Criminal record: How Suffa’s love of vinyl almost got him arrested

Hilltop Hoods MC and Record Store Day ambassador Matt “Suffa” Lambert tells how his love of vinyl almost saw him land on the wrong side of the law.

Matt “Suffa” Lambert’s vinyl addiction has cost him many things – money, spare rooms that could be housing his young family – but he never thought it might cost him his freedom.

But his love of records caused a heart-stopping moment coming back from an overseas tour.

“It was years ago and I’d been record shopping in South Korea, London and Canada,” the Hilltop Hood said.

“I had to buy a new suitcase to carry all the vinyl in. Anyway, when we got home customs were like, ‘We can’t let you through, we’re finding traces of cocaine in your luggage’.

“My first thought was that someone had made me a mule! It turned out that all the seventies vinyl I’d bought for sampling were used to chop up cocaine on and there was still residue on them from decades earlier. They let me through but for a minute there I was pretty shook up.”

It’s a funny story but it points to Lambert’s obsession with vinyl and why he and his fellow Hoods Dan “Pressure” Smith and Barry “DJ Debris” Francis are the perfect choice as ambassadors for this year’s Record Store Day.

Held across two days this year – June 12 and July 17 – Record Store Day encourages music lovers to support local record stores and perhaps pick up a copy of a special limited-edition piece of vinyl.

Hilltop Hoods Barry “DJ Debris” Francis, Matt “Suffa” Lambert and Dan “Pressure” Smith dig through the crates at Clarity Records ahead of World Record Day. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Lambert said his own relationship with vinyl records “probably tips into the problem area”.

“I’ve got about five or six thousand LPs,” he said.

“Not all hip hop, there are plenty of 20c thrift store bargains in there that I’ve bought to try to find a sample. I have looked into storage options, because as my family grows the space I have shrinks.

“It’s hard though, because then I’d have to pick the ones that didn’t go into storage, and that would be a rough time.”

Lambert, who with the Hilltop Hoods has won 10 ARIA awards and released six consecutive No. 1 albums, said there was something about physically owning music that a streaming service could never match.

“It’s tactile,” he said. “You have your hands on the music. You have the liner notes in your hands and you can read about the producers and find out where it was recorded. You can immerse yourself in the artwork.

“I grew up going to Big Star down at Marion. It was one of those stores that was big on hiring people that really knew their music and no algorithm can match that.

“That was the original algorithm – a personal recommendation from someone who listens to the same music you do.”

For more information and a list of participating Adelaide stores, go to recordstoreday.com.au