Strawman

Music:

Member Since: 11/1/2007
Band Website: myspace.com/blaynebrown
Band Members: There is only one Strawman. My name is Blayne. I don't write because I want to, I write because I have to. I write to chase away the Ravens, to free my mind from the demons that would otherwise keep me awake! I write simply so I can sleep at night. Most people don't seem to relate to my music, but for those of you who do, for those of you who understand, I hope they help you sleep at night too.
Influences: Strawman is influenced by the beauty of sadness and the sadness hidden within all beauty. Hope Sandoval and The Warm Inventions, Mazzy Star, and Denali. The Love and Hate relationship Wovenhand and 16 Horsepower has with God. The Darkness in everything that is light. The music of The Swans. By the Light found in all Darkness. The Smashing Pumpkins. Mistakes caused by Inconsistency and Human Nature. Will Oldham, Bonny Prince Billy, Amalgamated Sons of Rest, and Palace Music. I am inspired by the Walrus, the Eggman, and Billy Shears. By The Beatles at both their highs and their lows, and the Magical Mystery Tour in between. By the Ugliness found in nature and the Beauty in that ugliness. Gram Rabbit of the Strange and Beautiful Mohave desert. By the Spaghetti found in Westerns. Morricone, Calexico, and Wilco. I am inspired by Raw Emotion. By Soundgarden and Nirvana. By the Good found in evil and the Evil that always inevitably spawns from good. The Voice of Emiliana Torrini, Aimee Mann, and Angie Hart. By a single Emotion captured in a Sound. Beethoven's longing and madness. Fear. Fear of the unknown, of what is, and of what could be. Damien Jurado, Johnny Cash, and Joseph Arthur. I am influenced by Insanity and the Clarity with which it is accompanied. Chan Marshall of Cat Power, Nick Cave, and PJ Harvey. By Love and Desire. By the music of Enigma and Portishead. I am influenced simply by the Sun, The Moon and a perfect morning. By the words of Neko Case.

Art should be contemplative. It should make you think. You may not always like what you hear, but in the end it will have integrity. I like to think there is integrity here...in these songs. My music is not happy, but I do not believe that it is sad either. It is what it is...Dark and Moody.
Sounds Like: Personally, I don't like it when people say my music sound like someone else's songs. Not that I believe my music is wholly unique. On the contrary, it is made up of bits and pieces of everything I have ever heard, seen, touched or tasted. It is composed of sin, and spirituality. I believe the two belong together. It is a little of everything in everyone. I do understand the need for comparison. I would be a hypocrite if I said I have never compared someone else's art to something I recognized and am comfortable with. But, everyone takes away something different from a song. It will mean something totally different to you than it does even for me. If I compare my work now, that is what you will hear. It would be an injustice to you, and to me. But if I let you hear the songs first, you can make your own comparisons.....if need be.....and create your own connection.
Record Label: Strawman is currently unsigned.
Type of Label: None