Snake Q&A 013: Adam Wray
Tokyo's Park Hyatt, Ottawa, Ontario, Ricky Williams #34, Technics, Braun, Magistretti
Snake is a weekly newsletter covering severe deals and knowledge, mostly in furniture. For a representative sample, click here for the most recent auction rundown, and here for the most recent designer rundown.
Now at Snake: Every other Friday or so an interview with a person in good standing of the newsletter whose taste in vintage, furniture, collectibles and adjacent fields is worth celebrating and learning from. Sellers, buyers, set decorators, artists, adjacents, etc…
Here’s the 13th…
Adam Wray | IG, Twitter | Writer and editor from Ottawa, Canada
Adam covers avant things, up front things, sports, clothing—in a thoughtful and direct way, all of which show a deep point of view, taste, etc. that lies below what he’s doing. It comes out in the work. Adam is one of the more thoughtful people I know; he writes often, still, I wish he wrote more. He is also, like this author, from the most important city on the planet.
Q&A 013
Fav flea market?
Namdaemun Market in Seoul. Much more than a flea market, and open until like 4 a.m. Reminds me of a happy time in my life.
Best flea market day ever—what did you get?
Found a nice, clean copy of Sign o’ the Times, which you should always buy regardless of how many copies you already have—it’s a great gift. Two weeks later, Prince passes, and I open it for the first time to find the original fan club mail-in subscription card still inside, mint condition.
Best eBay purchase?
Texas Longhorns helmet, signed by Ricky Williams. He inscribed it: “Ricky Williams #34 Smoke Weed Everyday.”
Best Craigslist find?
First, my bicycle, a steel made-in-Canada Miele road bike from the 1980s that I’ve been riding for over a decade. And second, a Technics SL-P1200 CD player: a big, beefy unit that was effectively one of the first CDJs and still sounds great for home listening.
Best LiveAuctioneers find?
Recently, this set of Louis Vuitton luggage (“Provenance: The personal collection of Mike Ditka”) or this austere dog house by Willy Guhl (“Please note this item may contain asbestos”). And of course the Confidential sectional by Alberto Roselli that sits in my living room.
IG seller account you hang out on/look at their stuff the most?
@bakerferguson in Chicago.
Thing you most regret passing on?
My wife and I have a nice assortment of coffee makers, and a few years back I passed on a Braun KF20 for dirt cheap in that nice burnt orange. Now they’re kinda pricey, and we really don’t need any more ways to make coffee.
Best thing you got for insanely cheap?
Stevie Williams DC Shoes “The Reason” sneakers in the powder blue and grey colour off eBay for $15 in maybe 2010. I begged my mother to buy me a pair when I was in middle school then barely wore them, outgrew them. Found a deadstock pair a decade later. Still haven’t worn them and would be difficult to part with although the idea of keeping unworn sneakers in a box in my house makes my skin crawl. Stevie remains my favourite skater.
Best thing you overpaid for?
If I use something often and it serves me well, it wasn’t an overpay. If I don’t, then I’ve probably already moved it along, so it’s hard to call it “best.” Maybe a meal? An extravagant meal can be fun, but the difference between “good and cheap” and “great and expensive” is smaller with food than with furniture, clothing, etc. I’ll say a caesar salad and martini at New York Bar on top of the Park Hyatt in Tokyo, the Lost in Translation bar. It was my first time in Japan. I recall them serving the salad with a wide, round, thin piece of fried pancetta about the same diameter as the bowl, so you had to bust through it with your spoon like a crème brûlée, but now I can’t find any evidence of this preparation online, so I’m wondering if I actually invented this memory. If you’re in Tokyo, please go check on this.
Favorite piece of furniture you own?
Lella and Massimo Vignelli’s “Serenissimo” dining table.
What’s one thing you own that you won’t ever sell?
A New Order “Ceremony”/Joy Division “A Lonely Place” 7” that belonged to my uncle. “A Lonely Place” was recorded days before Ian Curtis’ passing, I believe the last time the band played together. Harrowing recording, feels almost indecent to listen to. I rescued this from my grandparents’ basement with a grip of my uncle’s teenage records, and this the only one I’ve held onto.
Piece you have now that you despise and want to replace?
There’s nothing in our home that I despise, but there's an R. Huber Tub sofa that needs a new home if you’re in the market for a solid made-in-Canada teak joint. I’d also like to use this space to tell you how much I hate that one George Nelson slatted bench.
Who do you think sold more records: Nelly Furtado or Three 6 Mafia?
I saw Nelly Furtado open for Prince once.
Secret spot that you love but won’t tell anyone about? (please describe as judiciously as possible while omitting any identifiable characteristics)
Tough one—I’ve got a big mouth so this doesn’t really apply. There’s Japanese rockabilly bar in Toronto, where I used to live, with a good jukebox that makes nice sake negronis. It’s not really a secret spot but it’s already hard to get a good seat on the weekend.
Rarest/most canon vintage thing you have but never wear?
Kapital rose print jeans. They’re canon to me.
Most jealousy-inducing thing you’ve seen? (e.g. I saw a guy in Foremost jeans once in 2012 and I’ve never gotten over it)
My late grandfather’s 1972 Citroen SM.
Favorite Russian novelist?
Not a novelist but Chekhov.
Is there a field of collecting are you looking to get into in the near future? (Furniture era/paper/autographs/stamps/model trains/computer shirts/90s Harley shirts/digital watches/lighters/slot cars/faberge eggs/Amish quilts etc)
Southern rap tapes. I think I love cassettes even more than I love records, prefer tape hiss to vinyl crackle. I can listen to all of this stuff online, thank God, but I’m still touched by the aura of physical media. There’s this great poster I ordered from Screwed Up of DJ Screw selling a tape out of his front door, and the idea of being able to hold something that he held and slip it into a tape deck and listen to it in a more direct line than a rip off YouTube moves me. I’ve been trying to restrict my acquisitive impulses wherever I can, to take seriously the things I choose to bring into my home—I think having some of these tapes would make me really happy. My original answer was S.T. Dupont lighters, which my friend Bilal put me onto recently, and which look and sound very cool, but I’m not sure having a bunch of very expensive lighters would really move the needle for me.
What’s the item that’s been on your watchlist the longest without you having pulled the trigger?
Is the best vintage/furniture online or in the wild?
If you know exactly what you want, online is good, but the most edifying shopping always happens in the wild.
Has all the cool shit been discovered? (Yes or no answer only)
No.
Any vintage accounts you want to rep or boost? Furniture? (feel free to include local spots)
@yakimonomtl has taught me a lot about Japanese pottery and cookware.
Follow Adam on Instagram.
Snake is a weekly newsletter covering severe furniture deals. Want a representative sample? Click here for the most recent auction rundown, and here for the most recent designer rundown.