Yeah, a lot of that though is just the age of the artist. Early influences for me were Click Click and Leather Strip. Magazines often compared our early material to Click Click and Leather Strip. You have copyists like me who spend years imitating. It took me years to find my own voice and sound. The influential ones find it right away because it never occurs to them to try to learn from others. Perhaps late bloomers like me could blossom into something special, but music is often a game for the young, at least commercially speaking.

So they find their influence outside the biggest names. Of course, we have to take into account that they are all musicians. Musicians dig for music that isn’t on the radio, not for influence, but because they love music. Howlin’ Wolf wasn’t exactly a superstar when the Rolling Stones were influenced by him; in fact, they probably made him a superstar. Frank Zappa used to talk bad smack about classical music, but its easy to see its influence on his composing.

It’s hard to be completely original, but it is good enough to find lesser known influences and blend them with your own ideas. It sounds original enough, and then there’s the bonus of finding the influences of your favorite bands…and realizing that there’s even more good music out there that you didn’t even know about.

Of the bands that have influenced me in adulthood, most have struck me because I couldn’t immediately figure out what they were doing. Their techniques, sound choices, and arrangements were all so unorthodox that I couldn’t help but be blown away by their uniqueness. I’m sure that most of them grew up on pop and rock music, but there was just that general intuitive connection rather than a long, consciously studied approach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xcwt9mSbYE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3KuIoOc7pI

This story has been submitted to Stirrdup. Your support can help it become hot….