You thought it could be killed with finals, but it’s back, baby! 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 week it’s Asthmatic Kitty’s own Cryptacize. Chris, Nedelle and Mike were kind enough to all three share their thoughts on their musical firsts.
My First Time …with Cryptacize
First record you bought
Chris: Devo, Freedom of Choice
Nedelle: Soundtrack to “Dirty Dancing”
Mike: Beastie Boys, License to Ill
First record that changed your life
C: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band, the movie soundtrack
N: Michael Jackson, Thriller
M: Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run
First concert you attended
C: Devo, age 10
N: I only went to one ‘cool’ concert in my first 21 years, Smashing Pumpkins when I was 16
M: Poison, age 10 or 11
First concert that blew you away
C: Caroliner Rainbow
N: A musical, I’m sure… I can’t remember which one..
M: Misha Mengelberg/Han Bennink at Mills College, late 90s.
First time playing live
C: ‘Brown bag concert’ Mirman Elementary School aged 7
N: Talent show in second grade, I sang “Pennies from Heaven” dressed as a penny.
M: Fifth grade band
First tour (horror stories, unexpectedly great shows, etc)
C: The Curtains (west coast 2002) - temporarily lost my bandmates in the middle of nowhere in southern Oregon, there was some construction going on and traffic was not moving at all for like an
hour. So my bandmates went for a walk
N: Tour with my friends The Moore Brothers, (west coast 2003).
M: Last fall with Cryptacize. We played in a dirt basement for an audience of 6 nursing kittens.
First instrument you learned and/or first piece of equipment you loved
C: The drums
N: Singing first, then the violin
M: First one I’ve loved is this beautiful cowbell hand made in New York by Cali Rivera.
First band you were a part of
C: The Blocks, an imaginary new wave band I would draw pictures of
N: ‘PBE’ or ‘Pretty Brown Eyes’, an R&B duo with my best friend and a Casio.
M: The Bricks, a classic rock cover band.
First time getting press and/or being interviewed
M: Not exactly, but very close to this time right now
C: I was on a game show when I was a kid
First song you wrote and/or recorded
C: Cover of “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone” a la Sid Vicious
N: A sappy ballad for PBE called “Starlight”, I wrote it in the bathtub.
First awesome thing that happened solely because you were in a band
C: Being asked to play a show
N: Recording in a real studio (The Hangar in Sacramento, 2002)
M: I got to meet Radio Racer.
First horrible thing that happened solely because you were in a band
C: My parents started googling me
N: Stage fright
M: I became arrogant, self-obsessed, and jealous.
First reactions from your family when you played them your music
C: Wow
N: My parents said my songs were too sad
M: A mix of horror and encouragement.
First musical obsession (band, song, singer, genre or otherwise)
C: The whipping sound in “Whip It” by Devo
N: Whitney Houston’s vibrato, I practiced diligently to sound like her.
M: That whole double bass drum fad really blew my mind for most of my adolescent years.
