Jeremy Parsons is the lead vocalist of Mega Sun—even though his girlfriend tells me that he hates being in the spotlight. Thanks in part to his low-chugging bass tone and unique vocal style, Mega Sun has become one of the best bands to arrive on the music scene in recent years. For more information on Mega Sun, visit www.facebook.com/megasuntheband. Parsons was kind enough to answer the Lucky 13; here are his answers.
What was the first concert you attended?
If you want to call it a “concert,” the first time I went out and saw a show was back in 1994 at Nona’s—I could be wrong about the name—which was out by the Del Taco and AM/PM in Cathedral City. I’d just started playing a guitar that I got from Aloha Music, and The Agents were playing. That was the first live band I’d ever seen. I remember thinking: “Wait a minute. You can just get a band together and go play shows?” I must have been 14 or 15. I heard there was another show they were playing the next week, at some mattress store after-hours. … I was hooked. Life was about finding out where bands were playing and what bands were playing.
What was the first album you owned?
OK, let’s be honest: My mother was quite the garage-sale entrepreneur up in the La Quinta Cove, buying things from other garage sales just to sell at her garage sales. We ended up at a spot where I bought, at the same time, Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the Steve Miller Band’s Greatest Hits, which became my first cassettes by recording them from the speakers of our record player, so I could take my jams on the road and listen to them on my Walkman.
What bands are you listening to right now?
Lately, not much other than local music, and too many bands to mention. One band I had always heard of and never listened to was Dinosaur Jr. Over the last couple of months, I have been putting them on from time to time, and I’m still trying to figure out if I like them. I may be trying to figure this out for the rest of my life while listening to them for the rest of my life.
What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?
Jazz, I guess. I can’t understand how they know where they are in a song (when) they are just jamming with no singer. I have that dog-with-a-tilted-head-to-the-side look trying to figure out what’s going on.
What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?
Rod Stewart at Copacabana 1984, from the side of the stage.
What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?
Rat Pack stuff.
What’s your favorite music venue?
I really like Pappy and Harriet’s. I haven’t been there many times, but I like the small places with a big history. I think I should go soon.
What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?
“He hung himself with a guitar string,” Beck, “Loser.”
What band or artist changed your life? How?
Def Leppard’s biggest fan right here. When Hysteria came out, it was like traveling through space while listening to it. I vividly remember my dad taking us to Kmart in Indio the day it came out, popping it into the tape player (while) across from Ciro’s in front of that checkered auto store, and saying how different it was from the first three albums. I must have been 7. I’m not sure if it changed my life, but it became a time in my life I look back to as the good old days—back when everyone would buy their Christmas trees at the La Quinta fire station, and you felt cool to listen to a CD with a “parental advisory” stamp on it.
You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?
John Summers of Family Butcher: “You still owe me $20.”
What song would you like played at your funeral?
I love The Dukes of Hazzard theme song.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
The Bronx’ self-titled album. They were the band that really dragged me out of the young melodic punk I grew up listening to and introduced me to grown up music like Truckfighters, Kyuss, Fu Manchu and Throw Rag.
What song should everyone listen to right now?
“San Andreas” by Mega Sun! (Scroll down to hear it.)
