House
Disclosure’s Influences Go Way Beyond House Music
It’s Good to Be the Dance Kings. Disclosure’s influences go way beyond House music. Here are five unexpected genres that went into their mix:
Prog Rock
Howard Lawrence admires Rush’s refusal to bend to trends: “Our dad told me that Geddy Lee started wearing skinny jeans when it was cool. Then it became horrifically uncool, now it’s cool again. So you’ve just got to keep wearing your own jeans.”
Seventies Jazz Rock
The Lawrence brothers taught themselves their instruments in part by listening to tons of Steely Dan. “I would listen to songs that I liked,” says Howard. “Donald Fagen’s solo stuff – I used to work all of that out.”
Nineties Pop
Howard says Seal’s 1991 debut was an early formative influence: “That led me into stuff like Jamiroquai.”
Neo-Soul
Guy made Sam Smith listen to D’Angelo’s Voodoo early in their collaboration: “I was like, ‘This is the best album ever made, have you not heard this?’ It just flows so perfectly.”
Screamo
As a teen, Howard was seriously into Warped Tour-friendly acts like Skrillex’s old screamo band, From First to Last. “When I met him, I was quite star-struck,” Howard says. “But I didn’t know any Skrillex songs!”