Remembering the first time I heard Def Con Dos.

Personal copy of Def Con Dos’s 1995 Alzheimer CD, with a large red V across the cover.

In 1993, a classmate gave me a recorded cassette of Def Con Dos.

I pressed play and heard something new, fresh and defiant. It caught me immediately. That was how music reached us then: passed from one person to another, with no idea what might stay with you for years.

I still have that CD from 1995.

Scanned pages from the Def Con Dos CD booklet, with song lyrics over blue graphics on a black background.

Today, hearing that Peón Kurtz has died, I think about that first cassette. He was one of the founders of Def Con Dos and remained with the band until 2016. His voice was part of the music that reached me in 1993.

Rest in peace, Peón Kurtz.