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From The Mind Of Adi: Andrew Leeper’s Firsts
Firsts: Sh*te that happened before other sh*te happened.
Today: Andrew Leeper’ Firsts! This time, we examine what inspired Andrew Leeper from Markov. Catch this exciting local band’s explosive post-punk concoctions tomorrow night at Red 7.
- 1st favorite song: My dad actually had a pretty good record collection but for some strange reason, the song I loved as a kid was “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers. I’d play it over and over and over. “You gotta know when to hold ‘em, Know when to fold ‘em, Know when to walk away, and Know when to run.” MenWhoLookLikeKennyRogers.com
- 1st favorite musician or band: In middle school, I discovered the Dead Milkmen. Some of their songs were funny but not in a novelty song way. They were kind of a gateway to the bands that all the older skate rats were into. A sense of humor was rare in the 80s punk/HC scene and I loved the way they didn’t take it too seriously. I wore out my copy of “Big Lizard in My Backyard” to the point and actually had to operate on my cassette with scotch tape.
- 1st vinyl purchased: In the mid/late 90s, I was helping put on shows at VFW halls in Austin and one of the bands that made the rounds was Carbomb. While all the other bands were churning out either pop-punk or straight-edge hardcore these guys played super-intense DC influenced jams. I actually bought a record player just so I could listen to their stuff. They had this real mod Nation of Ulysses vibe that was so weird but cool. Their 7 inch Young Heart Attack is really good and noisy. Check it out here.
- 1st album recorded on a cassette tape: My junior high school years were mostly spent skating in parking lots (without ever getting very good at it). One day we were skating by this little local record store and there was a band playing out front on the back of a flatbed trailer. It was Deadhorse. They were selling a cassette demo with this creepy skeleton on a horse and their music was so fast, heavy and brutal. We thought it was the coolest thing. It was metal but not like Metallica. It was way past that.
- 1st concert attended: My first show was 7 Seconds at Fitzgerald’s in Houston. I had to sneak out because I wasn’t allowed to go downtown at night but it definitely left a lasting impression. It was fast, loud and there was so much energy. People were jumping off balconies and singing every word. I headed straight for the pit and ended up getting punched in the face by a skinhead…a girl skinhead.
- 1st album downloaded: < First downloaded album was Curses by Future of the Left. Great album by some of the guys from the Scottish band McClusky. Loud and smart.
- 1st personal band: My first band was a fairly bad punk/funk band called Yoda’s Lovechild. We thought the name was kind of funny. Then, not so much. The music wasn’t great but it was fun making flyers, recording and doing all that stuff for the first time. Our first time playing in front of people was a high school battle of the bands. I was so nervous I almost threw up.
- 1st national tour: First tour was the funnest/dumbest tour imaginable. It was Dynamite Boy and The Impossibles West Coast tour and it was the first time on the road for either band with nothing more than a split 7 inch recorded on a 4-track. Nobody knew who we were. Just 12 guys and gear crammed into something like a 10 passenger van for two weeks. We had our rental van window smashed in by a flying hood that flipped off a car on the freeway, played in a cave in the desert outside of vegas, crashed with Ignorance Park in LA and ultimately owed Gabe Hascall’s parents a lot of money for taking a rental van out of state when we weren’t supposed to….good times.
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Past Firsts:
- Adi’s Firsts
- James Petralli’s (White Denim) Firsts
- Chris Rose’s (Car Stereo (Wars)) Firsts
- JP’s (Built By Snow) Firsts
- Lauren Larson’s (Ume) Firsts
- John Farmer’s (What Made Milwaukee Famous) Firsts
- Martín Perna’s (Ocote Soul Sounds) Firsts
- Adrian Quesada’s (Grupo Fantasma, Brownout!, Ocote Soul Sounds) Firsts
- Marcos Cabral and Jacques Renault’s (Runaway) Firsts
- Ben and Jeff Brown’s (No Show Ponies) Firsts
- Jeramy Neugent’s (Learning Secrets) Firsts
- James Moody’s (The Mohawk) Firsts
- Nancy Whang’s (LCD Soundsystem, The Juan MacLean) Firsts
- Jen Rea’s (Team Fabrication) Firsts
- Richard Henry’s Firsts
- Matt Ragland’s (Nelo) Firsts
- Shane Lawlor’s (Electric Touch) Firsts
- Graham Williams’ (Transmission Entertainment) Firsts
- Jaylinn Davidson’s (The Boxing Lesson) Firsts
- Daniel Ash’s (Love and Rockets) Firsts
- David Garza’s Firsts
- Shay Tisdale’s (Oak is Keeping) Firsts
- Bryan Keplesky’s (Misprint Magazine) Firsts
- Steve Terebecki’s (White Denim) Firsts
- Kyle Robarge’s (The Calm Blue Sea, Murdocks, Frank Smith) Firsts
- Roy Dank’s (My Cousin Roy) Firsts
- Scott Telles’ (My Education, ST 37) Firsts
- Rob Dickinson’s (Catherine Wheel) Firsts
- Bill Baird’s (Sunset, Sound Team) Firsts
- Hung Nguyen’s (Foot Patrol) Firsts
- Jonathan Meiburg’s (Shearwater, ex-Okkervil River) Firsts
- Mark Sultan’s (The BBQ, The King Khan & BBQ Show, The Almighty Defenders) Firsts
- Zach Duran’s (The Eastern Sea) Firsts
- Rick Smith’s (Torche) Firsts
- Steve Brooks’ (Torche) Firsts
- Nicholas Saldaña’s (Visitors) Firsts
- Z Lynch’s (The Steps) Firsts
- Candice Jones’ (The Coathangers) Firsts
- Erin Mikulenka’s (Team Fabrication) Firsts
- JG Wilkes’ (Optimo Espacio) Firsts
- Aasim Syed’s Firsts
- Black Joe Lewis’ Firsts
- Christian Bland’s (The Black Angels, The Viet Minh, The Revelators) Firsts
- Dave Dart’s (Dart Music International) Firsts
- Ryan Cano’s (The Loyalty Firm) Firsts
- Russell Karloff’s (She Sir) Firsts
- Ashley Cass’ (Birds Barbershop) Firsts
- Erika Wennerstrom’s (Heartless Bastards) Firsts
- Marc Perlman’s (The Midgetmen) Firsts
- Mike Hernandez’ (The Peen Scene) Firsts
- Audrie San Miguel’s (Prototype Vintage Design) Firsts
- Laurie Gallardo’s (KUT 90.5 FM Austin) Firsts
- George Irwin’s (The Georgian Company, Just Guns) Firsts
- William Glosup’s (The Bubbles) Firsts
- Glynn Wedgewood’s (STEREO IS A LIE, IV Thieves) Firsts
- Justin Prater’s (The Authors) Firsts
- Joseph Salazar’s (Death Is Not A Joyride) Firsts
- Alec Empire’s (Atari Teenage Riot) Firsts
- Daniel Perlaky’s (City On Fire, Indierect Records, The Dark Agency) Firsts
- Nathan Christ’s (Echotone) Firsts
- Chris “Frenchie” Smith’s (Sixteen Deluxe, Young Heart Attack, The Bubble, Frenchie Smith Records) Firsts
- Matt Bearden’s Firsts
- Sabrina Ellis’ (A Giant Dog) Firsts
- Eva Mueller’s (One Hundred Flowers, Stem and Leaf) Firsts