Musicians: Who Are Your Influences?

[Frownland]

Ideally, most musicians want to have a trademark style, but there are very few musicians who don't have the footprint of their influences in their playing style. So, who's rubbed off on your playing? And do you think that's a good or a bad thing?

For my guitar playing, Keiji Haino and Marc Ribot are two players who you can hear in my playing. My noisier side screams Haino (I'm not just complimenting myself since I'm a massive Haino fan, other people have told me this as well) while my jazzier side is very Ribot, with the hard hits on the strings and bent towards Eastern scales. Derek Bailey also influenced my style, but that's somewhat faded over the years as I move towards more precise playing.

[Moss]

I would like to be able to site cool players like Ribot but my formative years learning guitar were my teens where I was not really listening to much "out there" music. So:

Jimmy Page - Huge influence, maybe even more his acoustic work than the electric in some ways since it led (get it?) me to alternate tunings and things. Plus I spent so much time learning Zep songs it can't help but creep in there.

SRV - Probably my biggest influence over all. Even though he is a pretty standard pentatonic player, the way he hits his strings so hard, the way he shakes the strings and uses his thumb, the way he filled up so much space, and his overall phrasing were huge for me.

Robin Trower - Mostly phrasing. I would put on Bridge of sighs or victims of the fury and play over them for hours.

Randy Rhoads - Because his style is so different from the other influences and I really liked his phrasing. Much more classical influence but he put so much emotion into his playing.

Hendrix - Mostly the partial chord rhythm stuff he does better than just about anyone.

Later on and more recently it's been people like Danny Gatton, Larry Carlton, Jerry Garcia, Stephen Malkmus. So many. These are the people I spend time really listening too and trying to figure out what they are doing.

[Machine]

I like this thread quite a bit nice idea!

Well I'll start with my guitar I guess, for my acoustic guitar playing I'm very influenced by a few people starring with Elliott Smith. I love his fractured melodic sence and I unconsciously incorporate those things into my poppier songs. I also draw from Sean Bonnette from Andrew Jackson Jihad, okay so I'll begin by saying that this guy is an amazing guitar player look up a live AJJ show and you see what I mean. His fingerpicking style and vicious ferocity of his strumming is something that I've spent months and months learning and perfecting and am partially ashamed to say it's a style I emulate quite often. As for my electric guitar playing I can note Justin Broadrick as a big influence on my drone playing that melodic wall that he creates in Jesus and extreme textures in Godflesh. My more stripped back style has influence from Johnny Greenwood, Michael Karoli, and David Gilmour (I like slow yet screetchy guitar solos).

Singing is a bit more simple, I don't really emulate anyone in my own music, but I certainly hear Phil Elverum (The Microphones/Mount Eerie) in some of my softer.

For drumming I can note Glenn Kotche with his jazzy more flamboyant very personified playing, as well as Grizzly Bear's Christopher Bear who uses his drum set more like a full pecussion section.

I taught myself keyboards and piano and never really listened to piano players so I influenced my self there.

So I guess that's about it, I think taking from a large body of musicians to make up part of your own influence and there's nothing wrong with that. In fact finding new artists that literally help and shape some of the techniques of my playing is very exciting.

[Overcast]

Phil Elverum, Adrian Orange and Liz Harris.

[Frownland]

Originally Posted by Machine

I like this thread quite a bit nice idea!

Well I'll start with my guitar I guess, for my acoustic guitar playing I'm very influenced by a few people starring with Elliott Smith. I love his fractured melodic sence and I unconsciously incorporate those things into my poppier songs. I also draw from Sean Bonnette from Andrew Jackson Jihad, okay so I'll begin by saying that this guy is an amazing guitar player look up a live AJJ show and you see what I mean. His fingerpicking style and vicious ferocity of his strumming is something that I've spent months and months learning and perfecting and am partially ashamed to say it's a style I emulate quite often. As for my electric guitar playing I can note Justin Broadrick as a big influence on my drone playing that melodic wall that he creates in Jesus and extreme textures in Godflesh. My more stripped back style has influence from Johnny Greenwood, Michael Karoli, and David Gilmour (I like slow yet screetchy guitar solos).

Singing is a bit more simple, I don't really emulate anyone in my own music, but I certainly hear Phil Elverum (The Microphones/Mount Eerie) in some of my softer.

For drumming I can note Glenn Kotche with his jazzy more flamboyant very personified playing, as well as Grizzly Bear's Christopher Bear who uses his drum set more like a full pecussion section.

I taught myself keyboards and piano and never really listened to piano players so I influenced my self there.

