by Jackie
in My First Time
on 03/07/10
at 10:09 am
MY FIRST TIME with Colin Alexander
MY FIRST TIME is a blog about music fans and their music firsts.
by Jackie Lin Werner
Name: Colin Alexander
Occupation: Freelance Sound Engineer
Website: www.colinalexander.net
www.tinyspecksofmanythings.com
www.myspace.com/unsolvedmysteries
What was your first concert?
It was some version of the Beach Boys with my parents at Merriweather Post Pavillion. I grew up right next to it and used to go to things there all the time. When it’s not full, they give free tickets to people in the community, just to fill it up. That’s probably how we got the tickets for that concert. I saw Kiss the same way and No Doubt.
What was your first album?
Umm… It was probably something by Weird Al [Yankovic], really. I had a bunch of his albums in elementary school. I don’t know which one I would’ve had first. Maybe the one with the Jurassic Park song on it. What’s your favorite Weird Al song? I don’t even know. I really liked “Amish Paradise”.
What was the first album you bought for yourself?
I think it was The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. I feel like these answers aren’t really portraying me very well. I didn’t really buy music for myself until I was in high school. I just listened to the radio or whatever. Around the same time, I signed up for the Columbia House CD club. I started getting all the free things. After that, they keep sending them to you anyway. I got Beck’s “Odelay”. That was the first thing that made a really big impression on me. It was so weird because it just showed up at the door and I was about to send it back. It ended up becoming my favorite throughout high school. I got “OK Computer” the same way.
What’s your first song on a Sunday morning?
I don’t really know why, but I really like John Cale’s album “Paris 1919”. For some reason, I end up listening to that on Sundays. It’s just kind of warm and laid back.
What’s the first song on a bbq summer party jam mix?
I’m thinking Prince, umm, maybe from Sign of the Times, but it’s kind of a bummer of a record. It’s upbeat, but might not be the best party music. I like “Around the World in a Day”. I don’t know. That doesn’t seem like good bbq music. Do you ever listen to The Hood Internet? (No.) It’s kind of like Girl Talk. The songs are like mash-ups, but they’re a lot more prolific than Girl Talk. They put out a new track, like, every single day. A lot of times I just play that because everyone is always entertained by it. It’s always new and there’s always something recognizable in it. It’s good party music.
What was your first band name?
We were called Dolphin Beam. We called ourselves a noise band, but we were really just making stuff up as we were going along. I don’t remember the meaning of the name. We spent a full week just writing down band names on scraps of paper. Everyone was just coming up with the craziest names we could think of. I wish I still had that paper because there was a lot of good material on it. All of the names were pretty absurd.
What’s the first song that comes up when you put your mp3 player on shuffle?
Ok. Although just the other night everything got wiped from it and I haven’t fully re-upped. Well, we’ll take that into consideration. The Hood Internet. Dead Prez vs Grizzly Bear.
What was the first music video that you can remember?
Umm. I’m trying to think of what that would’ve been. I didn’t really watch MTV when I was younger. I really wasn’t that interested in music when I was in elementary school and most of middle school. Eventually, I got tired of not understanding what everyone was talking about, so I forced myself to get into music. Then I kind of went too far and I never got out of it again. But, uh, I didn’t really start watching MTV until 8th or 9th grade. I think the first video that made an impression on me was Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People”. I had never seen anything like that before.
