5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: Monique Powell of Save Ferris

Name  Monique Powell, frontperson and sole owner of the band, Save Ferris.

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Best known for  Warped tour ‘98: Our bass player shat on stage. Went down in history as the punk-est thing to happen on Vans Warped Tour.

Current city  Los Angeles.

Really want to be in. I would return to living anywhere in the UK. I would not be watching the news. Feelings that the world is burning down around me would be lifted. I would thrive as a human. 

Excited about  We start our spring Get Dancing Tour on April 26th in Chicago! New single “Get Dancing” out April 25!

My current music collection has a lot of  Bowie. Clash. Devo. The Specials. All vinyl….

And a little bit of (Genre): 1950s French artist Juliette Gréco (a number of her records are in  my mom’s collection she brought back with her from Morocco to the States in 1962).

Preferred format  Vinyl! And I don’t say that to sound cool…I still spin my sisters’ records that I’ve had since I was a little girl.

5 Albums I Can’t Live Without:

1

Purple Rain, Prince and The Revolution

This movie and soundtrack were the music of my youth. Prince was transcendent… I know every word to this record. Prince inspired me to be a songwriter.

2

Changesonebowie, David Bowie

When I was little, my sister had a portrait of a beautiful androgynous alien on her wall. I would stare at it and wonder what its story was. I later learned that it was an artist named David Bowie. Hearing “Changes” for the first time moved me in a molecular way. It changed how I listened to music.

3

Combat Rock, The Clash 

As a child, this was my introduction to punk. “Rock the Casbah” was all over the alt radio station we listened to—but “Know Your Rights” is a song I still apply to my life today.

4

The Specials, The Specials

My first introduction to ska. To this day any song I hear from this record makes me want to dance.

5

Duty Now for the Future, Devo

Although the albums Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo and Freedom of Choice received more overall play throughout my life, hearing “Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA” for the first time at 8 years old made me want to know more about the sounds this band was making. This song made me love punk in a way that has never changed for me.

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