Influenced by by Stoneman on The Pipeline at IndieMusicPeople

Influenced by
I have never quite understood why influence is so important to so many people. Whenever I put my music up on a website to be sold, streamed or whatever, the hardest question that I am often asked to answer is who am I influenced by or who do I sound like. This question just baffles me because I haven't got a clue as to who I sound like.

With well over a thousand songs in 12 genres, I just don't know. Honing it down to someone in particular is almost impossible for me. So I wonder, does anyone else have this problem? Or, do you know exactly who you sound like? An easier question for me would be who don't I sound like? I could say without hesitance that I don't sound like anyone in country, classical or polka music. But I have been influence by a multitude of people and genres and I have studied many kinds of music.

So, when I answer that question I usually just put "Stoneman" due to the lack of space and time for me to write down all the artists I would credit to have influenced me in some way or another. But when there is space and time I tend to write down the following people: Marvin Gaye, War, Average White Band, Al Green, George Clinton, Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, The Moments, The Delfonics, The Time, The Deal, Rance Allen, Prince, Babyface, Rick James, Smokey Robinson, BB King, Bob Marley, Neyo, Snoop & Dr. Dre, Tupac, Stanley Turrentine, Kenny Burrell, LTD, Jimmy Smith, R. Kelly, Earth Wind & Fire, The Ohio Players, The Jackson Five, Frankie Beverly & Maze, Peter Frampton, Jimi Hendrix, Bootsy Collins, Larry Graham, The Temptations and Parliament/Funkadelic. Usually I wind up wishing I had written about 50 other artists in addition to the artists I credit. There are elements of all of these artists in my approach to Songwriting. So, just wondering, who are your biggest influences and do you think there are elements of their music evident in your music? Or, I guess a better question would be who do you think you sound like and is answering this question as hard for you as it is for me?

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Chandra Moon

9/21/2013 3:59:40 AM

Good question and very difficult to answer. I just write what comes into my head and as you know my music ranges from chillout to reggae to blues to rock.

My very early influences were people like Melanie and Joan Baez then later all the psychedelic bands and the greats like Santana. More recently the greatest influence without any doubt have been Senegalese sabar drum rhythms which permeate everything I do now even though people might not realise they form the underlying rhythms and guitar picking work I do.

Right now I'm loving Paloma Faith but I could never sound anything like her !!

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Stoneman

9/21/2013 11:42:07 AM

Yes, I certainly hear all of those elements in your music Chandra. You have a very worldly sound and it is so versatile. I love what you do with all the African rhythms and ethnic instruments/percussions. Very unique and patently you. So, even though I certainly can hear the influences of Baez and Melanie, ultimately you sound just like you. That is such and awesome thing!

Much Respect!
Stoneman

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Richard Scotti

9/21/2013 6:29:28 PM

Good topic, Stoneman!

My biggest headache is writing a bio for myself. I find it easy to write bios for other artists but not for me. Like Chandra said, I just write what comes out of my head
and let other people call it whatever they want. I think it would be safe to say that I
write rock music but there are dozens of ways of expressing "rock". My songs are hybrids of those different styles. One song might combine as many as 5 styles.
Whenever I have quantify what I do or how I do it, it makes me very uncomfortable.
I have so many influences but I think that my biggest challenge has been to outgrow those influences and just write something that is the least derivative thing I can write while still incorporating the elements of those who wrote the encyclopedia of rock.

I grew up worshiping Dylan, Lennon, M. Jackson, the Stones, Hendrix, Gaye, Van Morrision, the Doors, James Brown. Otis Redding and many others. I let the spirit of these artists inspire me but I try not to sound like them although sometimes it happens accidently. It's like painting under a blue sky and your painting is filled with gorgeous shades of blue. Everything we are is a combination of everything we've ever experienced and every person who has ever touched our lives. I strive for originality but I concede that the wheel can never be re-invented. I guess all I can say about my music is that I think the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. De-constructing it or dissecting it fractures it's significance.

Working with various vocalists gives me the freedom to write anything I want in any genre. It's very liberating to not be constrained to just writing for one voice or one band. For me, every song is like it's own little band with it's own sound and style.
I play all the instruments, so it allows me to construct my vision of what each "band" should sound like without compromise. I choose the singer based on the goal of the song. If it's bad, I want all the blame! I've played in many bands over the years and learned a lot about band music but my favorite band is the one I hear in my head.

