Yesterday I started a little segment on the concept of how great artists steal and will do it from multiple sources. Today I’m going to explain how I made a similar move like the band Rush. Early Rush had a very Zeppelin like vibe. My first musical release was under the guise of a band name as well. The band was called Amalgam. I took that approach from the idea of Nine Inch Nails. As we all know now, Trent Reznor is the brains behind that one.
My original intent for Amalgam was to be able to do a variety of music and have it all sound like it came from a singular group. Much like how Queen operated. They wrote in a variety of styles and somehow always managed to sound like Queen. There were two stolen concepts before I ever scribed a note.
Once I started writing, I was taking ideas from all kinds of bands that I was listening to at the time. One of my favorites (and still are) is King’s X. Today’s song – I Don’t Blame, musically speaking, thieves heavily from the writing style of King’s X in their Faith, Hope, Love era. A brilliant album. I really loved their ability to create huge sounds with three people. Plus I really loved their progressive nature and how everything was musical, right down to the drumming. Drums can do more than keep the beat, they can be musical too.
If you’re familiar with King’s X, you’ll definitely hear the influence of the main song structure and melodies. Would it sound like something King’s X would have written? Quite possibly. However, it came from my head. Once the song gets to the solo, that’s where I take another influence and infuse it. Soloing wise I was a big time fan of cats like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Steve Moorse, John Petrucci, Ty Tabor, and more. However, the main influence here was Satriani. The arpeggio blend I roll into after the harmonic bends is straight out of a Satriani lesson. Even the tone I went for. Does it sound like something Satriani could have done? I’d like to think so, but sonically it sounds quite different. Same as for main part of the song as compared to Ty Tabor of King’s X. Why? Because the DNA of how I play the instrument and the gear I was using was different.
It’s a little weird digging back through my own music to hear where I came from. Certainly I’ve gotten to a point where the things I do definitely sound like I’ve done them. At least that’s what I’m told by a lot of peers in the industry. But It’s also good to see the progression and changes I’ve made to keep my interest up.
Tomorrow I’ll expose another song from a more recent release that borrow from other influences.