The Songs That Influenced “Warring” (The Darcys Takeover)

In the early stages of Warring we established two rules:

1. We had to grow as writers and players.

2. We would not make something that sounded like our previous efforts.

For a long time we had an intense fear of referencing other bands. We tried to be extremely insular with our self-titled record but when it came out everyone said we sounded like Radiohead. Apparently Radiohead has insular on lock-down. I can’t tell you how many times we scrapped an idea because it sounded too much like Steely Dan, The Dears or the theme song to the X-Files. After a while we could find a problem with just about any idea and I started to wonder if this was a valid or even a healthy process.

We decided that starting from an established point would help us change our sound and find our new voice. So we worked from established grooves, production ideas and canonical synth sounds. Eventually we dragged each idea into a new and original space virtually unrecognizable from its origin. We wanted to explore our influences and put them through The Darcys’ lens to create something new and our own.

We spent a lot of time forcing our broad influences into bed with each other. How would Beck’s Sea Change react with D’Angelo’s Voodoo? We knew that exploring these collisions would affect our compositions and maybe even kick-start some of the stalled ones.

There is never a moment on Warring where I hear another band or a borrowed idea. I hear a record that is cohesive and unique. That said, I think it’s important to highlight your inspirations and be honest about your process. Therefore, I decided to curate a playlist that illuminates a number of our sonic reference points. There are a lot of amazing records in this world and the following songs are just a few that really spoke to us during the making of Warring.

WAR WAS ALWAYS THERE: The Songs The Influenced Warring

You can stream Warring below.

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This post was written by Wes Marskell of The Darcys as part of their Takeover of Indie Music Filter. Find The Darcys online or on twitter.