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Stoneman

9/21/2013 8:51:20 PM

That was very cool Richard I can relate to it extremely well. I have never had any trouble talking about my music. My wife says that my face lights up whenever I have the opportunity to discuss my art. But I have always had trouble with defining, categorizing and correlating my music for other people. As the title of one of my CD says: It Is What It Is. But the industry has identity quirks. It seems to want us to be something they can latch onto as proof of worth. But for artists like us, following the identity path can lead to confusion for our fan bases. I was once told that my route to success was tied to my willingness to commit to all things R&B. That was the foulest language I have ever heard. I love me some R&B and Hip-Hop. But, I am more than R&B or Hip-Hop. I am me. There is so much music in my head that sometimes I feel like I am going to explode. Other times I wonder if it is possible for me to live long enough to write and produce everything that wants to come out of me.

In the same sense, you are you. I am thankful for having had the opportunity to experience the music that you create. If I was an authority on all things Rock & Roll I am sure I would be able to tell you who you sound like. But the reality is that all I know is....well, you sound like you. But that is me respecting what you do because I understand the complexities and talent that it takes to do it. If someone asked me I would say that you do Rock & Roll. But that wouldn't even touch the outer layering's of your full creative flow. All I can say is that the band in your head is playing its ass off.

Some of the things you write make me feel like you are my twin brother or something. The band in my head salutes yours!

Much Respect,
Stoneman

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Richard Scotti

9/22/2013 2:46:02 PM

Thank you so much my brother from another mother! I forgot to mention that Sir Stoneman is also one of my influences.

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Tom O'Brien

9/22/2013 7:24:37 PM ---- Updated 9/22/2013 7:40:06 PM

I think the question is difficult to answer because our influences don't always show in what we do. But they are there, nonetheless. They've become part of our styles. We don't necessarily want to sound like any one artist - we want to have our own sound. At least, that's my thinking. So you don't want to list influences because it would limit you. If you said you sounded like Bootsy Collins, then that's what people would expect. But you can see where people are curious. Stoneman, I don't see one of your influences listed that is anything but what I would expect from you. You embody the tradition of all of them.

My influences (other than Charmichael and Mercer and the greats of that era) would be people like Cat Stevens, Stevie Wonder, Simon and Garfunkel, Squeeze, XTC, Elvis Costello, Hank WIlliams, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Marley, James Taylor, Suicidal Tendencies, Joe Jackson, The Red House Painters, The La's, Marshall Crenshaw, The Pretenders, and I would be totally remiss if I did not mention that Bob Elliott, whom I've known for 30 years or so, has really influenced me the most.

I didn't even think I needed to mention the Beatles. Of course, The Beatles

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Stoneman

9/23/2013 11:04:26 PM

Yeah Tom, I often grapple with this question to the point of total frustration. It is a tough question that we all are forced to answer at some point for someone. I certainly do hear the lyrical genius of Stevie wonder and the awesome chord structures as well as the vocal harmonies of the Beatles in your work. You definitely have some excellent influences that correlate with you as an artist.

Much Respect,
Stoneman

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Steve Ison

9/24/2013 2:32:39 PM ---- Updated 9/24/2013 11:39:24 PM

I think our view of ourselves as artists is naturally always gonna be wider than how others perceive us...There's been a stack of music made over the last 50 years covering every style you can think of - stuff we've all been influenced by - and other people are naturally gonna hear that other music that feeds into us/comes thru us..

The best we can do i think is try and have a 'flavour' thats our own..I guess thats by not slavishly trying to sound like anyone in particular n just being unselfconscious and ourselves in our creativity..

I'm actually happy tho if people mention Bowie,T.Rex , The Kinks,Lou Reed.The Who or The Zombies in relation to any of my songs ..I feel flattered as i love their music..

Less so if they say The Beatles -not 'cos i don't love them -just because that comparison feels so bland n ubiquitous and there's so many bands/artists who artlessly pastiche that sound in all its forms - and i really don't wanna be a part of any of that..

Not flattered in the least they say Oasis, REM or Crowded House - as i'm not a big fan of any of them - and i know 100% i'm NOT influenced by any of them at all..

Its more that they're filtering some of the same 60s/70s influences as me..

Don't think anyones ever mentioned Motown.soul or 60s Girl Groups in relation to my music -but thats all i've basically been listening to the last 3 years -so i guess the influence must be in there somewhere..

Stylistically my playing (inability !) is so very different tho -it'd prob be difficult to hear those influences come thru in my sound however i write..

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Bob Elliott

9/26/2013 6:13:10 AM

I guess it's a moot point since I'm going on a couple months of almost no music,but right now in my head the music has been lately influenced much by Yellowman and other reggae dub, Wu Tang Clan and stuff like that, Dante, James Joyce, pressure building to release, Sly Stone, Matt, Sean, Tom and tube amps.

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Steady Challie

9/26/2013 12:52:01 PM

Influence is a funny word. I hear some artists always being billed as having influenced a lot of other musicians, when I don't even like the person's music in the first place.

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