| Influences | My two main artist influences are Pink Floyd and Queensryche. Other artist influences include Black Sabbath, Blood Sweat & Tears, Days of the New, Depeche Mode, Dire Straits, Dokken, The Doors, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Fuel, Goo Goo Dolls, PJ Harvey, Don Henley, Iron Maiden, Killswitch Engage, Metallica, Peter Murphy, Nickelback, Lou Rawls, Rush, Sade, Bob Seger, Soundgarden, Bruce Springsteen, Steely Dan, Tantric, Tears for Fears, Three Doors Down, The Who, and Neil Young. While I may not sound much or anything like some of these acts, I have been inspired by each of them in one way or another.
As to my sound, it is influenced by not just my listening tastes as indicated above, but also by my background in classical guitar, and by the broadway-leaning character of my singing voice, which I am still developing and exploring.
Whether or not I sound like them a little or not at all, the following professionals have inspired me to pick up playing and singing and songwriting, and/or to keep going with these pursuits come success or failure:
Bass: Jack Bruce (Cream), Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), Patrick Dahlheimer (Live), John Entwistle (The Who), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Steve Harris (Iron Maiden), Geddy Lee (Rush).
Guitar: Peppino D'Agostino, Warren DeMartini (RATT), David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), George Lynch (Dokken), Carlos Santana (Santana).
Vocals: Ronnie James Dio (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, DIO), Freddie Mercury (Queen), Peter Steele (Type O Negative).
Songwriting: Pink Floyd, Queensryche, Bruce Springsteen. |