Nicole Laurenne grew up studying classical piano, playing jazz in a
Tucson combo and fronting Blue Fur in Phoenix. Michael Johnny Walker
asked her to front a side project he was working on, which eventually
turned into Phoenix’s The Love Me Nots. Now the two are married, run
the band’s record label and tour all over the world. The Love Me Nots
celebrate the release of their third album, Upsidedown
Insideout, by performing at Plush with the Mission Creeps on
Friday, Oct. 23. www.myspace.com/luvmenots.
What was the first concert you ever saw?
Chuck Mangione. I was really young and he was doing a concert at the
National Music Camp where I was studying that summer.
What CDs are in your changer right now?
Kenny Burrell, The Friggs, The Kinks, The Vooduo, The Laundronauts,
and a recording of the LMN’s show in Brooklyn last month.
How many total albums do you own (CDs, vinyl, cassettes,
8-tracks)?
Between Michael and me, maybe about a thousand pieces of vinyl, 50
cassettes, a couple hundred CDs.
Do you download music, and if so, legally or illegally?
Yes, a lot from iTunes, mainly. I do it legally—partly because
of my technological ignorance in this area, but mostly because it just
feels like the right thing to do.
What was the first album you owned?
Journey, Escape, on vinyl.
What song would you like to have played at your funeral?
“One for My Baby,” Frank Sinatra.
Musically speaking, what do you love that your friends don’t know
about? What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?
Sinead O’Connor’s first few albums and Prince’s Purple
Rain.
What band or artist changed your life, and how?
The Animals. The first time I heard Animalization, the
combination of Eric Burdon’s vocals and Allan Price’s amazing organ
lines just flipped a switch in my head.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all
time?
Right now I’d have to say The Kinks’ Greatest Hits, with that
ratty guitar sound and crazy vocal delivery. I could listen to it every
day. Oh wait, I do.
This article appears in Oct 22-28, 2009.