The First Time I Heard My Bloody Valentine

THE FIRST TIME I HEARD MY BLOODY VALENTINE is Part VI in an ongoing series where musicians and writers tell their stories of first hearing the music of an iconic artist or band. In this sixth volume (following the first five installments, which covered Joy Division/New Order, Cocteau Twins, David Bowie, The Smiths, and Kate Bush), forty different musicians and writers remember their initial experiences with hearing My Bloody Valentine, the groundbreaking Irish alternative rock band led by Kevin Shields known for their sonic experimentation, blistering live shows, and classic "shoegaze" masterpiece, Loveless.

Contributors to the My Bloody Valentine edition include musicians such as Bob Mould, Christian Savill (Slowdive), Louise Trehy (Swallow), Peter Silberman (The Antlers), Geoff Sanoff (Edsel), Jonathan Segel (Camper Van Beethoven), Jonas Munk (Manual), Mia Clarke (Electrelane), Matt Schulz (Holy F**k), Scott Cortez (lovesliescrushing), Adam Pacione, Andrew Prinz (Mahogany), Ian Masters (Pale Saints), Matt Elliott (Third Eye Foundation), EJ Hagen (Highspire), Ryan Policky (A Shoreline Dream), James Chapman (Maps), Gazz Carr (God Is an Astronaut), Sally Robertson (The Sunshine Factory), Hank Starrs (Animals That Swim), Hobey Echlin (Majesty Crush), Michael Savage (The Fauns), Alap Momin (dalek), John Loring (Fleeting Joys), Jon Attwood (Yellow6), Mat Flint (Revolver, Deep Cut), Aidan Baker, Ron Gibbs (Auburn Lull), Jeff Kandefer (The Daysleepers), Kellii Scott (Failure, Veruca Salt), Nick Keech (One Unique Signal, The Telescopes), Michael McCabe and David Read (Coldharbourstores), and Kimber Lanning (Half String); Amber Crain of the shoegaze blog When the Sun Hits; and writers like Nick Burd, Evan Garza, Roy Christopher, Kevin C. Smith, Amber Crain, and Steven Karl.

The "First Time I Heard" book series is edited by Scott Heim, a novelist (Mysterious Skin, We Disappear) who is also a longtime music fan. Other installments in the series (or those forthcoming soon) include books on Joy Division / New Order, David Bowie, Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush, The Smiths, R.E.M., Kraftwerk, Abba, Roxy Music, and others.