Following the release of the band’s excellent EP, Harmony Cure, at the end of January, indie boundary pushers Captain Squeegee have sat down with us to detail the ten tracks that have most influenced them.

Beck – Elevator Music
“We love Beck because he knows no genre boundaries… we live by this same non-rule.”

The Mars Volta – Drunkship of Lanters
“The first time our band heard this Mars Volta record, it changed everything. It directly influenced our prog-rock sensibilities & Danny’s vocals.”

The Slackers – Who Knows
“Back when we were a straight-up ska band, The Slackers opened our ears early to clever chord changes and good old-fashioned song writing.”

Anderson Paak – Come Down
“This song is basically the anthem of our band mobbin and our daily trouble-making.”

Rx Bandits – Decrescendo
“When the Rx Bandits broke away from ska-punk and entered the prog-rock universe, they basically took us with them. It was a watershed moment for us.”

Kneebody – Break Me
“Most of us met in college jazz programs, and Kneebody represented an alternative to traditional jazz bands. We finally met them at a school clinic, and they completely blew our minds. They also inspired our use of FX Pedals on horns.”

Thrice – All The World Is Mad
“Thrice impacted us deeply because their songs were so heavy, fierce, and about something. They also got our singer into occasional screaming… which he loves to do haha.”

Tera Melos – In Citrus Heights
“We love getting mathy in our music…. If our song is hard for you to count, we won. Tera Melos are the absolute KINGS of mixed-meter and math rock wildness. We are huge fans.”

John Coltrane – Crescent
“Chris, our sax player, has an obsessions with Coltrane – but what sax player doesn’t? He brings that same dynamic sound to our recordings and keeps our jazz-roots alive in every Coltrane-esque note.”

Mad Caddies – Falling Down
“Our occasional dixieland / vaudville outbursts are easily because of The Mad Caddies. One of the most underrated horn-bands of all time.”

Simon & Garfunkel – Sound of Silence
“I heard my sister singing this before I ever cottoned onto Paul Simon’s genius. Poetry meets melody.”

Stevie Wonder – Evil
“Stevie is my ultimate favourite. Partly nostalgia from growing up with his music around the house. Evil was just my favourite thing to riff along to. He just goes mental towards the end it’s great.”

Bon Iver – Holocene
“I remember having a profound moment while I was riding a bike to a friend’s house and Holocene played in my earphones. I felt like I was in a film or something.”

Britney Spears – Toxic
“Ah it’s just so bonkers and brilliant. Pop music is so boring now.”

Kanye West – Homecoming
“I loved Coldplay a lot when I was younger and Chris Martin featuring on this lead me on to a big hip-hop phase. Early Kanye stuff is some of my favourite music production wise.”

Black Eyed Peas – Where Is the Love
“The first CD I bought! Definitely borders on cheesy but I love pop music with purpose. Say something that needs to be heard and deliver it to the masses!

“That whole Elephunk album was great actually. ‘The Apl’ song was another of my favourites. Just really honest.”

Don McClean – Vincent
“Songwriting masterclass. Similarly to Paul Simon – Don McClean makes me want to be a poet.”

Red Hot Chillis – The Zephyr Song
“Zephyr is a great word and all of the Chillis stuff was just the perfect blend of rock and roll and funk. A great period in my life.”

Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
“This song is on everyone’s list. Everyone has had at least one Wayne’s World whack-it-on-in-the-car-and-all-sing-along moment.”

Sam Cooke – A Change Gonna Come
“My Mum introduced me to Sam Cooke when I was about 13 or 14 and he made me want to be a soul singer. His songs with the Soul Stirrers are just the best thing to listen to when you’ve had a long day.”

Janis Joplin – Cry Baby
“I chose this because her voice, and the power of her voice, will never fail to give me goosebumps. Very few female vocalists can do that for me.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers- This Is The Place
“I grew up on the Chilis — especially the By The Way album. I used to play it on repeat and drive everyone crazy.”

PJ Harvey- Man Size
“Two words: GIRL POWER”

Oasis- Champagne Supernova
“I love Oasis. This song brings back so many memories of reckless summers and drinking tinnys, underage in the park.”

Velvet Underground- Heroin
“This whole song is a masterpiece. The change in tempo, the erratic guitars, the textures, Lou Reed. Also, I rate John Cale as a producer and musician.”

Sia- Don’t Bring Me Down
“Sia’s songs guided me through a lot of heavy times in my life. The emotion and honesty in her writing has always enticed me, and encouraged my own work.”

Portishead- Roads
“I listen to this song and it cleanses me. It gives me space to breathe, think and find clarity.”

Cigarettes After Sex- Nothing’s Gonna Hurt you Baby
“I cry, every time. When I need to let myself feel I listen to this. I find it hard when people play this as backing music because it makes me so emotional! I have to leave the room or ask to change track… haha!”

Slowdive- Crazy For You
“This track has such a time stamp on it for me. It brings me right back to a certain falling for someone. Also a lot of smoking grass!”

Nirvana- Negative Creep
“The kinda song I’ll whack on and jump up and down/ dance erratically/ head bang to.”

E-type – Rain
“I got E-Types’ album Loud Pipes Save Lifes from my mom when I was 7 years old and it was my first introduction to electronic music. I had no idea of what they said in the track but I really liked the melodies and the energy.”

Martin Garrix – Forbidden Voices
“This track came out when I had been producing music for a couple of months and after listening to it 10 times on repeat I pretty much decided that music producer was the path I wanted to take in life. Martin is still one of my biggest inspirations.”

Avicii – Fade Into Darkness
“This track is where I found my love for progressive house. I used to have this track as my alarm to wake up for school everyday. That was a terrible idea cause I can’t stand the track anymore!”

