Music

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Why I Can Never Run For Public Office

Male Member. It was a great name for an almost-all-female band, with only one man. Unfortunately, it wasn't me.

Here I was, a college sophomore in 1989 playing in my first real "band", but like all great musicians, I was forced to make my debut behind a pseudonym: Alexis Mason. The lengths I would be willing to go through to sustain this great name just proves what a swell guy I am.

Originally, the band was to have a female drummer, but she backed out early in the game, before the band even had a name. Because drummers were apparently about as easy to find at MIT as [fill in your own ethnic joke here], I volunteered to help. It was around the same time we found our guitar player, a student at Berklee School of Music. (I don't remember his name, I just remember that he tended to get distracted by staring at Z's chest a lot, which kind of annoyed everyone.) While searching for a name, one person indicated it was a shame the previous drummer backed out - otherwise the perfect name would have been Male Member. A brief excitement, followed by a groan of disappointment, then eyes wandered over to the guitar player (uh uh), then to me. Hmmm. The next thing I knew, they were trying to determine whether or not I could fit into one of their bras, and I was learning how to walk in high-heeled boots. (Gentlemen, let me tell you: it ain't as easy as it looks.)

And so it was that Alexis Mason, illegitimate daughter of Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and Wellesley student, Class of '91, was born.

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