Just gonna rattle off (in best chronological order that I can) artists that made me want to make a left turn musically as a creater and consumer.
Growing up in the early 90s in my third-world neighborhood, Gangsta Rap was the thing (
). It was all around me and I couldn't escape it.
G-Funk caught me first and then the more musical acts stood out to me, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Bobby Brown, TLC, En Vogue.
Then for some reason I became obsessed with Weird AL Yankovic right around the time Bad Hair Day came out and they did the ALtv thing on MTV. It was like the serious world got flipped upside-down. I descovered RHCP from his parody of Give It Away.
As I got a little older (still not 10 yet) I got more attached to the guitars laying around the house and my pops got me into Sam Cooke, Sam & Dave, Creedence, Chubby Checker, easy songs to get me used to chord progressions. Then Aerosmith's Toys In The Attic, Hendrix, learning the Pentatonic scale.
Then I descovered a local band called Green Day, grunge got big, Soundgarden and Nirvana.
I started playing more acoustic and started writing songs as a preteen. Also got into Santana from my uncle and liked his phrasing a lot. Then SRV.
Later into Industrial and Nu-Metal, edgy and weird: Slipknot, RATM. I wanted to make all kinds of noises.. Papa Roach was another local-ish band that got big right after I heard them. Time to drop tune and get heavier strings. I was into Limp Bizkit as an edgy teenager, adored Wes Borland but couldn't stand Fred Durst after his shtick got old (fast), but listening to them led me to Primus and Korn through right around the same time I descovered Vai (probably due to the awe of a 7 string guitar). Came back to RHCP around Californication. Flea is the s**t.
Sum 41's Does This Look Infected? album has some very Metallica-esque songs on them, which they admit a few songs were straight ripoffs of Battery riffs so that's how I descovered Metallica, then Pantera, a whole section of metal I seemed to skip over and not know it.
Time to scoop the mids! Cannibal Corpse...I was also playing drums and attempting to record myself in my later high-school years so technical drums and production value started to catch me more than just guitar playing. Dream Theater's Train of Thought album, Blink 182's self-titled album, all great production and drumming.
Avenged Sevenfold's Bat Country was next. I was dying to hear some technical guitar in the mainstream at the time and they delivered.
Made some shitty choices with my life, became homeless, listened to more helpless and hopeless rap. Mac Dre, CUTTHOAT Comitte, Dre Dog.
At that point I reluctantly dove headfirst into the hardcore punk scene. I got into a band with some friends and we ended up taking over an underground venue, booking shows and eventually crazy jam sessions and raves, too. It saved my life from the f****d up situation I put myself in.
Deadfall, I'll Gotten Gainz, John the Baker, Nuclear Rabbit, MDC, all these artists I loved and shared the stage with at the same time. I interjected Tom Morello-ish sounds and Vai legato-tapping into hardcore punk as best as I could.
That's also the time/place I descovered clouddead, Why? Jel, Odd Nosdam, Boom Bip, the whole Anticon label.. Totally changed my idea of how music could be made. I really dove into recording and production. Also got heavily into Scientist.
Then I got back into RHCP because I have this bond with Funk that just won't quit. Stadium Arcadium has some bangers if you can get past the Tom Petty covers.
Some friends of mine ended up recruiting me for their band and they loved Deftones. Up until that point I could not stand Deftones no matter how many times they tried to make excuses for Chino. Diamond Eyes changed all of that. 8 string, what's that? Oh Steph listens to something called Djent? Wtf is Djent? Wtf is an Axe FX? (clicks tab)
And that's where things kind of drop off into dad cover band land of descovering songs from the past I've never listened to or tried to play.