Select Date
The calendar requires Javascript.
Entry
From The Mind Of Adi #24: Adrian Quesada’s Firsts
Firsts: Sh*te that happened before other sh*te happened.
Today: Adrian Quesada's Firsts! I hope you enjoyed my personal Firsts, James Petralli from White Denim's Firsts, Chris Rose's Firsts, JP from Built By Snow's Firsts, Lauren Larson from Ume's Firsts, John Farmer from What Made Milwaukee Famous' Firsts, and Martín Perna from Ocote Soul Sounds' Firsts. This time, we examine what inspired Adrian Quesada (Grupo Fantasma, Brownout!, Ocote Soul Sounds, etc.) through the years. Catch Quesada and Brownout! tonight at Lamberts.
- 1st favorite song: "Basketball" - Kurtis Blow. My neighbor across the street was like 15 or 16, and him and his friends used to play ball all the time. I was 7 or 8, and my mom had puff paints at home so I made a t-shirt that said "basketball is my favorite sport" on it and went over there hoping they'd let me play and would think I was cool. They laughed so hard they damn near made me cry. I didn't go back for a long time but I still rocked the song at home.
Get Flash Player to see this clip.
- 1st favorite musician or band: Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction era . I saw this concert on MTV of G'N'R Live at the Ritz and that was the first band I became obsessed with. I quickly lost it when they released the next album.
Get Flash Player to see this clip.
- 1st album recorded on a cassette tape: Look What the Cat Dragged In - Poison . A friend gave me the first Poison album for my birthday once, whatever year they came out. (Adi note: 1986.)
- 1st cassette tape purchased: If it wasn't Kurtis Blow, it may have been Dead Milkmen's Big Lizard in My Backyard. My cousin Angel played it for me once at my grandmother's house and I bought it and it became one of my favorite albums to this day. Got to meet Rodney Anonymous at (the 2008) Fun Fun Fun Fest and I tried to explain to him how big a fan I was, but I felt stupid cause I didn't know who he was at first, I still picture them looking like they did in 1988.
- 1st concert attended: If the battle of the bands in Laredo counts, I think I went to that a once or twice in 5th or 6th grade but the first real concert was Mellow Man Ace at the Laredo Civic Center.
Get Flash Player to see this clip.
- 1st concert attended in Austin (if different from above): I think Gals Panic at a Tower Records in-store was the first thing I saw, like days after I moved to Austin. But the first concert I went to was Lollapalooza 95. I remember thinking Beck was gonna suck live, but he was amazing. Jesus Lizard scared me, Cypress Hill was awesome but by Sonic Youth I was way too messed up and went to pass out under a tree at the entrance so I missed the end and luckily slept through Hole's set. I had never been to a "real" concert like that - I got way excited.
- 1st CD purchased: Licensed to Ill - Beastie Boys. I already had the tape memorized just thought I'd check out a cd. My dad bought it for me.
- 1st album downloaded: I used to download songs a lot can't remember the first album I downloaded.
- 1st recording: Demos in high school on a karaoke machine in our drummer's garage. First "recording project" I did was with my friend Rick Valdez in '95, we recorded a mini album on the four track called "Proud to be Drug Free." I actually still really like it.
- 1st live performance: Classical guitar recital circa 1992. It was a small dance studio with mirrors so it seemed like hundreds of people through the reflections and it scared me shitless. My legs were shaking the whole time.
- 1st national (or international) tour: Blue Noise Band (future members of Grupo Fantasma/Brownout, What Made Milwaukee Famous, etc) summer of '98 or '99. Dave Lobel (current GF manager) bought a van and all four of us hopped in, filled an ice chest with veggie dogs (much to my disapproval but they're actually good), mustard and bread. Jeremy Bruch introduced me to Red Bulls around this time too. Tom Benton and I just reminisced about this last month. We did a pretty damn good nationwide tour, I think I made 300 bucks for the month but it felt like I finally did it - went on tour!
