Who or What Influences You?

Who or what are your creative influences that you'd say have had a major impact on your work? This is a question that gets asked regularly of creative people. I know I've been asked this very question a few times in my life. The interesting thing however is, when I look back on things, my answer has never been then the same. Hell even to this day if asked to name my top 5 favorite bands, it's changed.

Damn Fugly you so wishywashy

You know Fictional Reader you know "wishywashy" isn't really a word you should use if you trying to sound hard.

Shut up bitch I use whateva I want, wishywashy wishywashy wishywashy WISHY WASHY

OK Fictional Reader, OK!

So yeah as I grow and am exposed to new things, or rediscover old ones, my influences and favorites change. I feel it's imported to never set yourself in stone for the long haul. It only limits your creativity when you do so.

Although I love electronic music, to be honest with you I don't typically listen to it all the time. Instead I will listen to something totally different much of the time. It's how I gain inspiration that may influence me in my work. I feel like it is important in any creative outlet to look outside of the boundaries of your genre. This is how new and fresh ideas come about. By doing so you may just come up with the next spork.

SPORK, what are you talking about SPORK, da fuck

The spork is the greatest invention of all time {looks over at Kanye, sees him nod} I mean think about it before the Spork you had the Spoon and you had the Fork. Both, of these tools had their own purpose and often times you needed both in order to fully eat your meal. Then one day, some mad scientist, in a lab somewhere, on top of a mountain with a lighting rod, at midnight merged these two things together and now we have the SPORK!

That's not how the spork was invented

I know but it did sound pretty cool huh?

yea...it did

Actually it was a man named Samuel W. Francis who first came up with the idea of the spork. Here was a man who I imagine was sitting at a table one day looking down at his eating utensils back in 1874 thinking to himself, "they doing to much". He simplified things brought his wonderful gift into the world.

As you can tell I'm a big fan of the spork. It's a thing that didn't exist before, made up of two things that did. It's kinda why I look outside of electronic music for inspiration. Which brings me to last night.

Last night as I was driving around, I decided I wanted to listen to some blues, but more specifically old Mississippi Delta Blues. You know that old rough voiced soulful blues. It's so great to listen to, I love it. It's so far away from EDM, it was refreshing.

But here's the thing, as I was listening I started noticing something. The rhythm, how emphasized the downbeat was in those songs. I started feeling the slap of the kick even when it was not there, I could hear it. I could hear percussive breakbeats between each kick. I started thinking to myself, if people could blend the qualities of old Swing music with Electronic Music to create the sounds that we now know as a genre called Electro Swing. Then, why can't I do something similar with Blues. I hear it already in my head. I'm thinking of how I can make it happen. I'm inspired to create a new sound. I'm not sure when or if it will ever happen, but I have ideas, inspiration, and I got this from looking outside of what would be expected.

Look outside of your comfort zone, see what it is that you can find inspiration in, look in the places you'd never expect. Tell me what it is that inspires you.

-dj FUGLY
Electronic Music Producer
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