10 replies to this topic

[triplepant]

Hey Guys,
I juste searched this Forum about Johns Influences and didn't really find a topic about them. I think it would also be nice to make an nice collection and post them on the IM hompage. Do you agree?
It would be best to post the evidence too, post articles or Interviews where he said it, so nobdy can say 'that's not true...'
or something like that.
I escpecially would like to know which guitar virtuoso songs he learned.
Thanks a lot guys!

[triplepant]

Oh from John's official myspace site:

'Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, the Germs, Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, KISS, Captain Beefheart, David Bowie, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Depeche Mode, Ornette Coleman, Joy Division, The Clash, the list goes on...'

[paulo_crunch]

he is a van der graaf generator fan

[fruscianteisbog1]

There's a lot, and all of his influences are of mine to.

Modest Mouse, Aphex Twin, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, he is a fan of Ozzy more, King Crimson, The Mars Volta, Aphex Twin, Neu!, Stereolab, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Ramones, The Doors, Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, David Bowie, T. Rex, Peter Gabriel, and a lot more that I can't think of right now.

[SiberianKhatru]

Can, Fennesz, Peter Rehberg, Venetian Snares, OMD, Cat Stevens, The Beach Boys, Yes, The Durutti Column, Ekkehard Ehlers, Fela Kuti, early Kraftwerk (I'm guessing the first 2 albums), The Smiths.

[Chili_Pat]

Hillel Slovak

BTW: He says in a live show 2001, that Joy Division is his favourite band

[Phantom]

Syd Barret, Eric Dolphy, Tricky, Wu tang clan, N.W.A, Sonic Youth, R.E.M, Looking Glass, Black flag, the germs, Cream, Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, Jane's Adiction,

i'm sure how many of these would be "influences" and how many he just likes

[Jack90]

I think as a musician, if you listen to something you enough (something you like), even if you are not influenced by the music consciously it is nearly impossible not to subconsciously play in a similar style. That's what happens most of the time I think.

[AS CAN BE]

The Damned, Discharge, Bauhaus, Devo, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Minutemen, John Coltrane, Bad Brains, Talking Heads, The Residents, The B-52's, Bjork, Radiohead, Public Enemy, The Ramones,etc.

[Automatic Writing]

AS CAN BE, on 10 June 2010 - 02:48 AM, said:

The Damned, Discharge, Bauhaus, Devo, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Minutemen, John Coltrane, Bad Brains, Talking Heads, The Residents, The B-52's, Bjork, Radiohead, Public Enemy, The Ramones,etc.

He also had his funk influences: Parliament, Funkadelic, The Meters. Before the Beginning is in the same vein as Maggot Brain by Funkadelic, and he worked with George Clinton all those years in the Chilis.

I find his Zappa influence very interesting. Zappa was by far one of the wierdest guitarist/singer/song writers of the 60s-70s (and that's saying something). As I listen to John's work, I usually don't get through more than 3-4 songs without hearing some vocal qualities similar to Zappa's style of singing. If you're not familiar with Zappa, he would often use a lower voice and almost speak the words with slight pitch and tone changes. It was really somewhere in between singing and talking, and it's a quality John employs on quite a few songs.