“We’re on a dirty, labor-intensive mission… and it’s urgent as all hell. Time kills off precious bits of passed-over sound, story, and ephemera every day, just as fast as we can haul this sprawling archive of under-heard recordings—along with the musicians, writers, and entrepreneurs who created them—out of exile.”

I love that. It’s from The Numero Group’s website, and it captures not just the archival record label’s pursuit but its passion. Rob Sevier, one of the founders of Numero Group, has heard more old soul music than … well, maybe anyone. Here he talks about the group’s latest projects, including its “Boddie Recording Company” (a small Cleveland label) boxed set and its Grammy-nominated Syl Johnson collection. Rob gets into, not to sound like VH1, the story behind the music, the reason we collect records and a lot more.