Your Music Heroes/Heroines
 

Who are the people who either made you think there was more to music than the **** on the radio, or encouraged you to try making music yourself? The people whose albums you started buying and whose music opened up new worlds for you?

My own paltry list would be the likes of Jeff Lynne and Peter Gabriel, then later Fish, Dan Fogelberg, Nick Cave, Waits of course, Bob Seger, Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore. Probably more but I can't think of them ... oh yeah. Roger Hodgson was one too. You guys?

Elliott Smith.

good choice


mine is kurt ballou obvs, not only is converge the **** but he's the best producer out there atm and i think this story about how he started his studio is cool

Hudson Mohawke for getting me into beak making.
Anthrax for getting me into thrash metal, a longtime favorite genre of mine.
Kesha because pop is awesome, and Kesha showed me the way.

Maybe there's more but this is all I can be arsed to type right now.

l o l

Sharon Ozzburn iz my her0.

She teached me the impotence of bng a total fem o nist in mans world dunt evn mattr dat she gt no tlanent she gotz swag nd fck all de h88ers who do nut no wut she gun thru in lyfe

Jst cuz 'er hoseband is led zplin dnt miin she aint not a hero in myeyeses.

I would totally sig this if I had room. ****ing bravo! :clap:

As of recent my total musical hero in and out is Jeff Rosenstock. His DIY ethic and stunning ability with chord progressions are currently my hugest inspiration. I'm not copying his pop punk formula, but straying out of the realm of your basic open chords to make poppy music is just wonderful to me.

Dimebag Darrel inspired me to play the guitar.

Captain Beefheart and Derek Bailey inspired me to make the music and sounds that I want.

John Cage inspired me to listen.

Terry Riley informed me of repetition.

Keiji Haino inspired me to be loud and insane.

Terry Riley informed me of repetition.

Peter Brotzmann inspired me to shriek into my saxophone.

jeff rules

this reads like one of those justgirlythings posts on facebook, except it would be like justfrownlandthings or w/e

When the album is so undesirable that it costs $5,000. #justfrownythings

Hungarian singers, Rúzsa Magdi and Caramel - they can be also popular in international level if they were not Hungarian-born! :)

Dangerously close to a Chula-ism.

My town's library growing up had a rather good selection, thankfully. But truly, it was 1950s (well, 1920s-50s) music on the oldies station that first made my brain light up in such a way that I was forever obsessed. To this day I probably listen to obscure crackly 50s doo-wop (Spanish covers especially--no clue why) more than any other genre. Stuff like this:


..Which also is partly why I tend to dress in 1950s clothing on a fairly regular basis, so it was pretty formative I'd say.

Generally speaking, my earliest inspirations were Tom Waits, Tim Buckley, New Order, Roy Orbison, Nina Simone, and very early folk/blues in general. (John Jacob Niles, Odetta, Son House, Skip James, Jean Ritchie and Doc Watson) OH! And also, somewhat embarrassingly... Emilie Autumn. She had this peculiar brand of gothic-baroque angst (and her songs often had literary themes) which, when combined with an electric violin was irresistible for a deeply uncool goth girl. I adored Patrick Wolf and cheesy female-fronted metal bands for similar reasons. Unfortunately I apparently wasn't inspired enough to actually learn how to play a single instrument but hopefully that'll change soon. Granted, I did manage to take voice lessons throughout middle school (because I was quite obsessed with all things broadway--especially Barbara Cook at the time, and also with Loreena McKennitt) but unfortunately my voice is terrible now and I loathe my fast vibrato (which, funnily enough is quite similar to Jean Ritchie's, yet I don't like it when it's mine!)... I should have at least kept doing daily vocal exercises. But anyway!

In terms of later (age 18 and older) inspirations: Leonard Cohen, Julee Cruise, Mount Eerie, Moondog, Kate Bush, Judy Collins, David Sylvian, Laurie Anderson, Dead Can Dance, Irma Thomas, Joanna Newsom and countless neoclassical/ambient artists (Nils Frahm, Harold Budd, Eluvium etc)... Newsom, Cohen and Bush in particular due to their lyrical style.

Florence and John Grant come to mind off the top. There are many others, but I'd really have to think about it to put together a solid list.

:laughing: "not quite there" is kind of my eternal predicament. (Seeing as I unironically listen to the Labyrinth soundtrack regularly, I will absolutely never be cool) I neglected to mention Bauhaus and Nick Cave/The Birthday Party and Sisters of Mercy, if that helps. I don't even recall how I became enamored with New Order (and Gary Numan!); I just generally loved any and all vaguely depressing synth-laden music.

That's quite understandable. Team Rowland!

My first hero was really the entirety of The Fratellis, but more so Jon Fratelli. Years ago I discovered them through Pandora, and they were the first band that really made me want to pick up a guitar.

After that came Jack White. I loved his angry playing during The White Stripes. The sloppy-yet-good style he had really made me intrigued and want to emulate that.

Nowadays I look up to Jello Biafra, Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Robert Pollard mostly.

Jello and Jeffrey's pure unadulterated energy and vibrato filled, high pitched voices are just mesmerizing to listen to. Jeffrey's guitar work on The Gun Club albums is also great.

Robert Pollards prolific and near constant songwriting is what mostly inspires me when I look at his work. I also enjoy the lofi sound he typically has.

My most inspirational and eye-opening artists would include:

Luigi Russolo
John Cage
Harry Partch
Moondog
Philip Glass
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Edgard Varèse
Raymond Scott (and Bob Moog for that matter)
Delia Derbyshire
Daphne Oram
Terry Riley
La Monte Young
Steve Reich
Pierre Schaeffer
Pierre Henry
Wendy Carlos
Brian Eno
Kraftwerk's first 4 albums (I, II, Ralf & Florian, and Autobahn)
Don Van Vliet
Louis & Bebe Barron
Perrey & Kingsley
Beaver & Krause
Tom Dissevelt and Kid Baltan (Dick Raaymakers)
Morton Subotnick
Harmonia
Popol Vuh
Can
Fred Deakin
Jimmy Cauty & Bill Drummond
Manuel Gottsching
Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Dieter Moebius, and Conny Plank in any of their various incarnations
Klaus Schulze
Karl Hyde

and just about any of the artists mapped on the Electric Love infographic.

Dimebag Darrell, Zakk Wylde, and Tony Iommi were the three that originally drew me into learning guitar and kept me interested in music throughout my early teens. Rob Zombie was a big one for me too.

Towards my late teens it was Robert Fripp, Michael Sandison & Marcus Eoin (Boards of Canada), Tom Jenkinson (Squarepusher), and GG Allin.

These days I'm pretty blown away by the work of Steve Marriott (Humble Pie), Stephen Stills, Jerry Reed, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Doug Sahm (Sir Douglas Quintet), most members of The Band, and Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes).

A couple years ago, I would have said David Bowie/Brian Wilson/George Harrison, etc. Now, I'm more inclined to say Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Joplin—the composers of my favourite pieces to play. I get more out of music when I play it myself than when I listen to someone else.

I've thought about this and there is nobody in music I would be comfortable calling my 'hero'.

Following Wetton's death I started getting back into King Crimson and I can already feel my playing change because of Fripp. He'll probably find himself on my list of main inspirations soon.

Just for one day?

Now cover FraKctured.

I'm going to cover the pointless part of Starless.