First/Last-Mace Ballard

Photo courtesy the band

Mace Ballard seem to be THE up and coming rock band from Pittsburgh. They are winning all kinds of accolades and were voted the winners of the Post-Gazette's 'Pittsburgh Rocks' contest and City Paper's "Best Pop/Rock Band that isn't The Clarks" reader's poll. You can download their album for free here and the guys were nice enough to participate in this overstuffed edition of First/Last Friday.

The first album you ever bought?
Chris Daley: ‘The Best of the Rocky Soundtracks’ by Various Artists
Mike Duncan: ‘Ride the Lightning’ by Metallica
Brandon Lehman: ‘Twister Soundtrack’ by Various Artists
Tegan James Angelo: I dubbed some rad mixtapes back in the day, but the first CD I ever bought was Ren and Stimpy – ‘You Eediot’, and I haven't pissed on an electric fence since '93...

Your last album bought?
Chris:’ Pedestals’ by Such Gold
Brandon: ‘Act ii’ by The Dear Hunter
TJ: ‘Transit’

Favorite album of all time?
Duncan: ‘Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence’ by Glassjaw
Brandon: Tie - Boston's self titled record and ‘Colors’ by Between the Buried and Me
TJ: That is a completely impossible question, so I'm just gonna go through my phone and pick a bunch of good ones in no particular order (ok, actually it's alphabetical if you couldn't tell):
Against Me - Reinventing Axel Rose/Alkaline Trio - Maybe I'll Catch Fire/The Anniversary - Designing a Nervous Breakdown/Ape Up! - Demo 2009/At the Drive In - Acrobatic Tenement / Relationship of Command

(this is gonna take forever, gotta get more selective....)

EDITOR'S NOTE: TJ then listed 30 more albums…next time you see him at a show ask him what they are.

Least favorite/most disappointing album?
TJ: ‘Decadence’ by Head Automatica.
Chris: ‘The Green Album’ by Weezer.
Brandon: Anything by David Hasselhoff.

First concert attended?
Brandon: Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Chris: The Rolling Stones.
Duncan: Aerosmith. YUCK!
TJ: Warped Tour 1998 - Pittsburgh (NoFX, Rancid, Bad Religion, No Use For a Name, Get Up Kids, All, H2O, Hatebreed, Pennywise, Mad Caddies, MxPx, Snapcase, Unwritten Law, The Vandals, Rocket From The Crypt, Homegrown, CIV, Deftones, Swinging Utters, Zebrahead, Down by Law, etc.)

Last concert?
Brandon: Dj 7up @ The mansion in Columbus OH.
TJ: Doomsday Initiative & Spontaneo @ The Lava Lounge.

Favorite concert ever?
Duncan: 03.14.03 – Cleveland, OH @ The Odeon - Glassjaw and Hot Water Music.
Chris: Tie- Jack Johnson – Barcelona, Spain (strictly because of the location and company) & New Found Glory – somewhere in the Strip District.
Brandon: Between the Buried and Me.
TJ: Tie- Strike Anywhere and Teddy Duchamp's Army @ Colpeppers.
Bigwig, Saves the Day, and H2O @ Grafitti (farewell Grafitti)
Atom and His Package, Hot Rod Circuit, Strike Anywhere, and Avail @ The Troc
The Ghost, Every Time I Die, The Movie Life, and Thursday @ The Crowbar

Least favorite concert?
Brandon: Yellowcard
TJ: Frame to the Floor, German Shepherd, Red Team Blue Team, A Voice Like Rhetoric @ The Smiling Moose (farewell .f.t.t.f.)
Chris: Jesse Lacey solo (it was like being at a Dr. Pepper plant but they were only serving milk.)

Favorite thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
TJ: If I would have grown up anywhere else besides Pittsburgh, I probably woulda been dead by now... Stay classy y'all.
Brandon: Any experience with my band is the most ridiculous thing I've ever done. Snow, construction, penguins, Steelers, bridges and silly accents... Gotta love the burgh.
Chris: I used to think Pittsburgh was a springboard from which you can and should jump from as soon as humanly possible. Now, I think that it can be that, but it’s also a place with a lot of culture and enough variety for you to choose from to find a niche that feels like home.

Thanks guys. Hope to see you play out soon, that's if you aren't late waiting for TJ to pick out something to wear.