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. This one comes to us from Martin Dosh, solo artist, drummer extraordinare and frequent collaborator/touring partner with Andrew Bird.

My First Time … with Martin Dosh

First record you bought
If we’re talking cassette, I think it was run-dmc’s raising hell. If we’re talking vinyl, i think it was the 12 inch of blue monday by new order. Being 12 years old and not knowing that 12″s were supposed to be played at 45 rpm, I played it at 33 1/3 for at least a year before somebody told me that it sounded weird. I thought it was really cool and sludgy, and I remember wondering how they got the vocals to sound so low.

First record that changed your life
Probably led zeppelin 2, as that was the one that really made me want to start playing drums. now that I think about it, this was the first album that when i listened to it, I listened only to the drums; not intentionally, but that’s just what my ears were drawn to. I began to hear music from the bottom up. I would set up my stereo in the basement, and crank it, and attempt to play along. That’s how I learned how to play drums. I was 15.

First concert you attended
George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers, in 7th grade, was the first concert I went to without my folks. My mom took me to see Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger when I was 9, I think.

First concert that blew you away
I saw Pink Floyd in 1988 and that was pretty incredible, but it’s hard to remember that one with any detail. So, the first concert i saw that totally, absolutely blew me away was the Grateful Dead in Albany, New York in 1990. My college roommate had gotten me into them earlier in the school year, and I liked some of their songs, but i was not really prepared for that show. The parking lot. The way people cheered after songs. The lights and the sound. Holy crap, that was probably, to this day, the best live sound I’ve ever heard in a room that big. The music was so fragile and beautiful. I couldn’t figure out how it was holding together. I saw them a few more times, but it was never nearly as good as that show.

First time playing live
I played in my high school talent show when i was a junior. We did four cover tunes. I did a drum solo. I have a videotape somewhere of that.

First tour (horror stories, unexpectedly, great shows, etc)
The first band I did any kind of touring with was my old rock band, Como Zoo. We played mostly on the east coast, from about 1993 to 1997. New York, Boston, lots of college towns in between. We did a tour, which was really maybe somewhere around 15 shows we had set up across the US, on our own, in probably 1996? Anyway, that was an amazing experience, though i don’t think we made any money. we went all the way to arizona, for crying out loud. I don’t think anyone ever even had the slightest thought of, “why are we doing this?” we were in that sh*t together.

First instrument you learned and/or first piece of equipment you loved
When I was in my second year of high school, i was over at my friend pete’s house, out in the suburbs, and he said, “oh hey marty, check out my drums!” so we went down in the basement, and there they were. a nice little red yamaha set. he sat down and played your basic “ringo” beat, with a few fills. i pretty much thought that was the coolest thing i had ever heard, as i’d never been that close to a drumset before. the second i sat down behind them, i could tell there was something going on. my parents bought me an old ludwig set for christmas that year, and let me tell you, i loved those drums. too bad i traded them in the next year for a crappy 9-piece set. argh. 15 year olds don’t make the best choices.

First time getting press and/or being interviewed
Once again, back to como zoo. The first press was a review of our first cassette release. can’t even remember what the name of it was. we sent it out to some places and it got reviewed in this old minnepolis zine called CAKE. it was a decent review, and of course, we knew this was the beginning of big things

First song you wrote and/or recorded
Well, this probably happened within 2 weeks of getting my first four-track machine, sometime in 1996. i borrowed my friend rob’s old organ, and a few mics from my friend jonny wang, and started recording everything. the first “song” song that i wrote, and recorded while i was writing it, was called watermeloncholy. after i had dubbed the drums, and gotten my roommate mike to play sax on it, i remember listening back to it, utterly dumbfounded that i had created a piece of music that sounded like, well, a piece of music. i recorded it later with the band lateduster, and also released a version of it on “numerous quality mixes,” the second dosh release.

First awesome thing that happened solely because you were in a band
Free drinks.

First horrible thing that happened solely because you were in a band
Free drinks.

First reactions from your family when you played them your music
Being that my parents tolerated loud, out-of-time, out-of-tune rock played in their house at all hours of the day, and even talked to the cops on my behalf a few times, I’d say their first reactions were fairly positive. they both really liked my band Lateduster, and of course, they love Andrew Bird. They like my solo stuff too. They’re very supportive.

First musical obsession (band, song, singer, genre or otherwise)
My first true musical obsession was top 40 radio. when i was 10, i used to sit, boombox in hand, cassette at the ready, finger on “record,” waiting to hear the song i had heard the day before and had to have on cassette. stuff like devo, the cars, the j. geils band….. whatever was around in 82 and 83. i filled up probably 30 tapes worth of songs. this was before i had a paper route and was able to purchase my own music.