9 Questions

Geoff Spencer was born to nomadic baby boomers in Chicago. He attended high school in the Dominican Republic before finishing at Nogales High School. Spencer currently manages a grant for the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women in Sells.

What was the first concert you ever saw?

Milli Vanilli at the Tucson Convention Center with Young MC. This was obviously pre-lip-syncing fraud. I wonder if the taint from that episode carried over to Young MC, because his career also went nowhere after that.

What CDs are in your changer right now?

MSTRKRFT, Fist of God; Mates of State, Bring It Back; Holy Fuck, Holy Fuck; Skank, Maquinarama; Pixies, Surfer Rosa.

How many total albums do you own (CDs, vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks)?

Hundreds.

Do you download music, and if so, legally or illegally?

Well, I read an interesting quote about this years ago, when you could only obtain MP3s via file-sharing programs, not the labels themselves: If one person downloads music illegally, you have a law-enforcement problem; when millions do it, you have a marketing problem. But a lot has changed since then.

What was the first album you owned?

Michael Jackson, Thriller. I had to share it with my siblings. First solely owned album would be The Cure, Disintegration.

What song would you like to have played at your funeral?

Jeff Buckley, "Lover, You Should've Come Over."

Musically speaking, what do you love that your friends don't know about? What's your favorite guilty pleasure?

There are probably many things I love that my friends don't know about, like early-'90s East Coast rap. Guilty pleasure? Syrupy female crooners like Meiko, Ingrid Michaelson, Jewel and Sarah McLachlan.

What band or artist changed your life, and how?

The Violent Femmes. They helped me channel teenage angst and alienation and learn that it's OK to be vulnerable.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

Weezer's "El Scorcho" single.