your non-metal influences?

[Elwood]

Primus - Les Claypool
David Guilmour
A lot of classic music - after hearing the Mr Crowley Solo track only I realized how classical it was.

 

[Mwoit]

Lots of JRPG SNES soundtracks.

 

[works0fheart]

Sorry, Donkey Kong Country 1,2,3,etc., the music in those games was brilliant. I don't remember too much music from the original. As a teenager, though, a lot of the most difficult songs I tried to learn to play were NES game theme songs. Wizards and Warriors 1 has this really shreddy opening and a super heavy downtuned odd-time riff in the tree level. Silver Surfer was probably the first song I tried to learn with sweeps in it.

Donkey Kong Country was one of my favorite games as a kid and the soundtrack is amazing imo.

Here are a few songs from it that I think are great for anyone curious.









I feel like video game soundtracks tend to be overlooked a lot because people don't take them seriously, but there are so many great ones out there. I'd go as far as to say they're probably some of my biggest influences.

 

[TGOD]

Coheed & Cambria and Thank You Scientist are two huge non-metal influences of mine. Can't think of many other non-metal acts that I listen to more.

Alongside that I really like the band 3 (Three), Sun Kil Moon (as well as guys like Mark Kozelick, Andy Mckee, and Tommy Emmanuel respectively), Clutch, Rush, Prize Fighter Inferno, Davenport Cabinet, Manchester Orchestra, etc, etc. the list can go on and on.

But if we're talking more musical influences as a whole, I also listen to a ton of rap and hip hop, and love guys like Immortal Technique, Jedi Mind Tricks, Tech N9ne, Wiz Khalifa, Celph Titled, Wretch 22, MGK, Pac, Biggie, etc - as well as a ton of video game soundtracks ranging from modern titles like the Elder Scrolls games all the way back to classic NES like SMB and Earthworm Jim.

 

[Mprinsje]

Some examples
- Red hot chili peppers
- The Cure
- Doc Watson
- Kiss
- A lot (and i mean a lot) of japanese visual kei bands like the Gazette, Nightmare, Luna sea, Dir en Grey
- and a lot of punk/hardcore but i always find that bordering on Metal so i dunno if that counts here.

EDIT: Also a lot of pop music: Taylor swift, Selena Gomez, Beyonce, Kanye West, Carly Rae Jepsen (among others)

 

[Unleash The Fury]

Fwiw i used to play Diddy Kong 64 when it came out about 1997 or so. I havent played it since and i can still remember one of the songs clearly in my head

 

[stevexc]

Flea and Tim Commerford are my two biggest non-metal influences.

 

[Elwood]

Primus - Les Claypool
David Guilmour
A lot of classic music - after hearing the Mr Crowley Solo track only I realized how classical it was.

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

a lot of really cool names mentioned so far...

the videogame music influences surprised me a bit, but growing up with nintendo & sega games, i can understand...

 

[Elwood]

Donkey Kong Country was one of my favorite games as a kid and the soundtrack is amazing imo.

Here are a few songs from it that I think are great for anyone curious.


I feel like video game soundtracks tend to be overlooked a lot because people don't take them seriously, but there are so many great ones out there. I'd go as far as to say they're probably some of my biggest influences.

Good call, Unreal Tournament was brilliant!

 

[Corusal]

If I start to write down all individual artists I'll never finish. But those are the genres (besides metal ofc) inspiring me the most for writing music:

- (Prog.) Rock (Things like Mutemath, Future Of Forestry, etc.)
- Indie/Singer-Songwriter/Folk/etc. (esp. Bon Iver, Justin Vernon is a musical genious)
- Trap/Future Bass (San Holo is one of my favs)
- HipHop (Kanye West, Post Malone, etc.)
- various Pop-Stuff (obviously ToP if you consider them Pop, but also more "mainstream" stuff)
- Gospel/Funk/Jazz

Obviously I'm not gonna write a future bass leadline for a metal track, but all those genres contribute to my musical "feel" and my idea of what sounds good so I guess I can count them all as musical influences for my metal stuff.

