Influenced

Formed in the UK in 1982, Sade (Sade Adu, Stuart Matthewman, Andrew Hale, and Paul Denman) was founded out of the ashes of Adu's former band Pride. Born in Nigeria to a Nigerian father and an English mother, Adu found a love of '70 soul music like Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross early in her childhood after being taken to the English countryside by her mother. Initially looking to study fashi...

Started in 1970, Electric Light Orchestra became one of the seminal acts of the decade. Combining a love of Beatles-esque rock and roll  with a flare for drawing from classical music, the band crafted some of the most timeless and impeccably produced music from the era. Led by their frontman and primarily producer and song-writer Jeff Lynne, ELO began releasing a string of hit album after hit albu...

Jenny Lewis got her start as a child actor on shows like the Twilight Zone and Baywatch, but didn't really begin to find herself until she formed her first band, Rilo Kiley, as a teenage actor in LA with an adolescent boyfriend. As they began to experiment and find their musical voices, Jenny harkened back a few decades to the country sounds of Loretta Lynn and Emmylou Harris and the classic...

Formed by a group of former hippies in 1970, The Doobie Brothers became one of the all-time greatest bands of the decade and certainly one of the decades most quintessential groups. Starting from the genesis of guitarists Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons, the band carved out a space in the music industry playing souther inflected hard rock while mixing in some classic folk stylings. As their tours and...

On the season finale of season 1 of Influenced, we continue our discussion on Damon Albarn. We pick up right where part 1 left off as Gorillaz continue to pick up steam in the wake of Blur's early 2000's hiatus.  We discuss the newfound political energies that began to fuel Gorillaz creative output into the decade of the 2010's. We dive into the rather experimental music that Damon...

Frontman of two of the most successful alternative music projects of all time, Damon Albarn has been a musical powerhouse for over thirty years at this point. With his work as a young man in Blur catapulting Britpop to the top of the musical world, to forming the most successful "virtual band" of all time with the genre-defying Gorillaz. Refusing to be defined by one sound or idea, Damon...

Named after a devious device from William Burroughs' Naked Lunch , Steely Dan was always full of unique take's on just about everything from their music, lyrics and the way they approached production. Formed by core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagan, the band was a great antithesis to the bombastic state of Rock throughout the seventies. Opting often to use professional session musi...

They brought Gothic culture to heights no-one ever thought imaginable. Siouxsie and the Banshees are one of punk music's most influential bands. Formed after Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin had their minds blown at a Sex Pistols gig, they took the Punk formula and turned it inside out. From their debut singles, they were turning heads in the UK music scene as one of the must see bands of th...

Catapulting to stardom in 2005 with multiple 1 hits and a record-breaking iconic debut album, Arctic Monkeys changed the template for indie-rock. Determined never to be pigeon-holed by that 'indie-rock' moniker, Arctic Monkeys have continually drawn from all over the musical map. From psychedelic and stoner rock, doo-wop, hip-hop, and even piano-based lounge music on their 2018 release....

Named after the ill-fated founding member of the Rolling Stones and the tragic Jamestown Massacre, The Brian Jonestown Massacre live up to the bizarre nature of their band name. Founded in the late 1980's by Anton Newcombe ( the band's only consistent member), the BJM have always been about Newcombe's musical vision. From their early days in the eighties and early nineties as displa...

Formed in late seventies England, the Cure are the brainchild and artistic avenue for frontman Robert Smith who has become the bands sole founding member. Beginning as a brash and eerie punk band, Robert soon became enamored with exploring new sonic territory throughout the eighties and well into the next decade. The band grew fond of melding a healthy dose of the Gothic and their original Punk ae...

Sharon Van Etten has made a name for herself as one of the most critically acclaimed and successful indie-folk and alternative names in the last decade. She continuously evolves her sound whether that means incorporating noisy and almost punk-rock guitars to accompany her voice or incorporating layers of synths and drum machines to create an almost electronic backdrop to some of her most recent wo...

Elvis Costello is one of the most synonymous names with the New-Wave and Power Pop movements in the later half of the 20th century. Rising out of the punk and pub rock scenes in England in the late seventies and finding widespread success with the Attractions in the late 70's and well into the 1980's. Costello has influenced countless musicians from across the musical spectrum and collab...

Formed in 1964 by Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke, The Byrds were one of the most popular and influential bands in the mid to late 60's. At the forefront of the Folk-Rock craze with a co-sign from Bob Dylan, the Byrds catapulted to the top with a string of no. 1's and hit albums. Rubbing shoulders with the Beatles in their prime, the Byrds never...