The Winter Sounds Brillobox
Friday, January 13, 2012 Larryville

The Winter Sounds are a band hailing from Nashville and as they seemingly tour constantly, they stop in Pittsburgh tonight for a show at the Brillobox. Supporting them are hometown favs Triggers and Satin Gum. Really can’t miss with that line-up. Singer Patrick Keenan and bassist Ellen Angelico also run Vulcan Army Booking, an independent promotion and booking company. Sounds daunting but as Ellen explains, ” We don’t have to wait around for a label or manager to approve a t-shirt design, tour dates, or mix of a song. We can give away our music if we want.” Right on! The duo were nice enough to take some time to participate in this ‘DIY edition’ of First/Last.

• The first album you ever bought?
• Patrick Keenan: The “Bad Boys” single off the COPS television soundtrack by Inner Circle.
• Ellen Angelico: The first one I can remember is “Blue” by Third Eye Blind.
• Your last album bought?
• Patrick: The Pepper Rabbit record, I can’t remember what it’s called.
• Ellen: “Wildfire” by Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun. Amazing record, great band.
• Favorite album of all time?
• Patrick: Probably the Blue Album by Weezer.
• Ellen: “Ellipse” by Imogen Heap.
• Least favorite/most disappointing album?
• Patrick: I have no idea. Let me think for a second.
• Ellen: I feel weird answering this question.
• Patrick: Let’s skip this one for now.
• First concert attended?
• Patrick: Green Day and No Doubt, I think it was them. No wait, it was Bush and No Doubt.
• Ellen: My first concert was seeing U2 on their Elevation tour, or maybe it was Vertigo.
• Last concert?
• Ellen: We’ve been on tour forever. I can’t remember the last concert I went to that I wasn’t playing in.
• Patrick: We saw Givers in Chicago.
• Ellen: Oh yeah, forgot about that one.
• Patrick: They were really, really good.
• Favorite concert ever?
• Patrick: Andrew WK at the 40 Watt in Athens, GA in, like, 2005.
• Ellen: I’d have to go with Lollapalooza 2006. I saw Nickel Creek, Wilco, Matisyahu, Of Montreal, and a bunch of other incredible bands.
• Least favorite concert?
• Patrick: My first show ever was my least favorite ever. Covering Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” at Spring Fling and not being able to finish the song.
• Ellen: Band concert, sophomore year of high school. It was a disaster.
• Any thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
• Ellen: I’ll let Patrick handle this one. I like Pittsburgh a lot but it’s Pat’s favorite town ever.
• Patrick: Oh, Pittsburgh. [wistfully] Sirens and Songbirds- incredible band. A bunch of people became friends and a great connection came out of that band. Partying at Rat Manor is pretty incredible too.

Thanks Patrick and Ellen. There’s nothing more I appreciate in the music biz than people doing it for themselves and getting it done. Can’t commend you enough!