Five Firsts: Mike Grundy of the Last Conspirators

NAME: Mike Grundy
BAND AFFILIATION: The Last Conspirators
INSTRUMENT: bass

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … I got Meet the Beatles for Christmas when I was in elementary school. I remember being pissed it didn’t have the cutouts like Sgt. Pepper did. Dad had a pretty big record collection: classical, jazz, Broadway cast recordings. Mom listened to the Beatles and Herb Alpert a lot. I’m pretty sure the first one I pulled my own money out for was Back in Black by AC/DC.

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … That I saw? Well, there were a lot of solo classical performers we’d go see at the Carnegie Recital Hall. A friend of the family was in the musicians union and would get us tickets. The first show I went to on my own dime was The Tubes at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center; Blotto was the opening act. I think it was 1981.

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … I started out on piano when I was in third or fourth grade. I rolled through violin, french horn and classical guitar before I picked up the bass. But even when I was in punk and metal bands as a teenager, I kept up with my classical piano lessons.

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … I have no idea. It was a piano or violin recital for sure. Now that I think of it, I don’t even remember much of my first gig. Only that we were immediately banned from playing there again.

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … I had to ask a buddy of mine, we were in a bunch of proto-bands throughout our teens… until we finally came up with Leprosy. Turns out, we didn’t name any of them until then or even play out (see previous answer). We were loud and noisy, very rude and constantly getting in trouble with the clubs we played. We played about three more gigs at the club we were banned from; a friend was in charge of booking bands. He’d put us in, on nights when the owner wasn’t there, under fake names (“KC and the Sunshine Death Band” anyone?).

Mike Grundy straps on his bass and cranks it up with psychedelic punk band the Last Conspirators when they play the Hudson Music Festival, the free, three-day fest takes place this weekend at various locations all throughout the City of Hudson. and the Last Cons are slated to perform at 2pm Saturday (August 9) at 7th Street Park stage on Warren Street.