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I don't think it's dumb. Like it or not, you need to be able to sell what you do to people before they have a chance to hear it. Bar/club owners want to know what you're gonna sound like before they book you. When someone wants me to listen to music, I want some sort of description first. If I don't get some sort of description or sense of what to expect, then I generally don't ever get around to listening to it. You have to make me WANT to hear it.

The only interesting way to list influences is to lie your ass off. "A lot like Skynyrd" is a favorite.

Also find a way to work in a sexual reference. "We sound like John Lee Hooker giving the meat to Joan Jett in the Burger King drive-thru" - that's a band I would go see, accuracy be damned. Everybody likes bonin'.

hell yeah. I appreciate an artist that will tell a great whopper to the press. Aphex Twin comes to mind - just would spout the most ridiculous shit and it would be printed, no questions asked. "it's in a press release, it must be true!"

This is a pretty touchy subject. It's really easy to come across as a pretentious asshole. A lot of times if you've ever had a review written about your music, the journalists usually come up with really excellent and succinct ways to describe your music. If you haven't had anyone write about you, then ask some friends. In my experience, a fresh set of ears and some emotional distance from the creative process helps.

All I know is if somebody says something like "The Who, The Ramones, Radiohead, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.", they probably sound like Matchbox 20.

vindrewski wrote:All I know is if somebody says something like "The Who, The Ramones, Radiohead, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.", they probably sound like Matchbox 20.

Far too true to be funny. Still laughed, but, you know.

I just put down Karen O and call it a day.

I'll pick a random grabbag if someone actually asks, usually it's "what kind of music do you play", at which point my answer is "Free jazz from hell." Few people ask for the influences then.

rfurtkamp wrote:I'll pick a random grabbag if someone actually asks, usually it's "what kind of music do you play", at which point my answer is "Free jazz from hell." Few people ask for the influences then.

its faster just to say "John Zorn"

Put down 3-7 bands you like that aren't constantly on classic rock radio stations. Either that, or list things in the world that inspire you, it doesn't have to be music.

mutmoo wrote:Put down 3-7 bands you like that aren't constantly on classic rock radio stations. Either that, or list things in the world that inspire you, it doesn't have to be music.

I completely agree. I even think stuff you dislike can be an influence, like if you hate popular music from today you could put that down because in a sense it's influencing you to not play that kind of music...amirite?

I make up my own genre names that are descriptively vague enough so it makes sense, but nobody still has an idea like

Bastard Blues
Straightforward Ambient rock (no ambient is straightforward lol)
Postmodern Apocalypse

Or, tell your high school guidance counselor you are going to major in abstract poetry then ask if you need to take an extra year of math for that

Nj0rd wrote:

mutmoo wrote:Put down 3-7 bands you like that aren't constantly on classic rock radio stations. Either that, or list things in the world that inspire you, it doesn't have to be music.

I completely agree. I even think stuff you dislike can be an influence, like if you hate popular music from today you could put that down because in a sense it's influencing you to not play that kind of music...amirite?

So true! I thick one of my main creative driving forces is when I want to hear something and no one is doing it the way I want to hear it

Mudfuzz wrote:

Nj0rd wrote:

mutmoo wrote:Put down 3-7 bands you like that aren't constantly on classic rock radio stations. Either that, or list things in the world that inspire you, it doesn't have to be music.

I completely agree. I even think stuff you dislike can be an influence, like if you hate popular music from today you could put that down because in a sense it's influencing you to not play that kind of music...amirite?

So true! I thick one of my main creative driving forces is when I want to hear something and no one is doing it the way I want to hear it

Precisely!