What Influences You And Your Music?

Let me start off this thread by suggesting that by influences I am not just talking about what musical influences you grew up with but what kinds of sound backgrounds you grew up in.

For example.

My own childhood I grew up with the CN doubletrack mainline behind our house, the Ralston Purina feed mill across the tracks from our backyard, a large park with all kinds of baseball games and such plus the big tractors that would come through to cut the lawns, Cicadas, the whoosh of car tires going down our street late at night...

Most of my pieces seem very reminiscent of those almost pastoral kinds of sounds...almost like NEU. 

Just what would you say would be your sound background?

You know, now that you mention it, I spent my childhood in a large woods behind my house.  I think I might try to make sound that mimics the vastness filled.  Huh.  Now I gotta go check and see if my latest supports that theory....

Since I grew up in:

Venice, CA
Chicago, IL
Kenosha, WI
South San Francisco, CA
San Diego, CA
Mar Vista, CA
Culver City, CA
Santa Monica, CA
Denver, CO

and many of those places in CA multiple times it might be best to say that chaos influences my music.

Oh yeah, that and the Beatles, Stones, Cream, Yes, Gentle Giant, Gensis et. al.

Love can influence my music.

Anger can influence my music (although less and less these days).

Movies can influence my music.

Books can influence my music.

Life influences my music.

I grew up in a quiet village in The Cotswolds. When it got over-developed I moved to a sparsely populated part of Scotland. I like space, and being able to see a long way. I'm a melancholy sort of bloke.

I make quiet, spacious, melancholy music.

Except when I RAWK!!!

Trimph this is a great question! Unfortunately, it's not one I can answer very well. Most of my inspiration comes from other musicians. The problem with that is, if I like something enough, hearing it one time makes it stick in my head and I can usually play it. If I'm not careful, I find out in time that I may have unintentionally ripped something off. :*(

I've seen some really beautiful places in the world. When I could, I'd always take an acoustic guitar and a recorder with me and just take it all in. Whether it be a park, a major land-mark, stopping to take a rest while driving because I found some beautiful scenary...but none of it has ever helped or inspired me. I wind up enjoying the scene, making noise and nothing ever comes out. LOL!

Events in life usually don't do anything for me either until years pass and then I'll take an event and totally change it to something made up and put music to it. But most times, songs either come to me on their own, or nothing happens. I can mess around with hundreds of riffs and log them, yet might not write anything worth while. But when a song comes to me...man, look out! I have to stop what I'm doing and seize the moment...call myself and hum on my answering machine, bark into my cell phone...whatever I can get my hands on. LOL!!

You know when you hear a song on the radio and it sticks in your head and you can sort of play it back in your mind? That happens to me but only with original material. This thing just comes out of nowhere. I can hear all the parts and everything. Sometimes it has words, sometimes just music and a melody...but I hear the complete thing minus the words most times. It's the weirdest thing. Ever see that show Charmed with the 3 witches? One of them has premonitions and when she gets them, she stops dead in her tracks with a big breathy sigh like when someone scares you. That's how the stuff comes to me in song format. It's really intense. But if it doesn't happen that way, my inspiration pretty much comes from players I admire or song writers that just create infectious hooks that could land a whale...or a musical band that may be a bit technical. But other than that...I'm boring and usually not inspired by anything....sad but true. :( Good thread man!

-Danny

I've seen some really beautiful places in the world. When I could, I'd always take an acoustic guitar and a recorder with me and just take it all in.

 
I'm sorry Danny,  but I've now got this picture in my head of you sat sat on a rug in the middle of a meadow full of wild flowers,  a gentle wind blowing your hair, while you pump out a tune on...
 
 
 
 
 
... a recorder !!     LOL 
 
 
 

When I was a boy I lived in just outside of Converse La. Our house was about 30 yards from a railroad track. I could hear the train coming from miles away. It ran a the same times so I knew when to listen. IT was the rhythm of the train I loved with the clickadee klack as it went by. But the thing the I loved most was the sound of a car coming by on the hiway that was about 100 yards from the house. Early in the morning I would sit and listen to a lone car come and the wonderful sound waves I could hear as it got closer and closer. It was almost as if I could see the waves going across the trees. 

I grew up in a cemetery, by the sea. Sort of... 

I lived w/ my grand parents, and there weren't many houses where we lived. I was pretty much the only kid around. The cemetery gate was a mere 50 feet from our doorstep, so it quickly became my "playground". 

I only miss 2 things from my little hometown - the cemetery and the sea.

This probably explains why I like quiet places and people.

I was just wondering if anyone's music was ever influenced by influenza?


See what I did?

A mashup without creating a new (useless) fred.

and what?   The rain came in?

I think the whole jamesg1213 family got the flu (from the window being opened).

The probably still blame the flu 'en Enza.
 

I'd have to say my mother is the biggest influence on me and my music for a few reasons.

When I was little she used to teach/sing songs to me and recite poetry that she learned back when she was a child in the late 1920's/early 1930's. Her Grandmother taught her Civil War songs I've never been able to find recordings of. She was born in 1927, her dad in 1888, so her Grandmother was quite alive and well during the Civil War. She also wrote a lot of poetry and lyrics. My sister did too and actually had some of it published. I say, 'did', because she's gone now too. A year to the day from mom.

I remember going to the local tavern with her and dad when I was a kid. Dad drank, but she rarely did. Back then it wasn't a big deal to take kids to the local watering hole. Or maybe it was, but it seemed ok in our town. There was always a few kids there with their parents. I vividly remember people asking her to sing Your Cheatin' Heart (Hank), For The Good Times (Ray), and I Fall To Pieces (Patsy). The place would be dead silent when she sang, no backing music, just her and sometimes me. She had one hell of a voice.

You know when you're about to break down and you take a deep breath to hold it back, guys you know what I mean. The morning dad told me she was gone I took a very long deep breath and never exhaled, so I breathe through my music. That's why you'll never hear a Johnny B. Goode type song from me, every cover or original I do reminds me of her in some way.

Sorry, I know it's pretty dark, but hey, you asked.

Bub.