Who are your biggest influences?

[Cosmic Harmony]

To all the musicians out there, who are your biggest influences in style, sound, image, technique, or anything else that has influenced your music? Whether you sing, play guitar, drums, bass, piano, trumpet, gong, fiddle, harmonica, harp, kazoo, or anything else feel free to share.

 

[runtfan]

I play bass. My biggest influences are John Paul Jones and Geddy Lee. During high school I spent countless evenings jamming along with my records, more than likely some Zeppelin or Rush. Some other bass players I've learned from, stolen from, and otherwise been influenced by are Chris Squire, John Entwistle, Jack Bruce, Mel Schacher ( Grand Funk), Paul McCartney, Jaco Pastorius, and alot of R&B and soul music - Motown, Stax, james Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire, etc.

 

[gregjohnson1229]

My biggest influences as a singer include Sting, Paul Mcartney, Dave Matthews, Brandon Boyd.
My biggest influences as a guitarist include Slash, Jimi Hendrix, BB. King, Johnny Cash.

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

I'm a singer before anything and my biggest influences are Justin Hawkins, Axl Rose, Freddie Mercury, and Ian Gillian. Though the likes of Mike Patton, Brad Delp, Bon Scott, Robert Plant and countless other have also helped to shape my voice.

 

[TheFeldster]

Guitar wise, my influences come from Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Mark Knopfler mainly.

Vocal wise, I have been influenced by blues singers such as Robert Johnson, B.B. King and Muddy Waters.

 

[Murun]

James Hetfield, Dimebag Darrell, Dave Mustaine, Dave Murray & Adrian Smith, Scott Ian, Jeff Waters, Steve Vai, Billy Gibbons, Kerry King & Jeff Hanneman were big influences on me in my younger days of learning the guitar.

Not that I can say I'm any good, the Pot Noodles over the years have muddled my miiiiiinds

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Guitar playing - Kurt Cobain, Greg Ginn, East Bay Ray, Kim Thayil, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Ron Asheton, Greg Sage, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page, Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, J Mascis

Songwriting - Greg Sage, Neil Young, Kurt Cobain Pete Townshend

Singing - Kurt Cobain, Henry Rollins, any punk/hardcore singer.

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

We have quite the interesting mix of styles in our forum don't we?

 

[AboutAGirl]

Two influences above the din are Neil Young and Burzum. If all you're looking at are those two bands, you've already got a good picture of everything my music has to offer. My two main styles are three-chord folk/pop and experimental music with a black metal aesthetic; Neil taught me those chords and Burzum taught me how to approximate Black Metal. Neil's the guy who taught me all about what it means to be an artist (including my propensity for varying my genre often), and Burzum taught me all about crafting awesome instrumentations which is what I've been focusing on for the last 2 years and what I'm still working on.

But there are a small group of other artists that have been very important on my rather sizable (though highly uneven) discography.

Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Ramblin' Ron Boone -- Supplementary three-chord folk/pop influences for the things Neil couldn't teach me. Tom taught me that pop music can still be cool and genuine, while Bob taught me that unconventional musicianship is a-okay. Ron was a local folk artist whom I copped a few of my first melodies from!

Phil Anselmo, Roger Waters, Immortal Technique, GG Allin -- These are my primary lyrical influences, with their self-assured lyrics, unconventional ideologies and anti-social attitudes. Rog was especially important (with Petty and Dylan) in crafting my taste for excruciatingly honest, vulnerable lyrics. Technique is also the main influence on my handful of rap songs. GG also reinforced my view that recording raw takes and being artistically prolific was superior to wasting your time crafting just one album for 3 years.

Nirvana, Pixies, Led Zeppelin -- My main rock influences. Nirvana taught me about bar chords and inspired my desire to specifically make exactly the kind of music I want to hear. Led Zeppelin inspired my album format ideology based around using a variety of styles. Pixies inspired me to be more conceptual and to be as unique as I wanna be.

Zharth, Boyd Rice, AIDS Wolf -- Supplementary noise influences for the parts Burzum couldn't teach me. I've done more than my share of harsh noise which comes straight from Boyd.

I'm never one to promote myself (considering I don't expect to have fans in the first place), but if you're reading this saying "Boy this guy sure acts big about something that's probably nothing," my music ain't no lie. My music may not be any good but it exists and I did do 14 albums so far.

 

[LOU/REALM]

Im vocalist for the U.K Gothic rock/darkwave band THE REALM . So my influences are from 1980s gothic bands SISTERS OF MERCY,FIELDS OF NEPHILIM,BAUHAUS,...and then later on bands such as GIRLS UNDER GLASS.DREADFUL SHADOWS,SWANS etc My singing voice is pretty deep so it suits the music we are doing. If anyones curious check out the track " siren " by my previous band 13 CANDLES on you-tube or THE REALM / 13 CANDLES on my space CHEERS