The Music That Made Me — 2. Spiderthumb
Spiderthumb released his first two singles on Punch Up Records in June 2021, ‘Kashmir’ and ‘Fly Safe’. The deep house producer told us all about the music that shaped him as a musician and a person.
Listen/Download Kashmir (multi-platform)
Listen/Download Fly Safe (multi-platform)
Here’s the music that made Spiderthumb:
Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
“My mum was instrumental in terms of what music I was exposed to when I was younger, and there are certainly some unconventional entries. When I got my first record player as a teenager due to the resurging popularity of vinyl, my mum had luckily kept all of her old records up in the attic stored away, and we sifted through them all to start me off with a good collection. It is then that we stumbled across Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, and I remember being drawn in by the album art and the pull-out artwork. My mum’s initial reaction was disbelief on seeing it, which then turned into a full listening party. To me, this album epitomises sci-fi of the time, which is what I see as the foundation for the popularity of early synthesisers and the exploration of what sounds could be achieved that sounded the most extra-terrestrial. There’s other heavy-hitting examples of this, like early Doctor Who and Flash Gordon, but this one just stands out as a complete gamechanger, and was one of my earliest moments of interest in synthesiser-based music.”
Justice — Cross
“As soon as I heard the opening track, Genesis, I knew this would be an album that stuck with me for a very, very long time. In the era it was released, I was still very stubborn in what music I would listen to, opting only for rock and metal, with bits of funk and disco at certain points. This is an album that, to me, represents the importance of ignoring genres as an anchoring point, due to it blending disco with tight sampling and production and somehow sounding absolutely massive, it was a big indicator of how important electronic music is, and how it could still command a stage presence. They weren’t the only French electronic duo around at the time, obviously, but the first ones that I gravitated towards.”
DJ Seinfeld — Time Spent Away From U
“I don’t know what else to say about this album, other than it is a vital listen. It’s always interesting to see a full length techno album, and even more interesting to see when the whole thing is thematically linked, and just works. I’ve always loved storytelling through music, which is obviously difficult through music that has virtually no lyrics, so to encounter an album that still manages to tell a story was hugely important to me. This album has always been an inspiration for my music and style, and was the first place I properly noticed the 808 cowbell and got involved with drum machines for the first time.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers — Stadium Arcadium
“Without this album, I don’t think I would have been a musician. Or at least, I would have taken a lot longer to get involved. This is the album that introduced me to RHCP, and after seeing Flea jumping around the stage playing bass, it was the instrument I wanted to play. I had grown up listening to funk pioneers like Funkadelic and Sly & The Family Stone, so to see funk played in such a new and fast-paced way was always exciting to me, and something I wanted to be a part of. It was another indication of how genre can be adapted in new ways, and that this timeline of relevance that certain genres seem to have is irrelevant, as there are always ways to adapt it.”
Funkadelic — Maggot Brain
“This album is a very culturally important album, and it is just so cathartic in its nature. It is the first one I properly experienced (thanks to the trusty record collection gifted to me by mum) that can tank on for a solid ten minutes and be completely unapologetic in how it goes about it. It also tests the palate by flipping between psychedelic funk constructs and dark, intense themes, and proved to be a very memorable album for me in my formative years. I was always very inspired by both funk music and storytelling processes in music, so this is a very important album that encompasses both of that.”
John Frusciante — The Empyrean
“John Frusciante, as a musician, has always been the one who has inspired me the most. He’s bounced from genre to genre, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to then doing a jungle album last year and everything in between, I’ve always felt like I was always mirroring whatever journey he was on at the time. I’ve always played/produced what I felt like, regardless of what genre it may fit into, and I feel like Frusciante has always been the same. Picking a favourite album is a difficult task indeed, but it has to be The Empyrean. I feel like everyone has that one album or song responsible for their own personal spiritual awakening, and this one is certainly that for me.”
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© At Swim Ltd. Creative Arts 2021
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