influenced by everything

I was recently talking with a group of people and an artist was asked what her style was and who her biggest influence was. She had no answer other than to say that she is constantly being influenced by everything.

Whenever I read or hear an interview with a musician, one of my favorite questions that inevitably gets asked is who influenced them. This is partially because I'm a big music geek and I like to try to pick out the various influences in their playing. And it's partially because I like to check out new music and most musicians will list at least one person or band that I've never heard of before.

It's hard for me to pick just a few bands and musicians that influence my own playing. I feel like that artist I met - that most bands I listen to even a little bit affect my playing. I listen to jazz pretty often. I don't play jazz, but I really dig it. And it helps get me thinking about timing and alternate chord patterns even though I'm not applying them in the same way as a jazz player would. I don't think my own playing sounds like any of the artists I contribute with influencing me. Maybe that's the point - that I take those musical interpretations and apply them in a different way. Maybe that is what sculpts the sound I'm developing.

My favorite musicians have very specific sounds they have developed. Lately they have also been involved in bands and projects that fuse very different genres of music together. Usually when I read about their influences there are one or two surprises - other bands and musicians I would never associate them with. I hope that I stay open to very different types of music and new music. I think that being open to a variety of sounds leads to being able to be influenced by them. Constant change can only be good for developing a sound of your own.