We caught up with Texas quartet Roadkeeper who released their entrancing track 'Enemy Mine' earlier this year. With new music expected from the psychedelic-rock group soon, we wanted to find out more about the music that has stuck with them over the years.
King Crimson - Indiscipline
Adrian Belew might be my favorite guitar player. His (and Bill Bruford’s) energy in King Crimson was definitely Chaotic Good and he injected some personality into a band that was always teetering on the edge of being stuffy. He took them over the top. It’s a good reminder that we have permission to make unconventional moves within conventional genres, that rules and conventions in music should be broken. And it’s reassuring to know that there are still a million ways to keep guitar playing fresh in music.
Chrono Cross OST - Dreams of the Shore Near Another World
Straight up, this whole soundtrack slaps. I played through Chrono Cross when I was maybe 13 or 14 years old. I would get to the point where this track would play on loop and I learned how to play it on a little Casio keyboard I had. All of the sounds on the Casio were straight New Age. I definitely credit this track for getting me interested in synthesized keyboard sounds and how they can work outside of something like a Kraftwerk song or whatever.
Prince - Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad
It was definitely not cool to get into Prince at the time that I got into Prince. It was the early 2000’s and I was just hungry to find artists who were also technically skilled musicians. It was probably a lack of maturity on my part, but back then I wasn’t into hip music like Radiohead or the Donnie Darko soundtrack or whatever. All of that seemed a bit too affectatious to me. But an artist like Prince, who could write, produce, sing and play every instrument was something that I was deeply drawn towards, and this song to me is the rawest distillation of his talents. The playing is so precise and sharp. I love how he solos on the live versions. His live lead playing was so pleasantly sloppy and full of personality. I think about Prince a lot. He was bold in ways that I could never pull off and I definitely look up to him.
Life Without Buildings - The Leanover
Sometimes I think that this is the best song ever written and that no one could possibly do better.
Young Dolph - Kush On The Yacht
I don’t know. This is probably my most played track in the last two years. Dolph’s music is fun to listen to, the production is great and kind of doing its own thing while still being familiar, and his wordplay and ad libs are hilarious. I listen to a lot of different music and there are a lot of songs that could have made this list, but this one is the most fun. It’s important to remember that music doesn’t have to be a serious thing. Even though our songs in Roadkeeper touch on serious political and humanitarian issues, it is important for us to keep a sense of playfulness when it comes to making music. At the end of the day music is just something that’s here for our amusement, whether by writing and recording it or by putting Dolph on shuffle for hour after hour.
Make sure to also check out 'Enemy Mine' from Roadkeeper:
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