“Pop mini-masterpiece from Phoenix’s best kept secret. Soaring keyboards, perfect harmonies and sunny melodies surrounding a big black cloud of panic and terror. Oh fuck.”

Check out the band at Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, BandCamp and Twitter. I continue my coverage of the excellent and ongoing Paste 50 States Project with ROAR from Arizona. The band is Owen Evans and an ever-evolving cast of musicians that play his tunes live. You can discover for yourself how he rolls by picking up some of his music here. I want to thank Owen for taking the time to participate in this edition of First/Last.

• The first album you ever bought?
• I think my first album was Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous”.
• Your last album bought?
• I don’t remember the last record I bought. I think it might have been a Celine Dion “A New Day Has Come”. I was on tour at Amoeba Records in LA and had remembered loving the record having been forced to hear it over and over when I worked in a record store. Man, that was quite the run-on sentence. I ended up regretting the $4 purchase.
• Favorite album of all time?
• I do love “Pet Sounds”.
• Least favorite/most disappointing album?
• I was pretty disappointed with Weezer’s “Green Album” when that came out. I was pretty excited for a new Weezer record at that point.
• First concert attended?
• My first concert was Diana Ross in Hong Kong when I was 8 and lived there.
• Last concert?
• The last concert was one that we played with Anamanaguchi and they were wonderful.
• Favorite concert ever?
• My favorite concert was when my old band played with The Spinto Band in Phoenix. They covered ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ and ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’. And I think we bonded.
• Least favorite concert?
• I don’t think I have a least favorite concert… Or maybe it was so bad that I’ve blocked it from memory.
• Any thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
• I played at Garfield Artworks in 2010 in front of maybe 5 people but it was really rainy and pretty that night.
• Thanks, Owen. Loving your stuff, man. Don’t let that GarfArt experience deter you from coming back to Pittsburgh. Would love to see you live!