What's the first rock album you owned?
My sister bought me Green Day's Dookie when I was 11 because, according to her, I was gay. I'd only listened to musical theater up until that point, so it was something of an intervention. It confused me. I couldn't figure out what Dookie was about. I realized later that not every album has to have a plot.

Photos by Nick Haymes

What music were you obsessed with in high school?
Iron Maiden. When I was 13, I silk-screened an Iron Maiden Eddie on the back of my Repo Man and Clockwork Orange T-shirts. Even though I was really fat, I avoided getting beat up because the tough kids would pass me their jean jackets and be like, "Do Eddie from Number of the Beast."

What was the first album you bought with your own money?
Vanilla Ice’s To the Extreme, but let’s not put it all on me. Plenty of people were into the Ice Man. It’s not like Vanilla Ice sold ten records, and I’m one of the ten people that bought it. We all got fooled. I just happened to be at the age when it was the first album I bought.