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From The Mind Of Adi #20: Lauren Larson from Ume’s Firsts
This week has already been special. Here's a bonus edition of From The Mind Of Adi to add to all the glory.
Firsts: Sh*te that happened before other sh*te happened.
Today: Lauren Larson's Firsts! I hope you enjoyed my personal Firsts, James Petralli from White Denim's Firsts, Chris Rose's Firsts, and JP from Built By Snow's Firsts. This time, we examine what inspired Lauren Larson from Ume through the years. Ume celebrates the release of Sunshower this Saturday at The Mohawk.
- 1st favorite song: At age 5, I really loved a Ric Ocasek 45' of "Emotion in Motion." This song is still one of my favorites.
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- 1st favorite musician or band: I was very into "doing routines" to my early faves -- Talking Heads, Prince, and The Muppet Show album, and then got into imitating Axl Rose. And, of course, there was Milli Vanilli.
- 1st album recorded on a cassette tape: Before I was old enough to use the record player, my Dad recorded me a cassette tape of Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls" to listen to in my Fisher Price. My brother and I also listened a lot to our tape of Van Halen's 1984, while I did the dance from the "Jump" video.
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- 1st cassette tape purchased: DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince -- Parents Just Don't Understand. It doesn't get much better than "Nightmare of My Street" featuring Freddy Krueger.
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- 1st concert attended: Two months before I was born, I attended Bruce Springsteen's The River Tour. My mom says I kept kicking to the beat. The first concert I remember seeing was the Berkeley punk band Fifteen at Jasmine Hall in Lake Jackson, TX.
- 1st concert attended in Austin (if different from above): This would be a concert my first hardcore band Twelve Blades played with Braid, Silent Spring, and Racecar Riot at The Oakland House in '97. I think that's also the first time I ever visited Austin.
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- 1st CD purchased: The first CD I bought with my own allowance money was probably a Nirvana import or NOFX's Punk in Drublic.
- 1st album downloaded: The first music I remember downloading was Van Morrison's "Listen to the Lion" on Audiogalaxy. I've never really downloaded much music.
- 1st recording: There is a cassette of my first band's first practice recorded on our back porch. Here's this band's first "official" recording.
- 1st live performance: My band Twelve Blades played the Fonde Community Center in Houston on Halloween 1996. There were a few piano recitals before that.
Here's a pic of the singer and I (looking super cool) on the way to this first show:
Here's a shot of the show:
- 1st national (or international) tour: Early on, Ume went on tour to Colorado with our friends Handdriver 9 ½. We drove over 2,000 miles, played 4 shows, had no merch, made no money, but had a blast!
Here's a pic of everyone after our Denver show at Monkey Mania:
