Feb '12 | Influences

Once again I'm sitting on a train. Best time to write a new blog.

You might have seen the news that I will be performing with an orchestra in winter 2013. That has been one of my dreams since I started writing rock music - probably even earlier. I grew up with classical music, loved to see operas by Verdi, Puccini, etc. I was not only fascinated by the music, but also by the stories and the way music and story support each others. I also listened to a lot of film scores. My favourites were - and still are - Danny Elfman, Jerry Goldsmith, James Newton Howard and - of course - John Williams. Somehow, film scores are like operas without words, they can create or destroy movies... A friend of mine who writes soundtracks recently told me: "When the movie ends and you have no freaking idea how the music sounded like... Well... That was a brilliant soundtrack!"

When I was introduced to Peter Gabriel's music I was fascinated how he combined music and lyrics and how he performed it on stage. He not only sings the songs, he PERFORMS them.

Writing about Peter Gabriel actually reminds me of what I actually wanted to write about...

I did a lot of Interviews in Germany in January and nearly every interviewer was confused when I told him about my influences. The three big names are Peter Gabriel, Nick Cave and Chris de Burgh. "But they don't really fit together, do they?" In my opinion, they do! Despite they really are pretty different, they at least have one thing in common: Uniqueness.

I can't explain why their music and words touch me, and I don't know why I like it - the only thing I know is that I do. That's something that interests me: Why do certain people like a certain type of music? What is it that attracts you to certain harmonies, rhythms, lyrics, vocals ... ? What do you think? Would be great to hear from you!

Cheers, Gion