Superunknown – Soundgarden
Superunknown has been a huge influence on Sam and the way he plays guitar. The crunchy guitar riffs, weird tunings, messy wah solos, crazy feedback and unique chords all merged together to create an album that sounds amazing. It also introduced bands like Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam and Jane’s Addiction to Sam and inspired him so much he eventually bought the same guitar that Kim Thayil is known for, the Guild S-100.
Welcome To Sky Valley – Kyuss
The tuning of drop C alone has had enough of an influence on this band as we use it ourselves. Low, groovy, fuzz-filled stoner rock is everything that this band tries to sound like, and this album is the pinnacle. We regularly jam out to the songs on the way to gigs, and blast that deep bass tone at sound checks. When we’re writing heavy songs, emulating Kyuss is commonplace.
Innerspeaker – Tame Impala
Trippy psychedelic tunes rampant with reverb and effects are what Lachlan loves most in music. Innerspeaker’s soft bed of relaxing ambient noise, combined with ’70s-esque production and feel is something we try to replicate. To get the same sounds as Tame Impala, Lachlan wanted a synth player in ABOM but Sam and Alex didn’t, so we set the challenge for him to try and use his pedals to get those same trippy/psych sounds from his bass. So far he’s nailed it.
Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine
The first guitar riffs that Sam learnt were on this album, and are the reason he started to play guitar. Its full of funky riffs of power and aggression with pedals going crazy creating sounds never before thought possible of a guitar. Lachlan and Sam both use Digitech Whammy’s in their rigs, and too try to create the sounds that Tom Morello introduced to the world back in the ’90s.
In Absentia – Porcupine Tree
In Absentia has been a musical love of Alex’s ever since he discovered prog-rock. The harmonies and clever structures opened up a whole new style of music, and it’s definitely the complex, yet smooth grooves masterfully executed by drummer Gavin Harrison that have influenced him the most. The unique musicality of Harrison’s playing really helped Alex to develop and practice new techniques that align his playing more closely to the music.
A BASKET OF MAMMOTHS smash out their latest single I Am The Wolf at the Grace Darling Hotel on Friday September 26.
