Where are they Now: Jack the Radio - Part II

This is the second part of our installment on catching up with 2014 Last Band Standing winners, Jack the Radio. A diverse group of guys, we asked band members  A.C. Hill, George Hage, Brent Francese, Danny Johnson and Chris Sayles about the music that influenced them.A.C. (Vocalist, Guitarist) - I listen to anything from hip-hop to Radiohead and am always drawn to music that evokes emotion.  I'm easily bored with most modern music so I'm always searching for an artist that moves me in that way.  When I'm writing songs personally for Jack the Radio, I secretly like to imagine Jay-Z wanting to rap over my guitar riffs, or Thom Yorke blaring some incoherent, but beautiful melody.  I'm more interested in vocal sounds and melodies and how they fit over the music when writing in the band.George (Vocalist, Lead Guitarist) - I think I started coming into my own musically when I was 9 or 10 years old. I mostly listened to hip hop, which around that time was music like LL Cool J's "Momma Said Knock you out" and Queen Latifah's "U.N.I.T.Y."!  My crossover album into rock and punk was Beastie Boys' 'Ill Communication'.  Then shortly after, I was heavily influenced by neighbor's dad who owned a guitar and a solid classic rock record collection.  He introduced us to groups like Zeppelin, Hendrix, the Who and others and occasionally showed us some of the tunes on his vintage Gibson acoustic.  One song that really struck me was "Over the Hills and Far Away" off Zeppelin's  Houses of the Holy.  From there, the list of groups has gone on and on. One of my favorite things about music is I have been able to find characteristics that intrigue me in almost any style/genre and when it comes to writing I love listening to different styles to see how they use instruments or how the instruments interact differently.  My playlist tends to change based on suggestions friends make or band's I catch live but a few bands I always go back to are Zeppelin, ZZ Top, Beastie Boys, most of Jack White's projects, El Ten Eleven, Every Time I Die, Phantom Planet, some Pharrell Williams, Spoon, Time Spent Driving, Burning Airlines, Weezer's first two records... and on and on. Brent (Drummer) - My first musical memory was listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon when I was 5 with my dad. Just the sounds on that record blew me away. It had so much dynamic + space. That has always come first for me when listening or writing music. Drums came much later when I heard Led Zepplin's Black Dog + heard the power, technicality + utter simplicity of John Bonham's drumming. An architect by training I'm always listening to how a song can create space. Drums are secondary for me. If there isn't a good space to play into + out of, well....there's no reason to play anything at all. Danny (Multi-instrumentalist, Vocalist) - Over the years, I've grown to have two pretty distinctive hemispheres to my musical influences: great songwriting, and great tone.  When it comes to songwriting, some of my classics are Jim Croce, Gordon Lightfoot, The Beatles, and modern artists like Beck, Justin Vernon, Joe Pug, Justin Townes Earle, Rayland Baxter, Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Shawn Mullins, and David Ramirez.  Anyone on that list can write a song that 1.) develops a melodic idea that hits you right in the gut, and 2.) instantly makes you wish you had written it yourself.  On the other side, when you listen to something like Radiohead's Kid A, you're in a world of tone -- pure, rich, musical tone.  And tone can be attributed to someone's instrument -- like Jeff Buckley's voice on, well, on anything from Grace, or John Mayer's guitar tone on Continuum -- or their ability to manipulate the studio as a tool unto itself, like any of Jacquire King's work with Tom Waits, Norah Jones, Kings of Leon, Cold War Kids, Punch Brothers, and Dawes.Chris (Bassist, Vocalist) - When I'm listening to music, the things I focus on are rhythm and groove, tone, and timbre. Like A.C., I listen to a wide variety of music. Rock, Soul/R&B, Metal (Scandinavian metal to be specific), Country, Punk, the lot. My main influences on bass come from groups like Tower Of Power, Deftones, The Wallflowers, The Roots, The Eagles, Bruce Hornsby and the Range, The Temptations, Soundgarden, and many more.