First/Last-The Echoing Tragic

"A Drew Ritchie music project, written and recorded in 2012-13, featuring somewhat dark/somber reflective lyrics drawing from the artist's earlier life and young adult experiences of heartache and difficulty often contrasted with harmonious bass driven melodies."

The Echoing Tragic is the moniker for Pittsburgh based musician Drew Ritchie. His self-titled debut full length was released just last month available at BandCamp. I want to thank Drew for taking the time to participate in this edition of First/Last.

The first album you ever bought?
Green Day “Insomniac”. Ha-ha, I was in love with the song ‘Brainstew’. I hadn't heard anything like it at this point in my life (I was five or six). Also, at this point, I was listening to a lot of classic rock such as Zeppelin or Dio, which was also a huge influence to me at this time and making me very passionate about music.

Your last album bought?
Modest Mouse "This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About”. This is my favorite album by Modest Mouse and was finally able to pick it up on vinyl.

Favorite album of all time?
This is a really hard question for me... I want to say "The Wall" by Pink Floyd, but I'd hate to be so cliché, so I’ll go with The Clash "Combat Rock" because my favorite song of all time is on it which would be ‘Straight to Hell’. When I first heard this song, I knew I wanted to be a part of music someday, this and Cat Stevens.

Least favorite/most disappointing album?
“Chinese Democracy” by GNR... we waited 20 years for that?

First concert attended?
Deep Purple with Dio and the Scorpions.

Last concert?
I see a lot of local shows, last one was The Filthy Lowdown. They are personal friends of mine but the last commercial band I saw was Pixies a couple years back and I literally cried I was so happy!

Favorite concert ever?
Leftover Crack was an amazing concert! I loved those guys growing up, also seeing Roger Waters performing "Dark Side Of The Moon" when I was a teenager. I was 4 rows from the front and feeling pretty good, if ya know what I mean! Ha-ha!

Least favorite concert?
 Slint when I saw them in NYC. It was a terrible experience. They were very anti climatic and I kept getting told to "keep quiet " at a rock concert which is a bad sign to begin with! Everyone was pretentious as all hell and my girlfriend (at the time) and I got wasted, got lost in Queens and ended up having a horrible argument. We hadn't slept at all and had to drive back to the Burgh and go to work. It was very awkward... not much fun at all...

Favorite thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
I love Pittsburgh. I was born and raised here. It’s a big little city and everyone seems to know each other. I love how it's just rising from the ashes of its former self, with so many great local bands and art going on. It's amazing to see and our neighborhoods are really exploding positively... and it’s not a bad place to party!

Thanks, Drew. Love the record, man. Jay Vega and The Wilderness Recording Studio is the best in town!