i’ve been asked about what bands or songwriters i dig and of course i’ve spent countless hours devouring and thinking about these artists anyways, thats why they’re some of my faves.
i’ve got to start this and any music conversation about myself with the one band to me- The Sex Pistols. perfect- the album, when i was in 9th grade i purposely only let myself listen to the “Never Mind The Bullocks…” tape front to back for weeks until i was dreaming about those songs. and it is those songs that still hold up…. but when i listen to them i don’t really think “oh screaming punk rock!” i just hear a solid f’in rock record from over 30 years ago. the image and lifestyle helped because it was still so genuine though very well thought out by somebody. such an inspiration, i always say, mix the Sex Pistols with this next guy and then you figure out where my music chops come from- hell!. and did i almost not mention the name Sid?
Hank Williams – do i even have to say Sr.? yup Hank was the first real music i ever remember hearing and i heard it my whole life but not from where you think. it was my Dad’s constant yodeling of “Kawliga” and “Hey Good Lookin'” that are some of my first memories along with the way his back smelled in the pool. anyways. with Hank, for me, it’s the lyrics and the life and the 2 shall never be seperated in importance of one to the other. and yet again it always comes down to songs- after all it is the music that brings us all together. the songs are still catchy and amazing. and maybe you can’t overlook that this may be where my twang comes from in my vocal delivery (i really wanted a British snarl but uh… at least i’m Southern)
The Misfits- punk rock was huge for me but i never really dug the “hardcore-est” of the genre, i still gravitated towards the catchy stuff. Glenn Danzig was a master the whole package- stunning singer and voice, lyrics and looks for days. great band names and i still remember the lyrics from 20 years ago when i played Misfits covers with Nick and Jeremy. an honorable mention must go to Milo from the Descendants as well- another smart punk lyricist.
Easy E /N.W.A.- o yeah, 14, 15 yr old suburban white bread kid but smack dab in the middle of a growing ghetto Pine Hills. this stuff was tailor-made for me to digest with gusto and my mom was horrified. it was def. Easy E that did it for me- the voice, the look and “hey i’m only 15 too!?” but yet again… it was the songs. when they were great they were great! story telling that makes you smell the gunpowder. also it just proved to me that any genre can produce well written, catchy and killer music that can transcend genre and just is..
and then at about the age of 20 or 22 or something?.. i saw them and it changed my life… the great Harvey Milk. i saw them open for Jack O’Nuts at the Sapphire Supper Club and they were slow and sludgey and just wierd, Jack O’Nuts was incredible. at WPRK, where i was working at the time as a dj, we had a Harvey Milk song that i played until i fell in love. within the year i was living in Athens ,Ga, the hometown of Harvey Milk, the band. i saw them about 6 times over a year and they were stunning. i learned how deeply music can really affect somebody and esp me. AND the important thing to remember is for the the first time- it wasn’t based on lyrics- i can’t understand shit that comes out of Crestons mouth. i finally got to call someone that i’ve met “a Genius”. unfortunaly you won’t get this- just hearing the records are not enough to know the depth- you must have been there, ya know. i do meet people here and there that just kinda shake their head and go “o yeah, Harvey Milk, Jezus!” and i go yup! they know.
—so those could be me in a nutshell and then a bunch of other shit like life experiance and bad surgeries and good medication. whatever- its not all quantfiable and who would to define it all…. leave that shit for other people hopefully. i could mention a few other bands musicly that affect my tunes- Black Flag for guitar styling alone….. maybe Sonic Youth for some more stylings and then the Smashing Pumpkins… uh just to be a complete-ist i guess. alright, hope that made some sense to someone. SRG
thebookisbetter 