Unfortunately it looks like I’ll be missing the great Features/Wax Fang/Gentleman Auction House show tonight. I knew it was too good to be true! However, that doesn’t mean I can’t get to know them a little better as part of “My First Time,” the Q&A where we find out a little bit about new bands’ musical firsts.

MP3: Gentleman Auction House – The Book of Matches

Gentleman Auction House are playing tonight at the Dame with Wax Fang and the Features.

My First Time …with Gentleman Auction House

First record you bought
Eric Enger: Since I wasn’t keeping tabs back then, my guess is that the first tape I actually bought was probably either Coolin’ At The Playground, Ya Know! by Another Bad Creation or P.M. Dawn’s The Bliss Album.

First record that changed your life
EE: Self’s Subliminal Plastic Motives was the record that motivated me to start recording on my own and led me to use home recording as a tool for writing. I thought that record sounded so unique, and the fact that there was basically one person driving it all made it incredibly inspiring. Music sounded different to me once I bought that record. And that record got me interested in the scene they came from, a scene that included The Features, The Fluid Ounces and The Katies. Many road trips to Tennessee were to follow.

First concert you attended
EE: Honestly, I’m pretty sure it was a Taylor Dayne show that had something to do with Boy Scouts. If I’m making that up then it’s because apparently I’d like to believe it was my first concert. I can tell you it certainly wasn’t Fugazi.

First concert that blew you away
EE: I spent a lot of time as a teenager getting bummed out that most of the great shows coming through were either 18+ or 21+. But despite my general dislike for anything labeled “grunge,” I was a pretty big Pearl Jam fan. Sitting in the second row at a Pearl Jam concert was pretty unforgettable. Fortunately the songs they played off of Ten sounded better live than on record. That’s the one record of theirs I can’t get behind. Well, until that eponymous one last year. Even Riot Act is pretty great.

First time playing live
EE: There was nothing interesting about my first time playing live except I didn’t sing in those days and the band I was in all wore black shirts and khakis because we thought we were supposed to look nice. We were obviously the coolest high school freshman.

First tour (horror stories, unexpectedly great shows, etc)
EE: My memory is lousy with things like this, but in those days we were just happy to make it through the songs. If nobody seriously messed up then it was a pretty good show. Eventually as we got more intense I learned what Throat Coat was and why you should at least try to preserve your voice throughout the course of a tour. That doesn’t mean I always remember to do that though…

First instrument you learned and/or first piece of equipment you loved
EE: While I tried trombone for a few brief weeks in fifth grade, the first instrument I stuck with was (unfortunately) guitar. Boring. The first piece of equipment I loved was my Tascam 4-track. Armed with a drum machine, my guitar, a slew of pedals and a cheap mic, I had a pretty good set of distractions to keep me sane during high school. And when I finally got my own drum set it was on.

First band you were a part of
EE: In eighth grade we used to make tapes and design album covers with ever-changing band names. One of the guys I played with invited me to be “lead guitarist” in his alt. rock band. Bingo! A scary couple of years followed, including making “the demo” at a local P.O.S. studio run by one of the biggest douches in St. Louis music. A learning experience, no doubt. On one song, he tried to kick our drummer out of the booth and play a drum fill himself. Fuck you. We were in high school. Who cares if the drum fill sucks? The songs sucked. Not to mention that he liked flanging guitars. Chorus pedal? You betcha! Gross, gross, gross.

First time getting press and/or being interviewed
EE: I don’t remember the first press we received, but we were fortunate to get some early local support in GAH. And now, the backlash…

First song you wrote and/or recorded
EE: The one I remember was a vocal-less bounce called “Open 4 to 5.” Guess why. I only had an acoustic and had to stand extra close to the tape deck to be picked up over the drums. Anyway, it was eighth grade, I had some friends to play with and it was our only song. We then saw a show on Nickelodeon called Papa Beaver’s Storytime. From then on we sang “Give it up to Papa Beaver” to the guitar melody. We were not the funniest group of people.

First awesome thing that happened solely because you were in a band
EE: I got a giant “B” Sharpie-d onto my hand.

First horrible things that happened solely because you were in a band
EE: I borrowed a Hawaiian shirt.

First reactions from your family when you played them your music
EE: My grandma said “It’s got a good beat.” Since then that’s been my main criteria.

First musical obsession (band, song, singer, genre or otherwise)
EE: I once made a tape with Snow’s “Informer” dubbed 22 times in a row, covering both sides. And I was not being ironic.