Here’s the next installment of My First Time, the interview series that gives a little peek into the musical firsts of some bands I’ve been crushing on as of late. Next up is Born Ruffians, who just released their debut full-length Red, Yellow and Blue on the world. Interviewed for MFT are Luke Lalonde (singer/guitarist) and Steve Hamelin (drummer).

MP3: Born Ruffians - Foxes Mate for Life

My First Time …with Born Ruffians

First record you bought
Luke: Weird Al Yankovich - “Off the Deep End.” His 8th studio record really struck my 8 year old funny bone. I would sit in front of my CD player meticulously memorizing every word of “Polka Your Eyes Out” for what purpose I’m still not sure. I guess I wanted to impress my mom.

Steve: Weird Al Yankovic - Bad Hair Day. Unfortunately that was the first record I can remember buying. I thought his spoof of “Gangsta’s Paradise” was about the best thing I’d ever heard. I think the second record I bought was Puff Daddy and the Family No Way Out. I wish it had been the first, so I could have listed it and felt a whole lot cooler. Which brings me too…

First record that changed your life
Steve: Puff Daddy and the Family - No Way Out. This was the first record I bought that actually starting creating a musical identity for me. Shortly after this purchase I became really interested in rap and started buying more and more records and reading The Source magazine and getting excited for release dates. I think this is when I first realized that there was a music industry and press. I believe I was 12 around twelve years old. Turns out I had accidentally bought the censored version (which I didn’t know at the time) and eventually I sold it and bought the one with all the cool cursing and the great Busta Rhymes hook on “Victory.”

Luke: Violent Femmes S/T. I’ve only recently realized how important this record was as an influence on my life and the music I make. I always knew the Violent Femmes as the one hit wonder band responsible for “Blister in the Sun” which I loved every time I happened upon it on FM radio. I decided to dig deeper when I was 17 or 18 years old. I immersed myself in the Violent Femmes for about 3 months, listening to nothing else. I became obsessed with Gordon Gano’s lyrics, and the vast depth in all of the songs that they created with an acoustic guitar, bass, kick and snare. At a time when every new band seemed to have 8 or more members, this record really inspired me to do more not only with my voice but with the same primary instruments they were using back in ‘83.

First time playing live
Luke: Midland Ontario YMCA, we were 16 years old. I don’t think I looked up at the crowd once - some nights I still don’t, but now I’ve fully gone through puberty so I’m proud of that. We were about half way through our one and only original song, the first song I’d ever written called “Hello Cincicago” when Steve lost his handle on a stick and threw it into the middle of the stage. A “fan” jumped up to grab it but tripped over my patch chord pulling it loose and taking out 2 of our 3 instruments. Mitch stopped playing out of confusion so we left Midland and got hot as sh*t and signed to Warp records B*TCH!

First concert you attended
Steve: I think it was the Canadian rap group the Swollen Members. I was 14 and they were like the first of four bands or something but they were the only act I went to see so I had to sit through some really terrible other acts after they played just to finish up the show. At the time I loved it and got my baseball cap signed. Thinking back it was probably a pretty hilarious show.

First concert that blew you away
Luke: Animal Collective at the Opera House in Toronto (’04 or ‘05 maybe). I had no idea live music could be taken to this level. Still when I see them I’m partly trying to figure out what the fuck they’re all doing. But while I’m looking up at Noah’s mixer or Dave’s doo-dad I get distracted by the amazing music and I stop caring where it’s coming from (somewhere in an outer space flowery meadow near a mist water fall where it’s never too hot or cold and nothing dies and people have orgasms all day).

First reactions from your family when you played them your music
Luke: I’m always blown away when my grandparents listen to Born Ruffians’ music. For about half the record they aren’t sure what it is, or that every song features my voice. Once they figure that out they mostly complain about not being able to understand what I’m saying, or why we don’t do some Tommy Dorsey covers. Last time I was home I showed them our music video for Hummingbird, they didn’t realize I was in it until the next day. Also they’re 87 years old. LOVE YOU GRANDMA!!!

First awesome thing that happened solely because you were in a band
Luke: Two girls at one time. On MSN messenger. Except not really on MSN but just me typing in a word processor at the library while two girls walked by. Also I wasn’t at the library and I didn’t have a computer at the time. Dudes in bands get mad p*ssy.

Steve: The first awesome thing to happen solely because I was in a band was I started getting free rentals and all my late fee’s removed at my local video store because the guy at the counter was a fan of my band. I still make sure that whenever I rent movies he is working so that I can get them for free. He’s a really cool guy.

First musical obsession (band, song, singer, genre or otherwise)
Steve: My first musical obsession was hip-hop. I had heard No Way Out (as I mentioned earlier) and was really obsessed with the genre. I read the Source. I had a Cash Money Millionaires silver medallion. I even made a slipmat our of paper and tried to scratch my dad’s Thriller record because I thought I was going to be a DJ one day. I like to think listening to hours and hours of rap helped get me drumming but I’m really not sure if it did. It definitely did get me interested in music though, and I’m still a huge fan today.

Luke: I’m sort of permanently intrigued and interested in Bob Dylan. It goes through phases of obsession. I’ve read a few books on him, I’ve written none. I don’t want to day I “identify” with him, though I completely do. I have a gay crush on 1963-65 Dylan. For a few years I’ve been solely interested in everything up to and including John Wesley Harding (all of his 60’s records) but am thinking of getting into the 70’s stuff now.