Influences?

Fandango

Hi all,

Just wondering, how much thought do people put into the influences they list? Personally, and im sure many others are the same, i would just list off bands and artists i like/listen to etc, but I may not actually sound like or play the same style as. Basically i ask as, for me at least, the first things i check about a band apart from age/location is influences and they can very quickly turn you on or off a band even if the band sounds nothing like what they list so should probably take most importance. So, do you put down your favorite bands, or bands you actually sound like? And would you consider Influences to be the most important part of a bands profile if you're on the look for a new group?

RC88

infulences can be an important piece of info,

look at it this way, say your a blues guitatist and play songs mainly by eric clapton, jeff beck and early fleetwood mac, and you arrange a jam with a singer without asking bout infulences and that person turns up and he/she only knows jazz or pop or metal etc(ya get the idea) and dosent know any blues material or might not have any interest in it, while it might make a interesting jam sometimes, you might feel uncomfortable jaming outside of your genre

i went for a jam a few years back with some lads form my school who listened to emo punk(greenday,blink 182,paramore) while i listened to blues rock(cream,fleetwood mac) we did'nt discuss infulences, just met up after school and it did'nt last half an hour, i did'nt know half of they're fav songs and vice versa, complete disaster

just shows it help to show infulences to give yourself an idea of what songs to practice before a jam

guitarzero

I put a certain amount of emphasis on their influences but I notice it can vary depending on how much I think "ah, i've got feck all else going, may aswell" or depending on which bands they DO mention. But for myself, yea, by enlarge I put a fair bit of emphasis on influences even though I dont really sound like any of my bands.
Example - I love Qotsa and Smashing Pumpkins sense of subtlety with their level of intenstiy and how they capture a mood. I also play to express these qualities but not in their style. Same with Roxy Music and Soundgarden, they are very different but they both have a subversive sound, its off-target but in a good way and I have a tendency to approach music this way too, a subversive, off-target sound.
Thats where I have probs. Id say I'm into Kate Bush and Tool, already they'd be thrown off as 99.99% of the readers want to squeez into a genre, its pretty frustrating.

Rigsby

Interesting topic. Musical influences can be light years different from what a person actually plays. So generally, I take this information with a large pinch of salt, until I actually meet the person or hear a sample of their material.

Fandango

Rigsby wrote: »

Interesting topic. Musical influences can be light years different from what a person actually plays. So generally, I take this information with a large pinch of salt, until I actually meet the person or hear a sample of their material.

Yea, thats what i mean. You have bands that list their influences and they cover about 6 music genres. Normally (or always) they wont sound like all 6, but a potential band member who doesnt like 1 or 2 of those genres may decide to move to the next ad as it isnt for them. Obviously if you have a sample of your music up also then it doesnt really matter but just got me thinking that people tend to just lash down their influences without much thought when to alot it is the most important part of the ad.