 

[Science_Penguin]

I think the reason my taste is so eclectic is because I grew up with so many video game soundtracks, and not a whole lot of whatever was popular at the time. The 90's into the early 00's was a particularly cool time for it, cause, as technology improved, they were no longer limited solely to what the sound chip could handle, and were able to record with actual instruments... which usually meant lots of guitar found its way in there. Good way to draw in the kid who grew up mainly with his parents old mixtapes.

Here's a few I really enjoyed:

Sonic CD (North America)- The original Japanese version is cool too, but I'm nostalgic for the American version. Its a masterpiece of fusion featuring some killer guitar work over lots of atmospheric synth pads. Captures the feel of each level's design nicely. Also, features bass-playing legend Bobby Vega on one song.

Halo- Considering how cinematic the game is, its no wonder they chose a soundtrack that sounds like a film score most of the time. I think I owe Martin O'Donnel for giving me the appreciation I have for the sound of the orchestra, and how well the electric guitar and synth can blend into it.

Sonic Adventure and Sega Rally Championship- I put both of these together because both games feature essentially Joe Satriani style instrumental tracks (the latter of which is actually rumoured to have been recorded by the man himself) which made it REAL easy for me to get into the G3 crowd later in life. I think the terms snobs like to use are "Dadcore" and "Butt Rock" and... yeah, that's exactly what it is, but fuck it, it's awesome.

Castlevania- This whole series screams "neoclassical," and even dips into Jazzy prog in a couple of cases. Lots of organ, lots of harpsichord, lots of Metal feels (even before they could work a real guitar into it)... No wonder Symphonic Metal wound up appealing to me so much...

Einhander- A Playstation shoot-em-up by Squaresoft, of all people. Best way I can describe the soundtrack is, it's Kenichiro Fukui's love letter to all things Trance. Fits perfectly against the backdrop of a cold, post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk future, complete with the awesomely impractical space shooter bosses... and on top of that, put this on at a rave, and no one will be the wiser.

Almost every Rare game ever- Everything from the tribal beats of Donkey Kong and Star Fox Adventures, the wacky cartoon sounds of Banjo-Kazooie and Conker, and the sexy spy thriller tunes from Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. Rare never half-asses the music, even if the game itself isn't great.

Zelda- I don't think I even need to go into this one...

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Non-metal guitar players I really like and attempt to emulate :
Paco De Lucia
Andres Segovia
Jesse Cook
Wes Montgomery
Lenny Breau
Tommy Emmanuel
Al DiMeola
Howlin Wolf
Tony Mcmanus
Songwriters:
James Blake
Asgeir
Iron and Wine
Jose Gonzalez
Composers:
Ralph Vaughn Williams
Basil Pouledoris
Gustav Holst
Samuel Baker
Harry Gregson Williams
Hans Zimmer

I play a little bit of everything, though I got started on flamenco/classical guitar/celtic music and then dipped my toes into jazz/delta blues. I have pretty eclectic tastes and I like a lot of different approaches to the guitar/writing music. I've always wanted to try my hand at composing but I haven't bothered sitting down to write some synth/orchestral tracks yet.

 

[metalheadblues]

John mayer

 

[stinkoman]

Like most people here I have a huge metal background, but I am really really big into surf music growing up around it. Ive used my 8 string to play and record surf music and of course get the traditionalist scoff at me for it and not taking it serious.I have been turned down from playing surf shows because I don't fit the look, and being 30 years younger than most doesnt help. I also have a love for old motown like the Temptations, 4 tops, Marvin Gaye as that a long with surf is what I grew up as a kid listening to. J. Mascis and Dinosaur Jr is probably also my other biggest non metal influence.

 

[Unleash The Fury]

Like most people here I have a huge metal background, but I am really really big into surf music growing up around it. Ive used my 8 string to play and record surf music and of course get the traditionalist scoff at me for it and not taking it serious.I have been turned down from playing surf shows because I don't fit the look, and being 30 years younger than most doesnt help. I also have a love for old motown like the Temptations, 4 tops, Marvin Gaye as that a long with surf is what I grew up as a kid listening to. J. Mascis and Dinosaur Jr is probably also my other biggest non metal influence.

So did motown influence your metal music or your non metal music? Because i would love to hear how motown influenced your metal music if so.