First Impression

When I was 11 years old, I formed a band with my friend Eryn called FIRST IMPRESSION. In 1988 we played a gig in Hell's Kitchen - an old divey club called Miracles.

1988. Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. Me and my friend Eryn Murray played a gig at Miracles - an old hidden divey club on the 5th floor of a building on West 37th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. The heart of Hell’s Kitchen. We were 12 years old. Our band was called First Impression. My father’s band played backup while I played keys and Eryn sang. She wrote all the lyrics, and I came up with the melody. We wrote two songs, but then the band broke up. A lot had changed in both of our lives as we were turning 13 and off to junior high school. I focused more on art after that, and darkroom photography later at LaGuardia High School. But I did join another band for about a year in the east village when I was 17 years old. I was recruited by a glam-rock bass player named Marshall Irvin when he found out that I played piano. He was assembling a band and wanted electric keyboards. We were called Kissing Bandits. Being in that band was so much fun because I got to play all the iconic stages of the Village... CBGB, Coney Island High, Continental, Webster Hall, Limelight, Brownies, The Bank, Spirals, The Pyramid, and so many more. It was also great for my photography, befriending and shooting the bands and musicians that I met along the way. It was in 1992 when I would see Eryn again. I was watching MTV (when the network was all about pop music, completely and solely devoted to playing music videos) and there was Eryn on the hugely popular Irish hip hop group House of Pain song, 'Jump Around'. She was dating Danny Boy O'Connor at that time but would remain part of the music scene, hobnobbing with rappers and rockers for years to come.

*Excerpt from the next Time Capsule episode, 'Making Music'...