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From the Mind of Adi #12 : James Petralli’s Firsts
Firsts: Sh*te that happened before other sh*te happened.
Today: James Petralli's Firsts! I hope you enjoyed my personal Firsts; this time, we examine what inspired White Denim's James Petralli through the years.
- 1st favorite song: "Axel F" – Harold Faltermeyer.
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- 1st favorite musician or band: P.M. Dawn. P.M. Dawn introduced me to (Jimi) Hendrix via their rendition of "You Got Me Floating." It is relaxing.
- 1st album recorded on a cassette tape: For You - Prince
- 1st cassette tape purchased: Schubert Dip - EMF
- 1st concert attended: Carlos Santana and Buddy Guy at The Starplex in Dallas with my folks. The first concert I went to without parental supervision was The Black Crowes on the Three Snakes and One Charm tour. "You are listening to the last great American rock and roll band" is what Robert Petta told me during a smashing rendition of Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times." I owe Robert and Nick Petta a shitload for making sure I knew about rock music.
- 1st concert attended in Austin (if different from above): Phish at Southpark Meadows in 1998. They did (Frank) Zappa's "Peaches In Regalia," I did this weird psychedelic butter stuff. Real tears during "First Tube." Looking back, it was probably the butter stuff.
- 1st CD purchased: Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space – Digable Planets.
- 1st album downloaded: If it wasn't Isotope 217's The Unstable Molecule, it was probably another Thrill Jockey record. I caught on to downloading late I guess. At the dawn of the digital age, I loved Thrill Jockey Records, Stereolab, and Midnight Vultures.
- 1st recording: In 2004, I made a noisy record on a four-track cassette recorder and a sweethearted guy called Ryan Patterson burned a ton of CDs for me and tried to sell them at open mic nights in Nacogdoches, TX. I believe he is still running his CD-R label Salient Recordings. He helped quite a few people out there in Nac.
- 1st live performance: I performed a karate/dance routine to "Eye of the Tiger" (Survivor at my elementary school talent show. I worked really hard on the choreography. I am glad that there is no video content from this performance online yet.
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- 1st national (or international) tour: Last October, the group played up to New York to perform at CMJ. We wrecked the rental and hobbled back to Austin broke and unemployed. That is what us R'n'R insiders like to call livin' the dream or ridin' the fatty crest or feelin' the ceilin'.
- 1st "something" I didn't ask you about: The first CD I played when I took my first unsupervised drive was East-West by The Butterfield Blues Band. I turned it way up and drove to the stop and go for a fountain soda. On the way home, I listed to Graham Central Station's "The Jam." This was definitely one of the best days of my life. I started playing music because of how intensely heightened the listening experience became when I got behind the wheel of that bitchin' Z-71. I had four minor accidents that year -- fortunately no one was injured.
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