1. What is your name, where do you live, and what do you do for a living?
My name’s Alfonso J. Garcia. I’m from Texas originally. I live in Nashville, TN. I’m a paralegal for the State of Tennessee. It is as glamourous as it sounds.
2. Do you remember when you first got into music?
I’ve always enjoyed music. I remember early on my dad listening his Beatles albums. When I was in 3rd grade (elementary school), there was a push to get us to understand instruments. We all had woodwind recorders (ours were plastic). Those were fun. When I was in the 4th grade, we alternated between an art day and a music day in the afternoon. But in the 5th grade, we had a man by the name of Mr. H (it was German last name that he said was hard to pronounce) came to our school to teach those interested string instruments. So that’s when I got to play my 1st violin. “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “Row your Boat” were our 1st songs. For me, it was something special. I enjoyed it, playing the violin in our cafeteria in the afternoon. It continued once I got to middle school. I did orchestra all 3 years. In fact, in 8th grade, we were allowed to switch our P.E. (physical education) class for another elective if we so choose. So that year I took both orchestra and piano. It was fun. I think I still remember the beginning of “Under the Sea” from the Little Mermaid. I wish I was more proficient with the piano. It is a beautiful instrument. But it seems I am not destine to do 2 things at once. I still have trouble reading Bass Clef. In Texas, we have U.I.L. (University Interscholastic League) competitions. Competed a few times in the solo division. I continued playing in high school. My home town had a Youth Symphony, so I played in that for 2 years. You had to try out and 2nd violin seemed like my way in.
I also played in a couple of mariachi groups. A friend of mine since the 3rd grade asked me if I wanted to be in this small group his dad was forming. For a while it was a 4 person group. I enjoyed it. It lasted for about a year or so. Then I got recruited by a larger group by the name of Mariachi Super Classico. It would change from time to time but at the center was the guitar player, guitarron (Mexican Bass) player, 2 trumpets and 2 violinists. Sometimes we would add another trumpet and violinist. The group leader’s daughter did folklorico dance and would also join us from time to time, as well as a mariachi singer. It was a lot of fun and did a lot of gigs. Mother’s Day was usually our busiest. We would play serenatas (5 song set) . We would start about 10pm Saturday night and would play all night till about 9am. Then we’d break to get a few hours of sleep and meet back up for the afternoon gigs. It was very tiring but as a 16 year old, I got to travel and see small towns outside my area. And made some money as well.
3. What was your first vinyl record? How did you get it? Can you describe how you felt during your first dip into vinyl?
This one is a bit tough. I clearly remember my brother and sister’s first records (Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” and New Kids on the Block “Hangin’ Tough” respectively) . They got them for Christmas. Obviously, I spun Rhythm Nation over Hangin’ Tough. I was older and cassettes were the newer thing. So cassettes were my thing throughout middle and high school (M.C. Hammer “Let’s Get It Started”). Then CD’s in college (Oasis “What’s the Story Morning Glory?”). But as for vinyl, I would say the 1st one I purchased was in college. I won a Doctor Who “The 5 Doctors” picture disc on Ebay. I still have it. And yes, I’ve played it! I’m a huge Doctor Who fan (more on that later). I have quite a few more now.
What got me back into vinyl was my dad. His record player died on him a few years ago. He had already put most of them on cassette, then on cd, but he had a want to listen to his vinyl after years of not playing them. So that Christmas, I bought him a record player at Hastings. It was such a good deal that I bought one for myself as well. I had just bought a special vinyl edition of a Doctor Who 50th anniversary audio play from Bigfinish.com. It came with a digital download but I really wanted to hear the vinyl. And with my newly purchased record player, I did. And it was good.
4. What inspired you to join the Vault?
I am relatively new to the Vault scene. My 1st vault was Vault 20, the Lazaretto special edition. And that’s a good one. I’ve since gone back and have bought more vaults. I really enjoy the Vault. It’s a great idea. I love when the 7” is something new and different, like the demos. I like hearing the thought process of how a song comes to be. I think a couple of my favorite 7” are the Lazaretto and Blunderbuss demos. It’s interesting to me to see where a song was in its beginnings and then hear the completed song on the album. I am also a collector at heart. I like the novelty of the Vault releases. You can only get them via Third Man and they are tailored to the collector and music fan alike.
And the Vault is a great place to get the different live concert versions of White Stripes. I never got to see them live when they were around, so this is a great time capsule. I think my favorite White Stripes Live album (of the ones I own) would be “Nine Miles From The White City”. The Raconteurs Live at Third Man is another great album. And now that I have been going to more live shows in the Blue Room, I feel I appreciate it more. Hopefully we’ll get to see a Vault release of one of the Devil’s Nights on album. I was lucky to get to go to 2014 and 2015 Devil’s Night. I think either would translate very well onto vinyl.
