9 Questions: Denise Grimes (extended version)

[Weekly 9 Questions]

Denise Grimes, known as Ivanna S. Pankin on the roller-derby circuit, graduated from the UA in 1997 and went on to found roller-derby leagues in Phoenix and Las Vegas. She is currently back in Tucson and running Sin City Skates with her girlfriend, Trish the Dish. For more information about Sin City Skates and upcoming roller-derby events, coast on over to www.sincityskates.com. Kristine Peashock, [e-mail]

What was the first concert you ever saw?

Agent Orange at San Jose State University when I was 14. I got kicked in the face by the bass player, who gave me a T-shirt in apology. I still have it—and the fondest of memories from the show!

What CDs are in your changer right now?

I’m on a little British girlie/rap kick right now, so Lily Allen and Lady Sovereign are competing with Tupac and Biggie in my changer.

How many total albums do you own (CDs, vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks)?

I used to work at Toxic Ranch for trade, so I can’t even really estimate. Lots. Too many, and too heavy for a nomadic person, for sure. I’m working on burning all of my records to DVD right now, actually, and I claim I’m going to then sell them on eBay.

Do you download music, and if so, legally or illegally?

I used to do Soulsearch (which is a gray-area-ish file sharing network), but I always forgot my password, because I went there too infrequently. I do buy a lot from iTunes, and CDs and stuff from Amazon now. Right now, iTunes is cheap enough to be worth it, but there’s still something a little unsatisfying about buying music that way. Maybe it’s from not getting any artwork to stare at while you’re listening to it. And I always fear I will drop my laptop or spill a Big Gulp on it and lose everything. So I still buy music the old fashioned way, too.

What was the first album you owned?

The first real albums that I cherished were Bad Religion, How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, and The Adolescents’ first record, which were loaned (permanently) to me by a boy in eighth-grade. I refused to give them back and ended up forcing him to take money from me instead, so I wouldn't have to. I once left the Bad Religion record at a bus stop after visiting a friend and went back three transfers to get it. I still have both. And I have a spare of the Adolescents, just in case that ever gets left at a bus stop in the future.

What song would you like to have played at your funeral?

I’m not really planning on dying.

Musically speaking, what do you love that your friends don’t know about? What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?

I’m the type of jerk who forces my friends to hear what I like, actually. So my good friends are in on all of it. My favorite guilty pleasure ... hmmm ... probably singing along to Pat Benatar. Or maybe Barry Manilow, whom I have loved since I was around 6, because I thought he looked like my dad.

What band or artist changed your life, and how?

Minor Threat made me think twice about how much I let other people determine who I wanted to be. I rarely listen to them anymore, but I wrote a long, long letter to Ian once telling him how influential Minor Threat was to me. Not in the superficial, be-a-straight-edge thing, but in being proud to be who you are and fighting for what you believe to be right. I don’t like much of anything that their label (Dischord Records) released after ’88 or so, but their business ethics 100 percent inspired my own (I manage three businesses of my own right now): Do things yourself, work hard, treat people right, expect the best and support your friends. I never sent the letter, though. I’m sure he gets that a lot.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

American Youth Report, a compilation from the ’80s. Amazing in every way, every song. But that took a really long time just now for me to settle on that one (there are so many!), so the reality is that if there was a gun to my head, I’d probably be regretting not having planned a funeral.