I Need A Double Dozen: Chris Corsano’s favorite albums

I think my older sister’s boyfriend at the time introduced me to them. I was 15 or 14, so before I heard improvised music, right? I was lucky enough to be able to play with Mike Watt from time to time. We all have people to whom we owe everything, an eternal gratitude. I don’t want to call them heroes or idols, but it’s just a very important thing. What makes a person set fire?there’s just something about how you make a record from start to finish that holds together, that means something? ‘Split Red’ is different than ‘Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs’. The diversity that they can put on that record… Besides it being music that I love, it’s also inspiring when I think about how I want to try to make music for people and put records out.

Does the Minutemen’s concept of disrupting the economy have an impact on you?

Absolutely. I think the first solo CDR I did was just really short pieces. And that was very much a Minutemen thing. You don’t have to repeat the chorus, you just go for it and you’re frugal with everything. And most of the stuff I use, like the prepared drum, is just cheap, junk or second-hand stuff, so that frugality in everything. Seeing Watt in action, how he works, that’s another big inspiration. You have to figure out how to be frugal because if you use too much of one resource, whether it’s your body or your time or your stamina, you can burn out and then it’s over. But I want to be here because the longer I can stay, the more people I can meet and the more things I can try. So the frugality is to do with that, the logistics of making it work.