5. What is your favorite Vault release, and why?
This one is also a tough one. The 1st one that comes to mind is the Bonnaroo Vault #22. The song set is amazing. I’ve listened to it multiple times. Jack sounds on point. The crowd sounds like they’re into it. Listening to it makes me wish I had gone to Bonnaroo. It’s a great album. And the box set is amazing. The DVD, the screenprint, the pin, the photos. Love it all. Jack White’s Live at Third Man was the other Vault that comes to mind. That’s just a great album. Another one I wish I could have been there for. They’re both solid live albums.
6. What is your favorite Third Man memory?
There are 2:
July 4, 2014. There was a 4th of July “Dress Patriotic” costume contest. I came in dressed as Uncle Sam with cards and a sign saying “I want you to by Jack White’s Lazaretto”. I also brought an apple pie and half gallon of Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream. Because what’s more American than that? Everyone seemed to enjoy it. I know 1st place was the World’s Fastest Record, but I already had one when I waited for it on Record Store Day. What I really wanted was 3rd place, the Steven Colbert Tricolor. And after a week of pacing, nail biting and waiting (and multiple calls to the store to see if it had been judged yet), I won 3rd place! I don’t know if anyone’s ever been as excited to win 3rd place as I was. It was also the 1st tricolor I ever got. So you can say Third Man started me on the path of the tricolor hunt.
Devil’s Night 2014. It was an amazing, awesome, spectacular night. There was so much fanfair. The decorations were top notch. Loved getting my picture with the bathtub mannequin by your amazing in-house photographer, Angelina. I loved how festive everyone was. Loved the belly dancer. Met some really nice people. And the bands were amazing. Really enjoyed JP5 and Weekend Babes. And Olivia Jean just rocked it. People seemed to enjoy my Beetlejuice costume. It was a just a great night. One of the best Halloween Eve’s ever.
7. What are your interests outside of music?
I’m a HUGE Doctor Who fan. So huge that I am actually answering this question in a plane flying back from London to Nashville. There was a Doctor Who Festival (convention) this past weekend in England. I got to meet the current Doctor, Peter Capaldi, and get a picture with him. For those who don’t know, it’s a British sci-fi/drama show about a Time traveler from another world. It’s been on for a long time. My cousin got me into Doctor Who when I was 10. It wasn’t on the air at time but you could catch random episodes on your local PBS (NPR) station. He also gave me some of the novelizations of some stories. I’ve been hooked ever since.
I am also into photography. I took classes at Nashville state and eventually received my Associates Degree in Visual Communications. I’ve always seemed to be photographing something, ever since I was a kid. I love photographing different things: cityscapes, landscapes, and different styles of portraits. I have a website www.ajphotographer.net but I haven’t updated it in almost 2 years. Everything today is FacebookInstagramTwitter. I find myself having a hard time keeping up. But this should be incentive for me to update it. I have photographed a few concert events in the past. A coworker of mine 8 years ago was in a local band called the Smartest Monkeys. Also met another band called The 8th Grade. Both bands have since broken up. But I went to quite a few of their shows here and in Kentucky and photographed them with what was probably the 1st digital camera ever made. I think it was half a Megapixal. Lol Still, that was fun. Following a band around and seeing they’re shows and how the audience responds. And they seemed appreciative. I think they used a few of my pictures for their flyers.
8. What is your favorite record you own, and why?
This is a tough question. But I would have to say “What’s the Story morning Glory” by Oasis. I purchased the original vinyl earlier this year and recently acquired the 20thanniversary re-release box edition. But I’ve owned the CD since college. It has a lot of meaning to me and reminds me of much of my early college days. I joined this rowdy group called the Longhorn Hellraisers. We’re the guys wearing collar Oxford shirts with burnt orange and white paint on our faces, half drunk, yelling obscenities at the opposing team. And we didn’t just go to football games. We almost got kicked out of a girl’s tennis match. We’re just full of Texas spirit.
It was with the group I took my 1st out of state roadtrip with friends. We were going to see Texas lose to University of Colorado in Boulder. We were in a 3 car convey with CB radios (these were the days when only the super rich and drug dealers had cell phones). We stopped outside of Raton, New Mexico at 5am to help 2 people who had jackknifed their 18 wheeler on a lonely road. Once help arrived we were on our way. I had my Sony Discman playing my CD of Oasis on repeat and fell asleep. I woke up around 9am. We were south of Colorado Springs. And I just remember looking to my left, then to my right and seeing nothing but land with snow covered mountains in the distance. All the while, “Hey Now!” is playing on my discman. It was the 1st time I had ever seen snow (not much snow in south Texas). That moment has always stuck with me.
