Biggest Musical Influence?

[VerbalPuke]

I've wanted to start this topic for a bit now, and I've decided now is a good time with the recent influx of music threads.

Basically, I'm asking, who are your biggest musical influences? What band/person prompted you to write those lyrics? What band/person made you want to pick up any given instrument? What band/person influenced your lifestyle? I want to know, what music or musicians has had a significant impact or influence on your life in any given way?

I have a few I've been thinking of. Johnny Thunders is at the top of my list, because of the great rock and roll sound he always made a staple of his albums. If I wanted to emulate any sound, it'd be something linked to his L.A.M.F. album.

Billy Childish is another, for the sheer amount of albums and styles of music he has incorporated throughout his career. I'd love to say that I've had such an eclectic and long career as Billy Childish, should I ever become heavily involved in my music.

G.G. Allin. Why would somebody list G.G. Allin as an influence? Who the hell is insane enough to actually consider this sick fuck as one of their influences? Me, of course. Why is he an influence to me? Is it because I have a desire to throw shit at people? Is it because I love self-mutiliation? Is it my desire to fight everybody, and end up in prison? No, it's actually a very basic belief that G.G. Allin had. G.G. Allin believed that rock and roll should have danger, and should have no limits. I love that theory, as a rock and roll purist, I also believe that rock and roll should always be played in it's rawest form. It should always be pull no punches, and it should always have a fuck you attitude. G.G. Allin, while carrying out his beliefs in an extreme manner, managed to make rock and roll dangerous, the way it should be. I want rock and roll to be something that is detested by the simple minded masses, to be loathed by those who don't understand the power that a heavy guitar riff can bring. For that, G.G. Allin deserves credit.

The Los Angeles punk scene circa 1977-1983 is probably my heaviest musical influence. When it comes to an area of the world, and sheer amount of bands that I enjoy, LA is at the top of my list. Very few people realize what a diverse era of punk this was, and that no band sounded the same. Bands in this area were fusing punk, jazz, funk, ska, reggae, and rockabilly to make some pretty radical sounds. I'd love to start a band heavily influenced from this assortment of genre's, in the vein of Black Randy and the Metrosquad and Flesh Eaters.

So EWB, who or what has the honor of making your list?

Edited March 14, 2006 by VerbalPuke

[Liam]

Would it be cliche to say Nirvana changed my life?

But seriously, at least musically, they did. I wasn't a huge music fan, mostly catching commercial radio stuff, not buying albums or anything when a bloke from my school was copying CD's and selling them for £3 (at the time, not all PC's had copying facilities, so that was a big deal). My Dad had recommended me Nevermind in some other discussion I'd had about music with him, so I picked it up.

What Nevermind did for me was open up a different musical world...something outside the commercial scope of things. It made me want to explore for more music like it, and buy it all up. Without getting into Nirvana, I wouldn't be into half the bands I am today, easily.

I'll add an afterthought to In Flames for being my crossover into the heavier stuff....plus the fact that when In Flames guitars get crunching, that to me is what metal would be if I had to pinpoint the epitome of the metal sound.

There are probably more, but I'll leave it at that.

[RPS]

Lets choose 3:

Pharrell: the guy has three things going for him. Firstly, he is a musical talent. Haven't heard him rap in a song I didn't like, haven't heard a song he produced that I didn't like, haven't heard him play an instrument and I didn't like it. Secondly, he is a huge businessman. He knows how to work this business and how to sell shit. Lastly, he has an image and he works it. Not saying it is a good thing, but he definitely nows how to market himself.

Joe Strummer: dare I say more?

Kathleen Hanna: fronted punk band Bikini Kill and dance-rock band Le Tigre. For the longest time stayed true to her riot grrl beliefs. And than when she finally decided to sign a major label deal, she did it with class. Bringing the message to the kids and hey, I'd rather have Kathleen Hanna busting out a tune than Britney Spears on my radio.

[ravenjuice]

As far as writing solos goes...jason newstead. Widely considered Metallicas worse bassist in terms of actual talent, however his slower solos/riffs mesmerised me, the slow progression between strings with each note never fails to impress me, and while I realise he's not the only person to ever do this, I have yet to hear someone do it in the way Newstead does/did (having not heard any of his music since he left Tallica)

When it comes to writing other parts on bass, then my last bass teacher. I had a few teachers before him, none of them inspired me that much, and I was considering hanging the ol' four stringer up. Then about 2 years ago the school I went to got a new teacher, and wow was he good. He'd crack out the best slap bass I'd ever heard (having not been hugely into music at that point) That guy really inspired me to practise at least half an hour a day, and every week he'd have a new blues scale, or walking bassline for me to learn, and i lapped them all up. They were all from various jazz/blues compositions, but unfortunately I cant get into any of it, as bassing aside it makes my ears bleed.

