Claire: My mom was obsessed with The Beatles so I grew up listening to them nonstop. In High School I had one of those hipster Yellow Submarine tin lunch boxes. I love their melodies and harmonies but most of all I love their later, more experimental studio work. I’m a huge fan of Nirvana. I love Kurt Cobain’s vocal melodies and crude but beautiful cryptic lyrics over that extremely powerful 90s grunge sound. Early Cat Power is another artist I always come back to. Her voice is insane, and she has some of the most interesting melodies over such simple chord progressions. Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel is a songwriter I really look up to with his slightly less traditional forms, and very untraditional lyrics/subject matter. His songs feel like magical Christmas nostalgia. There are countless others and the list is always growing but lastly I’ll mention Radiohead. Radiohead is one of the greatest band’s of all time in my opinion. Their progression from the 90s to today is incredible with their forms, electronic design, concepts, rhythms, and songwriting. Radiohead was also the first musical connection Monte and I had in the early stages of our relationship so there will always be that nostalgic freeze in time when I hear them.