So I guess that's about it, I think taking from a large body of musicians to make up part of your own influence and there's nothing wrong with that. In fact finding new artists that literally help and shape some of the techniques of my playing is very exciting.

I already told you via PM, but your noisier drone guitar work really reminded me of Keiji Haino, tbh. Maybe just because it's a standard within the style and he's one of the best, but I really hear it in there.

And I forgot about other instruments! When my drumming is restrained, it's kind of similar to King of Sludge's from Too Many Zooz because I was listening to a lot of them when I was trying to diversify my style. Generally though, my style is extremely Han Bennink. I try out new things but dude, I'm largely a Bennink ripoff artist.

And how surprising, one of Bennink's most common collaborators, Peter Brotzmann is my key sax influence. I'm a fire breather and he showed me the ropes.

With piano, I'm self taught, but there's a lot of Cecil Taylor and Sun Ra's somewhat nonsensical playing when I do go that route.

As far as other instruments go, I really did find my own way about the instrument through teaching it to myself.

[Machine]

Originally Posted by Frownland

I already told you via PM, but your noisier drone guitar work really reminded me of Keiji Haino, tbh. Maybe just because it's a standard within the style and he's one of the best, but I really hear it in there.

And I forgot about other instruments! When my drumming is restrained, it's kind of similar to King of Sludge's from Too Many Zooz because I was listening to a lot of them when I was trying to diversify my style. Generally though, my style is extremely Han Bennink. I try out new things but dude, I'm largely a Bennink ripoff artist.

And how surprising, one of Bennink's most common collaborators, Peter Brotzmann is my key sax influence. I'm a fire breather and he showed me the ropes.

With piano, I'm self taught, but there's a lot of Cecil Taylor and Sun Ra's somewhat nonsensical playing when I do go that route.

As far as other instruments go, I really did find my own way about the instrument through teaching it to myself.

I've been listening to some of his stuff and I have to agree, it does sound quite a bit like his playing.

[Pet_Sounds]

There are only three instruments I can play with any confidence. One is the ukulele, and I'm strictly a chord guy. Another is the accordion, but mine is too small to really count for much. The third is the piano. On it, I'd like to think I'm pretty damn good. I started playing, quite literally, before I could walk, and it's the only instrument I've received training for.

That said, I've only ever deliberately tried to emulate one pianist's style. Ray Manzarek. Principally because I used to be in a (very crappy) elementary school band, and nobody played bass, so it was up to me on the keys. I studied Manzarek's technique -- the way he'd play the organ licks with his right hand while playing the bassline with his left. Because I've played almost every single song Billy Joel's released, I imagine his style comes through in my playing, but I've never tried to emulate him. Same goes for Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies.

As for the vocal cords… Without bragging too much, I have a lovely-sounding voice. However, I can't hit anything higher than an E without going into falsetto, and have trouble staying on pitch when holding a note. I'm working on it. Having said that, there are three different vocal approaches I regularly use: my natural smooth voice, which people have compared to George Harrison and recently Al Stewart; my more aggressive Jim Morrison rock and roll voice, and my spectral John Lennon voice (think A Day in the Life).

It's kinda funny, because before my voice changed, I sang in a choir, and I had the clearest, highest soprano you ever heard. I got all the descants. On a good day, I could hit a high C. Sometimes I miss that voice.

TL;DR: Pet rambles on about his vocal and piano abilities monotonously.

[Lord Larehip]

Tom Waits, Brian Eno, Bach

[RufLzrd]

Influence is a hard thing more me to talk about

I only make electronic music, however I love all kinds of music

In terms of music making my biggest influence has been deadmau5

However, I first got into music through Paul Simon, Green Day, the Beatles, the Grateful Dead, and so many more

[Blarobbarg]

Listening to the Sex Pistols and Ramones convinced me I could play sloppy as hell and still be a drummer (as long as I had the confidence to do so).

Listening to a lot of Latin music allowed me to branch out and use hand percussion, or else transform my beat up garage drum kit into some sorts of other instruments by hitting it in odd ways, muting the heads, or slapping the drums with my palms and fists.

And then discovering Zach Hill was like a revelation. It was almost a spiritual experience, the first time I really tried to beat the hell out of my kit. My first phase taught me that good drumming could be sloppy or minimalist. My second phase taught me that good drumming could be odd styles of playing the instrument or using exotic beat patterns. But Zach Hill taught me that sheer ferocity, animal instinct, and making the most of what I had (even if that were a snare, a kick, and a single cymbal) is much better than trying to use a 20-piece kit poorly.

Now I mostly just kick it with my djembe, since I moved across the country and all, but I dearly miss my drum kit and look forward to the day I can get behind another one.