Top 5: Influences On My Band

The Big Pink’s Robbie Furze tells The Fly what songs influenced their sound:

Otis Redding ‘I’ve Got Dreams To Remember’

Soul music for us is a big deal. I just think that Otis Redding, with this song, carries such a simplistic message.
It’s so powerful. It’s such a great tune.

Ministry ‘So What’

This is my favourite Ministry song and they were a huge influence on me as a kid. The power of their drum programmes and guitars is incredible, and they have that balance between heavy rock or metal that borders on dance music.

The Band ‘It Makes No Difference’

In ‘The Last Waltz’, the Scorcese documentary about The Band’s last-ever gig, it’s a really emotional point when Rick Danko is singing this song, about his life and his lost love. It’s one of the most heartfelt lovesongs I’ve ever heard. It’s just so sad.

Smashing Pumpkins ‘Mayonaise’

When we were recording our album with Alan Moulder, he thought I was playing ‘Mayonaise’, but I was playing the last track on our album ‘Countbackwards From Ten’ and the chords are similar. He said it was weird, because Billy Corgan had admitted to pinching the chords from a song by Swervedriver. I was just really proud that you had Swervedriver, Smashing Pumpkins, then The Big Pink!

Einstürzende Neubauten ‘Sehnsucht’

The song title means ‘longing’, roughly translated. I first saw the video ‘Halber Mensch’ when I was a teenager and it completely changed my life. They were just a really cool band. They made me want to be a musician.