Daughter – Medicine (Sound Remedy Remix)
“This used to be my favorite track to study to and I probably have it to thank for many passed tests.”

The Killers – When You Were Young
“I found this track through Guitar Hero 3 and it’s what brought me into rock. I also had a couple of years when I didn’t listen to music at all, but this track made me remember what
music could make you feel.”

Lana Del Rey – Young And Beautiful
“Very different from what I usually listened to at the time but, for some reason, 13-year-old me could really connect to these lyrics, don’t ask me why. It’s also what made me start listening to a lot of pop in the subsequent years of my life.”

Nause – Made Of
“The singer in this track is my old music teacher and he is the first person that showed me how to produce music. He put me in front of Garageband in school and told me to put together a song. Except for graduating that is the moment I remember the best from school. This song reminds of that.”

OneRepublic – If I Lose Myself (Alesso Remix)
“Probably to this date my favourite track of all time. I used to listen to One Republic a lot around 2010/2011, but this track was just on another level. Whenever I’m down I just have listen to this track and I’m back up.”

Skrux – You and Me
“Production wise this track probably had the most impact on me. It completely changed what kind of music I wanted to produce over a night. It was just on a completely different level than what I was able to make of the time and made try a lot of new genres to grow as a musician.”

Don Diablo – Origins
“At the time I thought it was the most genius and unique track I had ever heard because of it’s creative elements and amazing ambience. It’s still my favourite track to play live at clubs.”

You can check out the work of Arc North on his soundcloud page.

Everybody has at least a handful of songs that changed music for them. It could be the first song a musician learned to play, the soundtrack to a married couple’s first dance, or even just a song that reminds you of an otherwise unremarkable moment in time. Today, rock-pop The Regrettes — who recently dropped a killer feminist call to arms — share the top ten tracks that changed the musical world for them.

Violet – Hole
Chosen by: Lydia, frontwoman
“This is the song that got me into that whole [early 90s grunge] era of music. After hearing this song I absolutely fell in love with Hole.”

The Rat – The Walkmen
Chosen by: Maxx, drums
“My cousin is the drummer in The Walkmen and he’s also a big influence of mine. This is the song that made me first want to start playing drums.”

The Load Out – Jackson Browne
Chosen by: Sage, bass
“I would listen to this song growing up, on road trips to northern California with my father and older sister. I remember really listening to it for the first time and listening to the message of the song.

“Its all about being on the road, touring as a musician. Some nights its just so hard to stop playing because you love what you’re doing so much and the music feels so good and maybe the crowd is just too perfect that night. This song is a big reason as to why I’m a musician and why I look forward to touring as much as I do.”

Teenage in Love – Dion
Chosen by: Lydia
“I used to play this song with my band when I was eight and I still play it today. It’s just a classic.”

Hold On – Alabama Shakes
Chosen by: Lydia
“This was my favorite song in middle school. Singing it taught me how to use my voice in a totally different way than I was used to.”

Sprawl II – Arcade Fire
Chosen by: Sage
“This song was constantly playing in my room around the ages of 11-13. I remember discovering this album and instantly being inspired by the tones and chord progressions used. It’s a great song to listen to when you need a pick me up, which was probably why I listened to it as often as I did in my core teen years.”

Everlong – Foo Fighters
Chosen by: Maxx
“This is a song my dad would always listen to when I was younger. It’s one of my favorite songs and it made me want to play music as a young lad.”

Mustapha – Queen
Chosen by: Sage
“This is another one of those songs that I heard a lot in my house as a child but never really listened to until I was older. The tone and the image that this song creates in my head is so powerful. I think it’s the first song to teach me that music is truly both a story and a feeling.”

Helicopter – Bloc Party
Chosen by: Maxx
“I would always try to learn this song when I first started playing drums. When I finally learned it, it opened a lot of doors for expanding my playing skills.”

Chain of Fools – Aretha Franklin
Chosen by: Lydia
“My friend Grace and I used to cover this song and it reminds me of her.”

Listen to all of The Regrettes’ choices below on Spotify.

FKA twigs – Pendulum
The dynamics in this song are as important as varying line weights in a drawing, and I guess I forgot about that for a while.

Foster the People – Helena Beat
The harmonised vocal slurs in the chorus. Absolutely genius.

Fishing – OOOO
I am convinced that this song does things to my spirits whenever I play it. Never have I been able to relate to a song so much – and this song doesn’t even have words.  

The Killers – All These Things That I’ve Done
This song is on my list because I am sure replaying this song over and over again growing up influenced my musical choices.

King Crimson – The Court of the Crimson King
This was another song that I grew up to. My father would blare this song on his record player so loud I am sure it shook my musicality into existence. This song is literally perfect.

Lady Gaga – Judas
I remember I was seated on a bunk bed somewhere in Singapore when Judas leaked. It was the only thing I played for the following month, and maybe the rest of the year. Or two. From the very industrial production, to the very bubblegum-pop chorus, right down to the visual imagery, this was everything I wanted from Lady Gaga. Yaaaaassssss Gaga.

Madeon – Icarus
This song exposed me to an entire terrain of music that I had not explored. The synth chops that are so quick to cut in this hyper nu-disco timing never fail to stimulate every receptor of my body every time. When I get bored of it, I play Icarus at half the speed, and I hear a completely different song. My point is: Madeon is a genius. Next.

Other songs that changed my life:
The Beatles – A Day in the Life
Muse – United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)
Neon Indian – C’est la vie (Say the Casualties!)
Panic! at the Disco – The Piano Knows Something I Don’t Know

You can listen to all of Orlando Deer‘s chosen tracks (with the exception of those with videos above) on our Spotify playlist below!