Influennces

The following is a comprehensive but not complete list of my creative inspirations, from music to literature to film, and video games. It is to be updated as I come up with more entries.

I decided to write this because one morning I was thinking about this: The strength of an artist is dependant on their good taste in art. And “Good taste in art” is not defined by any objective metric of the quality of said artworks or artists; no, it just has to be weird, varied, entertaining, and profoundly personal. The more insular your influences are, the worse your art becomes. The more hyper-specific your inspirations are, the more dull your art becomes. It’s not important to just listen to multiple “genres” and “styles” of music or film; you need to branch out beyond what you’re just familiar with, and read books, zines, essays, play games, etc. It doesn’t have to be avant-garde or artsy; you just have to find what you like and find more of it in every place imaginable. The two keys are variety and personality: It is my goal that, by simply skimming through this list, you know exactly what kind of artist I am and what kind of person I am, even.

Music

Biddy Fox

I could and have go on and on about Bea’s art (and, by extension, her music). But for the sake of brevity, all I’ll say is that her work is the very ideal of what I want art to be: carefully, meticulously crafted pop, combined with the wild, chaotic, free-form energy of improvisation. I can do the former, but she can also do the latter. That’s why I’ll always consider her music to be a better version of mine.

Bea is also my best friend and confidant, and none of my works would be complete without her feedback and input.

Dima Foxpaws

My biggest musical inspiration – Dima’s work as an expert of pop music storytelling remains unrivalled, in my opinion. I have stolen entire melodies, lyrics and albums from them. She is also my mentor, and has taught me more about writing music and telling stories than anyone else in my life. I highly recommend her works as “Just Fern.”

Isabella James

Isabella is a good friend of mine, and an often “unsung” hero in terms of the Cecily Renns influence circle because I keep forgetting to mention her to people. But her albums and the way she weaves intricate, operatic narratives with an epic, larger than life soundscape accentuated by folk instrumentation is something I’ve always been inspired by and wish to replicate.

Jeff Rosenstock

In terms of melodies, I think I’ve stolen from Jeff the most out of any musician. He’s just a master of pop songwriting; but what makes his work truly special is the unfiltered, unrelenting way he conveys his emotions with amazing depth, articulation and sharp wit. I truly think he is the Vonnegut of his generation.

Neil Cicierega

It’s more correct to say Neil used to be one of my bigger inspirations, what I was the ages of 14 to 16. However, his work continues to influence the way I write music, in particular just the ways he uses comedy to not only point out some real deep shit in our lives, but also just not taking himself or the world seriously at all, which can be a revealing strategy of creative expression. And, of course, Lemon Demon is the first band I truly “got into.”

Hunter Clifton Mann

Hunter Clifton Mann is the vocalist and songwriter of the band nouns, whose work has probably inspired me the most out of the “emo” genre, which I suppose is the main style of music that I operate in. Strange to think about that, because I basically listen to nouns and Parannoul and no one else. I don’t even really think of those two as emo, more like extensions of pop punk and power pop. Hunter in particular is amazing at combining his melodic sensibilities with the overwhelming power of his guitars, drums, etc.

Parannoul

I suppose Parannoul goes next. Parannoul is who inspired me that maybe music like what I make – very noisy, very weird, very emo and heartful, but ultimately is pop music – can be something a lot of people can resonate with. The way he imbues soul into his melodies and lyrics through the careful usage of very loud noise is something I try to imitate often.

Patricia Taxxon

While almost all of these other artists have inspired by musical sensibilities – the way I write melodies, sing my lyrics, and mix my songs – I suppose Patricia Taxxon has most foremostly inspired my philosophy in terms of how I approach my music. Her radical anti-copyright stances have inspired me since I was young (Go watch “The Golden Calf” videos!). And her very particular way of structuring her albums and songs, and the way she presents them on the Bandcamp platform, is also something I’ve mimicked often.

Parannoul

Jonathan Larson

I am a self-admitted lover of musical theatre, and I believe Jonathan Larson was the best to ever do it. He only composed two major works: Tick, Tick, Boom! and Rent. I consider the former to be superior and to be his masterpiece, but Rent is also a notable work for being an unflinchingly queer and profoundly *weird* show for a work of its time. Tick, Tick, Boom has deeply affected my artistic process and my life since I first heard the cast recording – an immense work of artistic turmoil and triumph.

Literature

Kurt Vonnegut

My favourite author and novelist. There’s been no one like Kurt, not since. My favourite thing about Vonnegut is that he was so in love with humanity, so in love with what we can accomplish, but he was also so *disappointed* in us. I don’t think he was cynical, he fully believed in man’s potential for good; he was just disappointed we hadn’t used it. But inside his books - which are witty, funny, dark, profound, and utterly hilarious – there’s a real sense that he loved who we can be, what we could achieve, and wanted to direct us in that way. If you want to get started on his works, I highly recommend the novel “The Sirens of Titan.”

