, and the space that it takes up, there might be some blow-back on that. But I think as long as people still care about CDs, I don’t see them ever going away because they’ll always be a resale market for them.
Experience Chris Skebo recordings (and purchase them), including his fascinating Spontaneous Music experiments, on his bandcamp site
Again, don’t forget to look for his byline on 360°Sound coming very soon.
