Several years ago I realized how very few bands or musicians have inspired me. But at the same time, I realized that those who did, inspired me greatly. I could name on one hand the few musical inspirations I’ve had, namely Tracey Thorn, Kate Bush, and Roxy Music. And while it’s few in numbers, the amount of time I could spend speaking to the various ways each of these have impacted me is a lot.

Tracey Thorn and Roxy Music have both shown up in my work. I say Tracey Thorn as I have actively been compared to her. It feels weird to write that, because she is a musical icon to me, but when I’ve read reviews or mentions where the listener has compared my voice to hers, fair to Tracey or not, I glow. Not gloat. But glow.

Roxy Music has affected my work in several ways such as striving to be conscience of my lyrics, to avoid writing lines too straight forward, yet they still have to resonate with the listener. This isn’t possible with all of my work, but at least quite a bit. And their sense of fashion it’s cool, but sophisticated.

Roxy Music is considered one of the single most influential bands of all times. We executive produced an album called Roxy Remodeled which contains reworks of various Roxy tracks by artists around the globe and released it thru our label, basicLUX Records. The track we chose to remake was “More Than This” – a collaboration with Lenny B and super proud to say it became a Billboard Dance hit for quite a few weeks. When Roxy Music’s manager himself reached out to tell us how much he liked the album, I glowed again. And most humbly speaking.

And as for Kate Bush, her voice, her songs, while I may not emulate them on any level, they inspire me to truly appreciate music, and to create music of my own. Regardless of my mood, once I start listening to Kate Bush, I get so lost in the moment that all I want to do is sing, and write.

And that is when I glow the most.