What was the first concert you ever saw?
My first show was also my first punk show--that's how cool I am. It was Dead Kennedys, Toxic Reasons and 7 Seconds at the Elite Club in San Francisco.
What CDs are in your changer right now?
Dvorák, Strauss and Carmina Burana.
How many total albums do you own (CDs, vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks)?
Around 500 vinyl LPs and 400 CDs at the moment.
Do you download music, and if so, legally or illegally?
I'll take the Fifth in order to avoid self-incrimination.
What was the first album you owned?
The Who, Who's Next.
What song would you like to have played at your funeral?
Neil Diamond's "I Am ... I Said," and I'm not kidding. I love that song.
Musically speaking, what do you love that your friends don't know about? What's your favorite guilty pleasure?
Cyndi Lauper, Simple Minds and, most of all, Morrissey and The Smiths.
What band or artist changed your life, and how?
A few. The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper, because it was the first record I remember hearing. Dead Kennedys, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, because it helped shape my political outlook and my career aspirations, working for social justice. And The Circle Jerks, Group Sex, because it was the first album that made me put a hole in the wall of my parents' house.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
Damaged by Black Flag.
