Canvas by Eli Lawson

Eli Lawson

1034216 — 2024-09-27 08:28:22 UTC

Josh Homme: Queens of the Stone Age

1034216 — 2024-09-27 08:29:09 UTC

"I like eerie and beautiful and sex to all be combined." (Radio.com 42s, 2014). Josh Homme is the lead singer and guitarist for Queens of the Stone Age. Homme is unapologetically expressive in his composition, unattached to genre or expectations, he is free to explore his potential. Homme possesses a portfolio of variety having worked with people beyond his band like Dave Grohl and Iggy Pop. Homme also produced Royal Blood's third album, Typhoons, in 2021. I draw inspiration from Homme in the regard that music is an expression and should not be confined by genres or expectations.

Jeff Buckley

1034216 — 2024-09-27 08:29:37 UTC

In the BBC 2002 documentary Jeff Buckley: Everybody Here Wants You, Jeff Buckley's career was described as brilliant but brief (Cross 3m 5s, 2002). Buckley released one album, Grace in 1994, before his death in 1997. This album became very sentimental to me when I discovered it. I was heavily inspired by Buckley's lyric writing. The way his songs read is like poetry. After hearing "Lover, You Should've Come Over," and "Mojo Pin," I knew I wanted to write lyrics of the same depth.

"The Idiot," by Iggy Pop

1034216 — 2024-09-27 09:49:36 UTC

Homme refused to listen to almost anything but Kyuss during his time in the band, convinced it would taint his authenticity. That was until he stumbled across The Idiot by Iggy Pop. The Idiot had ignited a fire within Homme to come to terms with who he was and who he wanted to be. “For almost a year I listened to nothing else than this record, because for me it embodied everything that I wanted to express myself, but could not quite yet." (Homme para. 3, 2020). This crisis of sorts brought upon the disbandment of Kyuss and birth of Queens of the Stone Age, influencing Homme to express himself in all aspects, from the lyrics he wrote to the way he performed.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

1034216 — 2024-09-27 09:49:53 UTC

“Part Buddha, part demon, part mad angel…his voice is velvet fire, simply incomparable." (Buckley para. 3, 1997). Khan was a Pakistani Punjabi singer, and much like Robert Plant, Buckley found inspiration from Khan in his unique and untamed vocal ability.

Bob Dylan

1034216 — 2024-09-27 09:50:22 UTC

Bob Dylan was known to be a poet for his ability to compose such beautiful lyrics. Buckley struggled to find contentment and was quite insecure in the music he wrote, so he turned to Dylan for inspiration in this aspect. A common theme to be found in Buckley's work is his referencing to his influences through covering their songs. "Mama, You've Been on My Mind," appears in the Grace Legacy Edition (Kukic para. 8, 2014) in respect to Dylan and his inspiration.

Ween

1034216 — 2024-09-27 09:50:50 UTC

Ween was a band that toured with Kyuss in the 1990s. Homme was already at a crossroad between the stability of Kyuss and experimenting with music. Homme describes the freedom in how Ween played and the way it inspired him to finally take the step into experimenting with music like he wanted to (Rogan 1hr 21m 32s, 2019). They showed him that you just need to love music to play it.

Mario "Boomer" Lalli

1034216 — 2024-09-27 09:51:08 UTC

Homme first started his music career with Kyuss in 1987, playing unreliably fueled generator parties in Palm Desert, California. These generator shows began with a band called Yawning Man, to which Mario "Boomer" Lalli was a member of. "'Go on, be yourself,' That's what Boomer preached - without preaching it," (Homme para. 7, 2018). Homme took this advice, tuning down to B and C, and playing through bass amplifiers whilst in Kyuss, creating a sound never heard before and marking the first steps of his career.

Robert Plant

1034216 — 2024-09-27 09:51:23 UTC

When Jeff Buckley was asked what his main musical influences were he responded, "Love, anger, depression, joy and dreams. And Zeppelin, totally." (Adams and Trombley 11s, 1994). Buckley drew much inspiration from Zeppelin's vocalist, Robert Plant. Plant's vocal ability pulled at Buckley and gave him guidance in how he wanted to project his voice. Buckley once said, "With Led Zeppelin, everything was out of tune, and Plant sang wrong notes. But he was the one that showed me that there aren’t any wrong notes.” (Ferrier para. 16, 2022).