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Eddie Van Halen was a turning point in a young Tom Morello’s musical journey (lead guitarist of RATM), stating that “It's the haunting guitar riff that inspired me, those records just scared me in a creative way.” Morello channelled this haunting sensation into his own explosive and erratic lines still reminiscent of Van Helen (Appleford, 2021). Morello’s extensive use of pedals and handling of his guitar can be directly attributed to Van Halen’s Work, Morello’s friend and lead guitarist of ‘TOOL’, Adam Jones even states "If anyone is the modern Eddie Van Halen, it's Tom to me, in my age group."

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Public Enemy is the source for a lot of Zach de la Rocha’s vocal style and approach to the band's message. The very essence of fighting back against oppressive systems is not only present in both the bands names but deeply embedded into each and every one of their songs. The pure passion delivered in every word Zach raps can be directly drawn to the same passion brought by Public enemy, the anger filled and almost shout rapping is easily comparable to both groups.

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There is no doubt that RHCP had an influence on Tim Commerford’s approach to the bass guitar. Flea’s (RHCP’s Bass player) fast, melodic and funky grooves are emulated in almost every RATM track. Similar to Flea, Tim never sits as just a supporting rhythmic instrument, counter melodies are a big part of both of their styles. An easy example of this is in the track ‘Take the power back’ where Commerford is the focus of interest with a punchy, melodic bassline; a staple property of Flea's style.

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One of White’s biggest influences is definitely the Flat Duo Jets. He has mentioned countless times that not only their arrangements but also their live presentation and musicianship had major impacts for White starting his journey,  even commenting after seeing them live for the first time, that they “opened up a whole new inspiration for me about the guitar” (Flat Duo Jets, n.d.). Their influence can be seen throughout White’s band ‘The White Stripes’ from the Two musician configuration to the monochromatic colour schemes and ‘old school’ songwriting.

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While Dylan’s influence is harder to hear on his songs, White has stated that Dylan Inspired his view of music. Dylan’s innovative approach to more lyrical content in his songs and addressing social issues of his time is an aspect of his influence which can certainly be heard in White’s early tracks such as ‘Icky Thump’ where White commentates on some issues with the society of his time. Though Dylan doesn’t appear in White’s instrumentation, White has proclaimed “Do not trust people who call themselves musicians or record collectors who say they don’t like Bob Dylan [...]. They do not love music if those words come out of their mouths.” (Sevinc, 2022).

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Jack White has stated multiple times that Led Zeppelin was a massive influence to him in the Blues Rock genre, saying they are “an immovable force in music” (Leatham, 2022). The influence of their complex chord structures and Jimmy Page's own use of pedals is seen throughout Jack White’s entire catalogue with complimentary riffs that make the sound White’s own. The extent of Led Zeppelin’s influence can be heard in a line from Jack White, stating he can’t “trust anyone who doesn’t like them” (Leatham, 2022).

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QOTSA’s influence is quite an obvious element of royal blood, both members remarking that their music shaped royal blood. The rock heavy, vocal delight that is QOTSA is echoed in Royal Blood’s vocal range on top of intricate riffs held together by a foundation of tight, complex percussion. Mike Kerr has stated

“A big part of me is because of Josh Homme, and Ben’s drumming is heavily influenced by John Theodore, as well as the records that Dave Grohl plays on.”

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Jack White’s influence on the sound of Royal blood is heard throughout the band's catalogue. White’s unique string of effects and techniques on his guitar is directly emulated by Mike Kerr’s own strange electrical set up, utilising both a guitar and bass amp plugged into an array of pedals designed to twist and alter the sound produced from his bass. A simplified parallel can be drawn from White’s song ‘Seven nation army’ where he uses an octave pedal to emulate the sound of a bass guitar, Mike Kerr does the inverse using an octave pedal to emulate the high frequencies of a guitar.

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Jeff Buckley has had a certain impact on Mike Kerr’s (Vocalist and Bass guitarist) Vocal delivery, Kerr has stated “I take more inspiration from Buckley’s delivery and his choices rather than lyrically. He is ,[...], quite untouchable as far as lyrics and writing go, there’s no one that writes like him.” (Cooper, 2014). In every track written by Kerr, a sense of delicacy is present in his vocal delivery inspired by Buckley; ‘All we have is now’ and ‘Hole in your heart’ almost sounding like they’d been written by Buckley himself.

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Jack White’s pure passion for Blues authenticity and his never ending pursuit in experimentation of sound pushed me to think deeper about how we make sound and what justifies the choices we make when writing instrumentation. The weird synth like guitar sounds on ‘Icky Thump’ is probably the most apparent example of this twisted experimenting. The song mostly strays from his bluesy feel but is still very present in the pedal driven solo, this pushed me to also think about how I would implement my inspirations in feature projects of mine.

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RATM provokes a profound sense of power and passion that resonates with the ideas and concepts that I try to capture in my own songwriting. Listening to the lyrics and meaning behind each instrumental inspires me to take action and imbue a sense of ‘Rage’ into each song I write. Tom Morello’s attention to detail with each solo he plays taught me the impact and importance of a proper solo. The final piece that truly makes RATM a milestone in my songwriting journey is Tim Commerfields rhythmic and melodic bass lines that tie every RATM song.

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Royal blood was the first band to have such a profound effect on my musicological thinking and process. The minimalist formula of two musicians creating massive walls of sound struck a major chord with me. Mike Kerr's use of both a guitar and bass amp to cover a range of frequencies combined with his experimental approach to his pedal board inspired and influenced my own process and view of songwriting. Coupled with Ben Thatcher’s full and rich drum fills and lines creates an enriched listening experience.