Hunter S. Thompson

Now, Hunter S. Thompson – here is a man who didn’t believe in humanity at all. But goddamn did he aptly describe what was fucked up with the world. I think Thompson was a far more cynical and jaded person than I am – perhaps not as left-leaning as I am, either – but the way his books and essays succinctly puts down what was and still is wrong with our society has influenced my way of thinking since I was young.

Homestuck

The only work here that is not a specific creator; because I really do believe Homestuck transcends its author. It’s an epic, it’s an odyssey, it’s an ode to the internet, it’s a metafictional journey through what authorship means and what writing means, what creation means. I feel like most people focus on aspects of Homestuck that are not painfully interesting to me, like trolls and classpects and stuff like that… but to me, Homestuck is really special because it is maybe the most effective work of art that is ABOUT itself and about the creation of its own existence.

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde had shit figured out, man. This guy lived 120 years ago and was killed for being gay, but hell, he just had all of this “art” shit figured out. The Preface for The Portrait of Dorian Grey is permanently etched into my being, and other dialogues of his such as “The Critic As Artist” helped me understand my place and position as an artist of works and also a critic of art.

Kouhei Kadono

That thing with the Boogie and the Pop – AKA, UnPop. I’ve explained this somewhere else, but I also just wanted to point out that the Boogiepop series is immensely important to me in that they are books that are very weird and very entertaining at the same time. Music is also an integral part of the Boogiepop experience and it’s inspired me to write stories that are tied to music.

Jennifer Diane-Reitz

Jennifer Diane-Reitz is a trans artist most notable for creating a number of fanfiction works in the My Little Pony AU, “The Conversion Bureau.” However, I am most interested in her web comic works – Unicorn Jelly is so interesting to me as a work that starts out so small and expands out of its scope by the end (Dare I say Unicorn Jelly is a Homestuck-like?) and her two other comics are so weird and fucked up and honestly just fascinating to read.

Matt Haig

Matt Haig is a writer of young adult fiction, most known for his novel “The Midnight Library” which I hate. I think that book sucks. However, his second book for adults, named “The Humans” is one of my favourite books of all time. I read it when I was 14 which I believe was the perfect time to do so. This book is funny, awkward, cringy, and moving in all the best ways. I don’t know if I have any 14 year olds following me, but if I do, go read that book.

Film

Bong Joon Ho

Now, remember what I said at the beginning about “branching out” and stuff? Admittedly, my area of least expertise is cinema. I don’t watch a lot of movies (am trying to change that tho!) and I’m not very well versed in the process of creating films. However, I can very confidently say that Bong Joon Ho is my favourite filmmaker. You’ll notice that many of my favourite creators know how to combine comedy with seriousness as well, with a lot of tone shifts, and Bong is a master of it in the world of cinema.

Damien Chazelle

I do have to admit that my favourite movie of all time is La La Land. I mean, I think it’s a beautiful, emotional and tragic movie. I also like Chazelle’s other films though! Whiplash is an extremely exciting almost thriller, and Babylon is frankly a poor imitation of Boogie Nights but since Boogie Nights is amazing, an imitation is bound to be generally great as well.

Paul Thomas Anderson

Well, speaking of Boogie Nights! See, I don’t really know what it is about PTA’s movies that makes them so exceptional; again, I’m not really good at analysing movies. I just think his films are great at exploring characters in a way that doesn’t bore the viewer.

James Gunn

Hey, if there’s any capeshit movies I like, it’s gonna be by James Gunn. Dude knows how to make a funny, engaging movie with an arsenal of underdog characters. The Guardians of Galaxy movies are some of my favourites ever, and his DC work is almost as good as well. I just love the sense of playfulness in his direction, and the way he uses music is unparalleled.

Yamada Naoko

Yamada Naoko is most known for her work in the 2009 anime K-On!. Which is, of course, my favourite anime ever. I once heard something about Yamada Naoko, which was that she believes a girl’s soul can be seen in how she moves her legs, which is most notably showcased in a scene in K-On The Movie. I think about that a lot.

Anno Hideaki

I mean, he made Neon Genesis Evangelion. Evangelion is the only time I’m going to use the cliché line, “What more is there to say about Evangelion?” If anything, I think Eva is the work of animation that best captures what it is like to be an anxious teenager. And we’ve all been that, man. Don’t kid yourself.

Video games (incomplete)

Toby Fox

Toby Fox is, I feel like, primarily a musician and game dev second. Which is too bad because his music doesn’t really inspire me at all, and his writing and design work in his games thoroughly influence me. I just think he is this really funny and insightful guy who is able to wrap his ideas around in a very approachable, mainstream way, which is very rare for someone who makes games of his caliber. (EarthBound-inspired JRPGs)