I’m Rach. I play guitar and sing in Swan Prince. I’ve tried to choose the bands that I know have influenced my band in some way, or me in general as a musician. I could list a million other bands though. I haven’t even mentioned my days as a ska punk kid… but that’s another story…
The Flatliners
One of the most inspiring bands out there for me. As soon as I got into them I started trying to sing like Chris Cresswell in my car. Weirdly, I found their b sides album Division of Spoils the most inspiring musically and to this day I still listen to it on repeat a lot. Chris is a great songwriter and an amazing singer. Josh actually paid for him to write me a custom song and he gave it me on my birthday one year. The song is called ‘Never Without You’ and it's about being in love. We met Chris at a show not long after he wrote that song, he seemed super stoked to talk to us about it!
The Bombpops
I first heard them through Facebook about 5 years ago. I downloaded their early EPs but it wasn’t till they released Can o Worms that something hit me. I wanted to do what they were doing. I wanted to play guitar and sing. For somebody who can’t do either that was a ridiculous thought. Getting into this band really pushed me and gave me the confidence that I needed to learn a new instrument. Every release by them has been amazing and their music videos are always so fun. They’ve pushed through a difficult 10 years with various line-up changes and they’ve just continued and lived their dreams. I also find that very inspiring and this band will always mean a lot to me.
Bad Cop/Bad Cop
I was so happy when I discovered this band! Another female fronted punk rock band – and all female! I felt like I had died and gone to heaven when I heard their stuff. They really pushed me creatively. Since their first album came out, I’ve had them on every single week. I love their harmonies. I’d never really thought about harmonies at all before until I heard them. They have so many in their songs and they made me realise there is a lot that you can do with your own songs.
Osker
I heard them on a compilation CD almost 20 years ago and since then I have been hooked. I am constantly sad about the fact that they split up and that I will never get to see them. I was quite young when I got into them and I’m pretty sure in that time they didn’t come to the U.K. Even if they did, I bet I wouldn’t have been able to go. Devon is an amazing songwriter, I really wish he would come back to punk rock. I know it would make a lot of people happy! Various bands I’ve played drums in have covered their songs. It’s always really fun mentioning them to punks I meet and hearing what people have to say about them. It seems they really did inspire this generation of skate punks!
The Swellers
I made a huge mistake and didn’t bother listening to this band for ages even though people kept telling me to. Josh got me into them early into our relationship, sadly around that time the band were splitting up. I was extremely lucky to catch 2 of their last ever shows, but was also sad I didn’t get into them sooner and see them more. Their music has inspired me so much. They’re another band I would sing to in my car and they really helped me to learn to sing. I listen to all of their releases every single week more than once, they’re an absolutely underrated band and now they’re gone, people want them back!
Hi-Standard
Another band I stupidly got into quite late and they’re actually one of my band's biggest influences. Josh and I quite often write lead guitar parts and say to each other ‘This sounds like Hi-Standard’. We were extremely lucky to see them play at the Fat Wreck 25 Year show in Japan a few years back. We are actually planning on going back in a couple of years to catch them live again. It’s mental seeing them and seeing how big the crowd is. Punk is huge over there!
The Ataris
I keep writing songs and then I can imagine Kris Roe singing them more than me. That’s happened a few times and the vocal melody has been so ‘Ataris-y’ I’ve had to change it. I feel like this band are always in my head when writing. Just shows how much I listen to them and how much they mean to me. I’ve loved them for most of my life and seeing them live is always an emotional experience for me!
The Starting Line
Back in 2002 all of my friends were getting into Drive Thru bands and I just wasn’t arsed about the rising pop punk scene. I was more of a ska punk or skate punk kid. However, for some reason this band stood out to me. I had to buy their CDs and I listened to them a lot. ‘Almost There Going Nowhere’ is one of my favourite songs ever. We’ve actually got a new song ready for our next EP and everything about it reminds me of this band. When people have reviewed my band's music, they’ve said my vocals are almost pop punk at times. Well, you can thank The Starting Line for that.
Bodyjar
When Josh wrote the music for Disguise, we instantly compared the lead guitar part to Bodyjar. They are one of our main influences when writing the music for our band. I was so happy when I finally got to see this band live a few years back at Groezrock. They were on my list of bands that I would probably never get to see.
No Use For A Name
A friend once told me my band was like ‘a female fronted No Use For A Name’. That was super cool. That’s because Tony’s vocal style and lyrics do inspire me. If I hit any kind of creativity wall, I can put this band on and they solve that. I know they inspire Josh a lot too when he’s writing guitar parts for our songs. They just hold that perfect Fat Wreck sound.
Check out Swan Prince on Bandcamp here and like them on Facebook here.
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