By day, Matt Rendon drives a truck for RESTORE, a program
(estoreprogram.publichealth.arizona.edu) run by
the College of Public Health at the UA. By night, he is normally cooped
up in the Coma Cave studio, recording outrageously anachronistic pop
music as the Resonars. (Rendon writes, records and plays all tracks.)
The new album, That Evil Drone, just came out on Burger Records
(www.burgerrecords.com).
What was the first concert you ever saw?
Beatlemania at the Tucson Community Center in either ’77 or ’78.
What CDs are in your changer right now?
The Druids of Stonehenge, Creation; Fleet Foxes, Fleet
Foxes; Otis Rush, The Classic Cobra Recordings 1956-1958;
Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion; Ensemble of the
Bulgarian Republic, Music of Bulgaria.
How many total albums do you own (CDs, vinyl, cassettes,
8-tracks)?
About 4,000 LPs, a box of CDs and a box of 45s.
Do you download music, and if so, legally or illegally?
No, my nephew tried to show me how to download, but I still remain
bamboozled by the process. Besides, to quote Al Perry, “What fun is
that?”
What was the first album you owned?
I honestly don’t remember. However, the first two albums I
stole were The Byrds, Mr. Tambourine Man, and The Kinks,
Greatest Hits, from my older brother, Mark. He wasn’t listening
to them that much, anyway.
What song would you like to have played at your funeral?
The Beatles, “Nowhere Man.”
Musically speaking, what do you love that your friends don’t know
about? What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?
I can’t think of a thing. I will say that I don’t go a day without
listening to France Gall. When all your friends are record dorks,
nobody is surprised by anything anybody listens to.
What band or artist changed your life, and how?
The Beatles, for showing the joy of music, and The Who, for showing
the power (and volume) of music.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all
time?
The Beatles, Beatles VI.
This article appears in May 21-27, 2009.