In terms of getting into music *whispers* Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit in year 7* then as I got into year 9, I got turned on to real metal like *whispers even quieter* Good Charlotte, New Found Glory and Bowling For Soup*

It wasnt really until 2004 that I started getting into what I listen to now, Metallica, Guns N Roses, Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth, Machine Head etc.

/rant

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I guess everything is linked back to Kraftwerk.

A group that first made elctro without sequencers, making the sounds manually.

Groups such as Aphex Twin, Add N To (X), Autechre, Adult. etc all link back to Kraftwerk. In fact modern dance music and electronica is based back in Kraftwerk.

[Skummy]

I have hundreds, I'm influenced by every bit of music I ever hear, in some way. But I'll try and cut it down into a few.

Tom Waits - A no-brainer. One of, if not my absolute, favourite musician. He's influenced my musical tastes, plus my own music. Everything about him; his voice, his music, his lyrics, and his image, has been a huge influence on me in some way, and he played a part in opening my eyes to a lot of music I wouldn't otherwise have got in to.

Johnny Cash - My Grandad was a huge fan, but I didn't get in to him on my own until a few months before he died. One of the greatest there ever was and, again, he opened my eyes to music I wouldn't have listened to normally, via his cover versions on the American Recordings albums; artists like Neil Diamond and Hank Williams who I wouldn't have given a second look beforehand.

The Lucksmiths - The most recent influence, and they're pretty darn obscure, but I love them. They're cheery, Summery indie-pop with some of the most intelligent and heartfelt lyrics I've ever heard. Every one of their songs seems to be so personal to me, it's amazing, and that's the kind of band I love. More than anything, though, they've been a tremendous influence on my own songwriting.

Soundgarden - The sound of my childhood, essentially. My older half-brother was massively into them, and the whole grunge movement, when I was growing up, so it was just around me for so long, and when I got old enough to start buying CDs myself, I picked up a few of their albums. While I'll barely listen to anything of that nature any more, I'll always remember them as the band that pretty much got me listening to rock music.

An Albatross - When I first heard them I was blown away. Simple as that. They combine grindcore, hardcore, electro, jazz, and probably a whole lot else into some of the most insane songs you could ever hear, almost all of them under a minute long. Along with similar bands like The Locust and Gay For Johnny Depp, they really got me into that style of music.

Carnival In Coal - You could easily throw in John Zorn and any band featuring Mike Patton here as well, but C.I.C. were the first that came to mind. They transcend genres and defy definition or labelling. There is literally nothing like them and, as such, they really showed me that music can be whatever you want it to be, and gave me hope that there are still original ideas out there. Again, a huge influence on my own music.

Mike Peters - A solid songwriter, nothing overly amazing, but an influence on me. He's the frontman of The Alarm, and I saw him live supporting Bob Geldof a few years back. He had an amazing charisma, and really interacted with the crowd, the majority of which probably didn't know who he was beforehand. It was watching him that really made me think "this is what I want to do".

I'm sure there's loads more, but they're the prominent ones I can think of right now.

[Turbo Yannis]

It's strange for me whenever I try and write any lyrics. My favourite band is, and probably forever will be, CKY. I've tried to write CKY style songs yet most of the stuff I write is more along the lines of Reuben with some Hawthorne Heights and Avenged Sevenfold mixed in there.

Which I know makes me sound emo as fuck.

[Olive the other Jiberdeer]

There are several, but I'd have to say the biggest is AFI. Havok's lyrics are so intricate, which is what I shoot for when I write songs.

Neil Young's style has been creeping into some of my lyrics lately...almost talking to a specific person while writing is something that fascinates me...plus Young is a frikkin god.

[tristy]

Trent Reznor inspired me to want to learn piano when I heard "Still". His music might not be complex, but it's so simple and beautiful at times that.. I don't know, I just want to create music like that. Maynard James Keenan made me want to be a singer because of the way he can go from soft singing to harsh screams. He also made me want to write lyrics, because his are so abstract and don't have a real meaning.

If it wasn't for Limpbizkit, believe it or not, I'd probably like techno or something. That band introduced me to a whole new world of music, and for that I'll probably always like them in some form or fashion, as shitty as they might be.

[The Hardcore Canuck]

I have to say it was Korn that changed everything for me. I live in a middle-class neighbourhood in the middle of the suburbs so I was never exposed to anything but what was on the radio and the TV. Korn was the first metal band that got big play time around my youth, when I started to look for something.

[TOG]

My first rock band was AC/DC, followed soon by Motley Crue, but neither of which have had any profound influence on my outside of that. Nikki Sixx IS mighty cool, though.

Biggest influence... eh, Layne Staley was the first vocalist I ever really admired and that's what got me into that. Then there's Dave Mustaine, who will always and forever be my favorite guitarist, and the reason I even play guitar today. Kerry King is a close second on that, but not so much for being supremely talented as for just being a neat guy. He gave some lessons for a couple days at a place in Indy and I got to meet him, although I wasn't much into my guitar at the time, but that was fun.

