Ed Kuklinski has lived in Tucson on and off for 11 years, as he
wanders the country working as a wildlife biologist. He aspires toward
finding a permanent job, visiting a live volcano, and finally starting
up a band.
What was the first concert you ever saw?
The Stray Cats, on the Built for Speed tour. As a result, my
cat’s name is Lee Rocker.
What CDs are in your changer right now?
Heartless Bastards, The Mountain; Drive-By Truckers,
Brighter Than Creation’s Dark; John Doe and the Sadies,
Country Club; Bob Dylan and the Band, The Basement Tapes;
Throw Rag, Desert Shores; Jim Carroll Band, Catholic Boy;
Stiff Little Fingers, Inflammable Material.
How many total albums do you own (CDs, vinyl, cassettes,
8-tracks)?
About 250 CDs, many of which don’t play due to scratches … and a
box full of 20-year-old cassettes, most of which still play.
Do you download music, and if so, legally or illegally?
I buy MP3s here and there. I leave all the illegal downloading to my
friends, and then I burn off of them.
What was the first album you owned?
Jim Croce’s You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, in 1972. I was
4.
What song would you like to have played at your funeral?
It would be sweet if all of my talented friends could dig into all
of my poetry and lyrics that I haven’t done anything with, and put the
words to live music. They’d be laughing; they’d be crying.
Musically speaking, what do you love that your friends don’t know
about? What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?
Petra Haden’s cover of the Bellamy Brothers’ “Let Your Love
Flow.”
What band or artist changed your life, and how?
When I was in high school, a buddy lent me a beat-up mix tape with
D.O.A., Black Flag, Minor Threat, G.B.H., Dead Kennedys and a bunch of
other punk. It blew my mind, as I grew up in a small town.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
Pull the figurative trigger …
This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2009.