There's so many more, but those three sort of represent phases of my growth in musical taste, so they work well.

[Skummy]

Oh, one more for me: Gorerotted.

They're a damn good death metal band, but for the most part, not the sort of thing I listen to, so they might seem something of an odd choice of influence for me. However, the drummer grew up in the same village as me, he was one of my half-brother's best friends, and they played in bands together for years. Seeing Gorerotted mentioned on message boards like this, and in magazines like Metal Hammer and Zero Tolerance, or finding their CDs in music stores, really inspires me, makes me realise that you can be a complete nobody coming out of a village nobody's heard of, and make something of yourself. Gives me hope.

[GoGo Yubari]

When I write song lyrics out of sheer boredom, I would say that the Presidents of the United States of America would be my biggest influence in that they write like I do except they write well; songs about nothing of any true importance written in a clever manner.

[Bushmeister]

Oh, one more for me: Gorerotted.

They're a damn good death metal band, but for the most part, not the sort of thing I listen to, so they might seem something of an odd choice of influence for me. However, the drummer grew up in the same village as me, he was one of my half-brother's best friends, and they played in bands together for years. Seeing Gorerotted mentioned on message boards like this, and in magazines like Metal Hammer and Zero Tolerance, or finding their CDs in music stores, really inspires me, makes me realise that you can be a complete nobody coming out of a village nobody's heard of, and make something of yourself. Gives me hope.

[Steeb]

As far as influencing me into the kind of music I listen to, T-Rex. My mother used to play them a shitload, and so I was sort of fed it from a young age, but she also used to play Phil Collins nonstop too, so I'm glad I went with T-Rex instead. Hearing the massive, monsterous sound T-Rex had, and the sheer confidence Bolan seemed to have also really, really made me want to become a musician.

[sirdavinator]

Eh, it was probably around 2004. It was...Linkin Park. Yes, laugh. That was pretty much the heaviest around (and that's not saying much) then, and where I live anything worse than Slipknot was underground/never heard of. After Linkin Park was Slipknot of course. They inspired me to find something heavier. Then I found Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Pig Destroyer, and continued down the road, to where I am today, with death metal.

Quite a big transistion in three years, don't you think?

[apsham]

As far as music goes, all I listened to when I was very young was Garth Brooks and from there on out, when I started getting into music it was whatever was poppy at the time. I must say that the one artist that got me into music properly was Matthew Good.

I don't remember exactly when, but I came across his MBlog which is much more than a regular blog. I started reading what he was putting up there, and that's when I started to respect him. This was also around the time that my friends started up their band and I sat in on recording sessions and the like. Those two things combined I suppose, Matthew Good's lyrics and state of mind was what I wanted to like and appreciate, while I still had a link to the age that I was with my friends band, and from there I learned that I can appreciate Matthew Good and my friends emo band both at the same time without having to hate one or the other like many people seem to do.

[Benji]

Well, I'd say The Offspring and Limp Bizkit were the bands that transcended their genre for at least a song or two and gave me that opportunity to enjoy my music a lot more, I was pretty late to the party in terms of my age and the music affecting me. In fact I can happilly admit that I was one of those kids you probably 'hated' and liked pretty much everything MTV churned out for the longest time.

Generally I'd say that my biggest influence is by far Audioslave, my entire love of music centers around them, but it wasn't always the case, originally I was rather disdainful, mostly due to the fact it made me realise RATM really had broken up proper (I had gotten into them in a huge way, and still am to this day). But eventually I came around, Cornells lyrics and simply astonishing vocals, Morellos guitar and 'wah wah' sound, Brad's ryhthmic drumming (which I still think is the most under rated in all music) and Tim's lack of anything hugely influential until he goes live and gets into his own. Any music I listen to I listen for those mens instruments or stylisations and make comparisons.

My biggest influence in terms of genre is not a band, not a person, but instead the internet, if I didn't have the internet I can honestly say I'd have very different (and more rigid) tastes, instead I am treated to something new every day and I can honestly say I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Summers]

Coheed & Cambria and Dragonforce make me want to be a successful musician.

Edited March 16, 2006 by Sumzy

[Tarheels.]

Mostly the bands that I grew up listening to, because my dad was a big classic rock fan. Stuff like The Beatles, Eric Clapton, and even Johnny Cash inspired me to actually pick up a guitar. I loved music, and I grew up as a redneck unfortunately (I liked Billy Ray Cyrus at age 6...true story) so I've made big changes from strictly country to a bit of Emo (Coheed, P!ATD, Hawthorne Heights, Something Corporate), Classic Rock, and Hard Rock. I like a bit of everything other than rap and pop